Homemade Biscuits

For Thanksgiving, a request was made (um… even though she went to the same class and also got the  recipe 😛 ) for biscuits. Sure! I’ve always wanted to try to make biscuits. After all, having them relatively a short period time after taking them out from the oven, when they are still quite warm but moist and light, is key.

Unfortunately, dining out and the realities of a restaurant kitchen means many times the biscuits were made and waiting before I even order  so are not the temperature I am hoping for, and may even have hardened or dried some and have to be saved by other items in the dish, likely gravy. But, I also knew that the consistency from working the dough is key to making good biscuits, and worried that I would get all excited making them and then be disappointed at the end product.

So I was glad I had the experience of learning this recipe with professionals making it during a class rather than just following a recipe I picked out. Thanks to having it during the class I also knew what these biscuits would taste like instead of guessing from photos or videos. This is the recipe I used, but there are many out there that use shortening, or add rosemary or chili or cheese. There are so many variations of biscuits out there but yet each has their own distinct taste and personality. This one is very very light and fluffy, they felt like air.

Ingredients (serves 8):

  • 1/2 cup butter, frozen
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup wheat pastry flour
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

Directions:

  1. First, you put the butter in the freezer. This will then allow you to very coarsely grate the butter. I have gotten so much use from this grater from Ikea
  2. Combine the cream and vinegar, which is essentially making homemade buttermilk, and keep in the refrigerator so it stays chilled, and the acid can do its work. It will look like its curdling a little after 5 minutes, which is normal. You can substitut e other acids as well in the same ratio, most commonly lemon juice or another kind of vinegar like apple cider vinegar.
  3. Meanwhile, combine the flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large mixing bowl- I just sifted it all together by hand. Also, have a well floured working area established . If you can, put your dry mix in the fridge so it can also be cold while grating the butter.
  4. Now grate (use the largest holes for your grater)the cold butter, and put into the dry mix and again using your hand, just mix it together briefly. It will still be pretty gritty, including still having pea size pieces of butter/dry mix. Don’t overmix- that is the enemy of soft fluffy biscuits, and your want the butter to stay cold so it will melt during the baking process and create air pockets while the biscuits rise in the oven.
  5. Next, gently add the cream, parts at a time, into the butter flour mix. Each time you add the cream, use your hand (flour it first!) to fold the bottom mix on top of the cream, and fold several more times, and then add the next parts of cream. Do this until a soft dough forms, no need to knead… again being careful not to overmix so that the combination of liquid and flour doesn’t form too much gluten and get tough (this is also why the recipe uses pastry flour not just all purpose) and also that the dough stays cool so heat doesn’t activate the dough until oven time.
  6. Press the dough onto your floured work area and press, using as few rolls of the rolling pin and a pastry scraper (I use the OXO Pastry Cutter which also handily dandily has a ruler with its blade) into a rectangle that is 1/2 inch thick.
  7. Fold the sides of the dough in (1/3 from the right, 1/3 from the left), and sprinkle some flour on the top of presumably your new square. Rotate your square dough thingy 90 degrees and roll to 1/2 inch thick. Repeat until you have gone all the way around, aka a total of 4 folds into squares.
  8. On the last press, leave it in the 1/2 inch rectangle and cut into squares. I like biscuits to be very doughy rather than flakey, and cut them into these giant triangles instead that are essentially croissant size! I only was meaning to feed four people anyway, so 8 pieces so it was 2 per person seemed good to me (somehow the same amount but less greedy than if it was 4 regular pieces per person). If you are feeding more, do the squares- you’ll get 16 pieces that way. I don’t do round biscuit cutters because then you have scraps that when you try to put together, will probably be tougher. You also don’t want the biscuits any larger than these as they might still be undercooked inside then.
  9. At this point, you can now let them rest for 30 minutes in the refrigerator while you preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Or, you can let them rest, and then place the biscuits on parchment paper and freeze until they are all frozen solid (important so they don’t stick together), and then put in freezer bags to pull out individual biscuits to bake just what you need.
  10. When it’s time to bake the biscuit, place on a well greased sheet pan, each about 1 inch apart, you don’t want them too far or the biscuit will spread instead of rising high. Reduce the heat from your now hot oven to 450 degrees F.  Bake until golden brown- about 12-15 minutes, slightly longer if you are baking them from frozen.

The recipe said “cool and serve”, but of course these are best all fresh and warm! And, it will make your place smell so awesome. If you’d like, brush the tops with melted butter.

Signature

Biscuits and Gravy at Kettle Kitchen

I've been a fan of Kettle Kitchen since I first tried their Gorgonzola and Black Pepper biscuit at Bailey's Taproom several months ago. Then, at Eat Mobile 2011, they offered a sample bite of biscuit with their vegetarian gravy- mmmm, rich, moist. I think their biscuits are better then the much admired biscuits of Pine State Biscuit and Screendoor but without the hassle of the lines and wait, and their gravy (either vegetarian or meat) or equal rivals as well. I haven't done a side by side comparison of the 3 meat gravys, but Kettle Kitchen's vegetarian gravy comes up on top of the three

Look at that gravy!

From Summer 2011

So, I was sad to see on their Facebook today that JR and Gina have sold their cart and today was their last day in the pod at SW 9th and Washington downtown (a pretty competitive grouping of carts, most just open for lunch). Just as the weather is finally getting better and becomes more of a dining out atmosphere too.

I stopped in today before work since I had no meetings between my 6:30am and 1pm and upped the ante with a biscuit sandwich of egg, bacon, and cheese on a gorgonzola black pepper biscuit (they also had buttermilk and jalapeno cheddar available) and then smothered in meat gravy. I walked one block to the Max and it was all gobbled down before the Blue Line even got there, it really was that loving to my tastebuds. I was extra pleased when I broke open the yolk in the egg part of the biscuit and it was all gooey perfection.

Kettle Kitchen will still be around to support catering orders. I am already scheming whether I can throw a "Southern" theme party at my house with their biscuits and gravy, fried chicken, sweet tea, country music, and what else…

Good luck to Kettle Kitchen on what they do next- I know they started out in North Killingworth with soups, and then downtown with biscuits, and their following is growing so I know they will find that hit song one day and make it big. Best of luck… and probably still you see you at Bailey's

Signature

Southern Brunch at Screen Door

Screen Door is one of those places that you have to be willing to wait- but the wait is definitely worth it, be it brunch or dinner. If you come for brunch, make sure after you get your name on the list that you step up to the bar and grab some coffee to help ease the wait (or they have bloody marys and other morning cocktails if you are so inclined). Or there is a great coffee shop next door (there’s even another one at the end of the block) if you want an espresso concoction as you wait.

Peruse the Screen Door menu as you wait. The wait staff is wonderfully quick once you are seated because they know you’ve been patiently waiting an hour already to get down to breakfast business. So start your decision process now- it might take you a while.

I mind waiting for other meals unless it really legendary, but it’s very common for brunch- maybe  because it’s the morning after a Saturday so that people will no show based on unplanned activitiest the night before. I find it most reasonable when they are willing to actually call your cell (which Orange in Chicago did) or have a pager with a good radius so you can wander. The one hostess here at Screen Door keeping the crowd in check only has her voice and physically walking and circling from inside to outside and then going in to check on open tables once in a while. For such a busy place, they don’t have a two-person team so sometimes new guests would arrive and actually write their own name down, and suddenly several tables would turn at the same time before she had a chance to go back to the dining area and check after seeing some diners leave- yeah that’s their system apparently. Well, at least they had coffee.

With a warm coffee in hand you can start your wake up process, socialize with your family/friends, and people-watch so that the time doesn’t seem too aggravating. I particularly envied a group of people who even brought folding lawn chairs for their wait on the sidewalk. There will be a wait and the wait is long (less if you are a party of 2- 2-tops just turn over faster), so bring that expectation with you when you arrive.

And your tummy will probably be grumbling knowing and smelling that there is goodness just to the other side of that curtain separating the waiting area from the dining area (and hiding the view and noise a bit of those waiting so you can enjoy your seat when you get it without guilt of being stared at by those eyeing your table). Force yourself into the more laid back, patient Southern spirit and stay that way all Sunday after brunch.

Screen Door’s breakfast offers several scrambles to choose from. J picked one of blackened tofu and 3 eggs with garlic, peppers, onions, mushrooms and cheddar with a side of potatoes and toast completing the dish. You can also substitute egg whites, or even tofu, for the regular eggs. Remember what I just said- 3 eggs. That’s a lot of protein- so you really must be in the mood for eggs, especially since you just waited an hour for them when there are plenty of brunch spots in town that offer scrambles, and I think better versions. I personally prefer scrambles that come in a skillet right to the table to get all the crunchy bits.

Southern Brunch at Screen Door, Portland Oregon

Even though Screen Door is a southern home style restaurant, they still support vegetarian and vegan on their menu. For instance, their quite servicable Tofu Hash with seared tofu with griddle potatoes, onions, peppers, garlic, spinach and mushrooms. It would have been better to use the blackened tofu they offer in a scramble but in this eggless hash dish because the seared tofu offered texture but not much taste to the dish.

Southern Brunch at Screen Door, Portland Oregon Southern Brunch at Screen Door, Portland Oregon

Another option is the fried oyster benedict with crisp cornmeal fried oysters with poached eggs and bacon over english muffins, topped with hollandaise, along with a side of cheese grits that come with the dish. I greedily also ordered an additional side order of a Buttermilk Drop Biscuit with sausage country gravy.

That gravy was amazing, and the biscuit put the english muffin, even with its fancy hollandaise and thick bacon and perfectly ready to run egg, to only a passing grade because that side dish of Biscuits was so much more rich and comforting.

The best part of the fried oyster benedict, no surprise, were the few pieces of fried oyster whose saltiness was a great counterbalance to the fat of the muffin/bacon/egg/hollaindaise but there just wasn’t enough counterbalance on the whole plate. This is the second time I’ve had this dish- I also had it back in 2008- and I think next time I’ll stick with ordering the next dish…

Southern Brunch at Screen Door, Portland Oregon Southern Brunch at Screen Door, Portland Oregon Southern Brunch at Screen Door, Portland Oregon

The fried chicken cathead biscuit sandwich was a special that day, but they normally offer some sort of chicken, usually in chicken and waffle dish form but you could try chicken and Biscuits,  during brunch. That chicken. The gravy. So big in size. So delicious. Best brunch dish of the four. That fried chicken was incredibly moist and tender, and look at all that gravy.

Southern Brunch at Screen Door, Portland Oregon

By far the highlight of Screen Door, whatever is on the menu, is getting access to that gravy. Keep in mind that you can get the buttermilk drop biscuits with mushroom and veggie protein gravy, not just the rich sausage gravy (the meat version is better, but the veggie is still rich and worthy). In fact, on the back side of the menu with the “build your own breakfast” option you can put together plenty of little dishes tapas style for yourself if you wish so any dish you get you can add one biscuit with a gravy, a la below.

Southern Brunch at Screen Door, Portland Oregon

So don’t go here for brunch without getting some biscuits and gravy for yourself as a side order at least, and someone at the table should get some of that fried chicken.

And, be prepared for the idea that you will be bringing leftovers back, as you can tell by the size of these dishes! I ended up bringing half of the meat-gravied biscuit and veggie-gravied biscuit each home, and both were just as wonderful (though the biscuit more mushy) out of the microwave a couple days later and I was scraping my spoon for every bit of gravy on the takeout box.

Signature