Buttermilk biscuits

My husband was whining for biscuits and gravy. To be specific, he actually wanted sausage gravy with lots of chunks of meat in it, and biscuits. Before I hear from all the states below the Mason-Dixon line about what should go into this glorious, fattening, sinful dish, remember that this is a baking blog and the subject is:

BISCUITS, Y’ALL!

Biscuits should be fluffy, flavorful, and fresh. (Yes, I love alliteration.) Oh, and large! Burly, not dainty. There are as many opinions about what makes a perfect biscuit as there are people who bake them, from: “I prefer my biscuits to pop out of a can”, to: “I only use leaf lard and whole organic buttermilk.”

If you’ve read my other blogs, you know that I don’t always follow the rules when it comes to baking. I’m going to backpedal just a bit here, and say that if you want light, tender biscuits, your results will be better if you conform just this once. If I can, you can! Use very cold ingredients, don’t over-mix, and try to cut the biscuits out with surgical precision.

Would you like to know what not to do? Don’t accidentally use 4 teaspoons of baking soda instead of baking powder. The first time my son-in-law came for dinner I proudly served biscuits. Very pretty biscuits. One by one I watched each person take a bite and then return the biscuit to their plate with a pained look on their face. When I tried one for myself I quickly realized my mistake. We probably looked like a support group for hydrophobia sufferers. He has never let me forget those poor biscuits.

My experiments with fats in biscuit recipes have included bear fat, lard, butter, and shortening. They all worked well, though I didn’t get as much “loft” with the butter. Since many people have an irrational dislike of lard, and you might not find bear fat on the shelf at the grocery store, (I rendered it myself. Seriously! Gross and stinky, but the end product is a beautiful white “lard”) you will probably decide to use shortening, butter, or a combination of the two. As much as I hate to use “vegetable” shortening, I’ll admit it makes flaky biscuits and pie crusts. And face it, we’re not going to pass these babies off as healthy, any way you look at it!

If you insist on having biscuits that are perfectly smooth and uniform (bless your heart), by all means get out your rolling pin, but I prefer to handle the dough as little as possible, patting the dough into the desired thickness. This makes a more rustic looking biscuit, but  I’ll choose texture over appearance any day. Remember: a light hand makes a light biscuit!

I really, really suggest you buy a biscuit cutter if you don’t already have one. Drinking glasses are a nuisance; they suck your dough up and you have to pry it back out, which is very traumatic for the biscuit dough. If you must use glassware, use something thin, like a wine glass or crystal goblet. Whatever you use, the most important thing to remember is to press the cutter down and lift it up. Don’t twist, or you’ll make it harder for the dough to rise.

Biscuits never taste as good the next day, even if you reheat them. The recipe I’m going to share with you makes twelve jumbo biscuits, so if you don’t need that many, put some uncooked biscuits into a heavy zipper bag and pop them in the freezer. You can bake them without thawing if you’re in a rush – just give them a few extra minutes.

Hopefully I haven’t scared you off. Hello? Hello? Please come back, it’s not that complicated! Try this recipe once and you’ll be hooked, and never buy those nasty rolls in a can again. You will add five years to your life by not waiting in suspense for the “POP!”  I read recently (and don’t remember where…so much for giving proper credit) that opening up a can of dough is the adult equivalent of a kid’s jack-in-the-box toy. Cut back on the adrenalin rush by making your own biscuits!

BUTTERMILK BISCUITS

3 cups all-purpose flour (a good quality flour is best, like “King Arthur” brand)
1 tablespoon sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening, chilled!
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup milk
1 egg

Heat the oven to 450 degrees F.
In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the shortening and cut it into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter. (You can also use 2 knives or even your finger tips. Just dip them into ice water before blending so you don’t melt the shortening.) So many recipes say it should look like “coarse meal.” Since I don’t know what they’re talking about, I just cut it in until you don’t see any chunks of shortening bigger than a pea. Good enough.

Cutting the shortening into the flour mixture.

In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, milk, and egg. Pour it onto the flour mixture and stir until it’s consistently moist, with no big pockets of flour.
Drop the dough into the center of a heavily floured board or counter. Flour your hands and turn the dough over a couple of times to cover with flour. With your hands, gently press the dough to a 3/4 inch thickness.
Flour your biscuit cutter. Press down, then pull straight up. Repeat, cutting the rounds as close together as possible.

Cutting out biscuits.

With a spatula, move them, almost touching, onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Don’t re-roll the leftover dough. Just bake the scraps. Calories don’t count if they’re just scraps!
Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the tops are a rich golden brown.

Serve ’em hot with butter, honey, fresh jam, or…

SAUSAGE GRAVY

1 pound bulk breakfast sausage
3-4 tablespoons flour
2 cups half and half
Pepper to taste
1 cup milk (if needed)
Brown the sausage on medium heat, crumbling it as you stir. Add 3 tablespoons of the flour and cook for a minute. If you can still see grease, add the other tablespoon of flour. Lower heat to medium low and stir for 2-3 minutes to cook the flour. Slowly add the half and half, stirring constantly. Add the pepper and cook gently on low for at least 30 minutes. If it starts to get too thick, add milk a little at a time.

Sausage gravy – heavy on the sausage!

Multi-grain bread, warm from the oven.

Why are so many people terrified of working with yeast? If your yeast is fresh and your water is a warm, it’s a slam dunk! I made three lovely loaves of multi-grain bread today, and the house smells like heaven. One loaf is almost gone, which doesn’t sound like a big deal until you understand that there are only two of us living here. I just want to make it clear (ahem) that I only ate one piece. ‘Nuff said.

The following recipe is actually very easy. The only time-consuming part is preparing the whole grains. I used four different grains: spelt, wheat, rye, and oat. If you bite into any one of those, you’ll see why you have to soak and cook grains before using them in a bread recipe, unless you like a whole lot of crunch. It’s not difficult – you just have to plan ahead.

If your grocery store has a bulk food section, or carries specialty flours and grains (like Bob’s Red Mill) in small packages, that’s perfect. Otherwise, make a trip to the closest natural foods market and pick up a variety. Keep any unused grains in the refrigerator. (I mix mine all together and put them in a zipper storage bag to take up less space.)

The amazing selection of bulk foods at Meyers Falls Market, in Kettle Falls, WA.

Making bread is like making cookies; there’s a lot of room for improvisation! If you want to use just one grain, that’s fine. If you want to skip the nuts and seeds, no problem. I added a handful of chia seeds to my dough at the last minute, because I’m really trying to use them in everything right now. I ordered three pounds, and that’s a lot of chia seeds! They tasted and looked wonderful in the bread.

If you don’t have quite enough yeast, use what you have. It will just take a little longer to rise, which is actually a good thing. The longer it takes for bread to rise, the more flavorful it is. Sometimes I put mine out in our fruit room (kind of like a root cellar – nice and cool) all night and bake it in the morning.

The only thing I’ve done that has made the bread inedible – to me, at least – is to forget the salt. You can cut back on it if you like, but some salt is necessary. One of the reasons I make our bread is because of the enormous amounts of sodium in store-bought bread. Check out the label on the bread you have right now. Pretty scary, isn’t it? Excessive salt is often used to disguise the fact that their bread has no flavor! I’m not even going to go into all the chemicals you’ll see on most bread labels, or the fact that they may be using GMO products. I’ll save that for a future rant.

Flavor, texture, and using wholesome ingredients are all good reasons to make your own bread, but one of the most important reasons to me is cost. Occasionally I’ll get lazy and pick up a loaf of bread at the store, but am always shell shocked. A good organic bread can run $5.00 or more. I figured that the bread I made today cost a little over a dollar per loaf; you can’t beat that!

So, without further ado, here is my Multi-Grain Bread recipe.

CHEWY MULTI-GRAIN BREAD
(Recipe makes 2 large loaves or 3 small ones)

1 cup mixed whole grain (I use oat groats, spelt kernels, rye berries, and wheat berries)
4 cups water
1 tablespoon molasses
1 teaspoon sugar
4 teaspoons (or 2 packets) active dry yeast
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups whole wheat flour
½ cup chopped seeds and nuts of choice (pumpkin, sunflower, walnuts, pecans, etc.)
1 tablespoon salt
5 cups all-purpose flour

In a medium pot, bring grains and water to a boil. Turn off the heat and let it sit for 1 hour. Bring the grain back to a boil, turn down to low, and simmer for 20-30 minutes, or until very tender. If your whole grains aren’t very fresh, it could take longer – up to an hour or more.

Saving the liquid from the cooked grains.

Drain the grains, reserving the liquid. You’ll need 2 ½ cups. If you don’t have enough, add water to make up the difference. If you have a stand mixer, this is the time to use it! Attach your dough hook. If you’re doing this by hand, get out a heavy wooden spoon. Pour the liquid into a large bowl.

Add the molasses and sugar. Cool the liquid to 100-115 F. If you don’t have a thermometer, it should feel warm to the touch, but not hot.

Add the yeast and stir to mix. Leave it alone for 5 minutes. It should look a little foamy. (If not, the yeast may not be fresh. Hopefully you have a backup package or two.)

Add the oil, the wheat flour, and the grains, and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes (or if you’re doing it the hard way, beat with your wooden spoon until your arms ache.)

Add the seeds and nuts and the salt. On low speed, gradually add the all-purpose flour. It will be a thick dough, but should still feel a little sticky.

Knead for 5 minutes with a stand mixer and dough hook, or 8 minutes by hand.

Dough is mixed and ready to rise in the mixing bowl.

Here’s where “They” always say to put the dough into a greased bowl. I hate to do dishes and see no reason to dirty another bowl, so I just leave it where it is and cover it. I’ve never noticed a difference. Let it rise until double – approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour.

If you are using bread pans, grease three of them generously. Separate your dough into thirds. On lightly floured surface, form it into loaves. I simply put each piece of dough down, flatten it down a little, and roll it into a log shape very snugly. Pinch the ends and place it in one of the bread pans. If you’re making round or oval loaves, shake some cornmeal onto cookie sheets, shape the loaves, and set them on the cornmeal. Make sure there is some cornmeal surrounding the dough, because it will spread a little bit.

Dough ready to rise.

Cover the dough with a clean dishtowel and let it rise until almost doubled – about 45 minutes.

Heat the oven to 400 F. If you want a crispy crust, put a pan of water on the bottom rack of the oven now. By the time the bread is ready to go into the oven, it will be nice and steamy, which gives bread a nice crunch.

Bake for approximately 30-35 minutes. This will vary a little, depending on the size of your loaves. Look for a loaf that is a rich brown on top, with sides that aren’t anemic when you turn them out of the pan. Remove from the oven, take out of the pans, and cool on a rack. Don’t cool bread in the pans or the sides will be soggy.

Brush with butter if desired. Admire. Take pictures. Cut off a heel, slather it with butter, and eat it before anyone else can!