Sunday, October 22, 2006
I bought a set of graduated biscuit cutters yesterday. This is the first time I've had an actual biscuit cutter--I've always used a glass or a cup or whatever I have on hand. I'm so happy that I broke down and bought the biscuit cutters, though--their sharp steel sides cut right into the dough so you don't have to twist and turn. I was burbling about how thrilled I was to have actual biscuit cutters at Williams-Sonoma, and the woman who was waiting on me didn't look at me like I was insane. She looked pleased. That is why I like kitchen stores. In fact, I remember being at Williams-Sonoma the day after Julia Child died. At work, I'd been talking about how sad I was and that if I had to name a true hero of mine, it would be Julia Child. The youngsters didn't quite get it. But at Williams-Sonoma, everyone was talking about Julia Child and their sadness at her death.
Anyway, mostly I have made it a point to try to follow these recipes as closely as possible because I feel that one should not go off on a frolic and detour while learning to bake bread. ("Frolic and detour" is actually a legal term of art--about the only one that's fun to say). However, because I am planning to serve these biscuits at a party tomorrow night, and I wanted to be able to taste them myself, I one-and-a-halfed the recipe. Also, because I plan to serve miniature ham-and-biscuit sandwiches tomorrow, I used the tiniest biscuit cutter instead of the standard size.
These are fine, fine biscuits. Like the Angel Light biscuits that I made this summer, these have yeast in them, making them tall and extremely light. I had one plain, one with butter, one with chicken, and one with jam. I would be hard-pressed to say which one was better, and I haven't even tried the ones with ham and honey mustard that I'm serving tomorrow, per Rose's suggestion.
I was sorry that I hadn't brought some White Lily self-rising flour back home with me from North Carolina. I used self-rising flour, but it was General Mills, not White Lily, and it just doesn't have that same deep South cachet.
Now I'm done with the breads that don't require a mixer, and still no word on when my KitchenAid will be done. I've also been asked to bring bread to a potluck dinner on Tuesday, but I may have to (gasp) buy some.
6 comments:
gasp indeed! maybe this is the perfect opportunity to figure out how to knead dough by hand??
(what am I saying, I cheated and made brownies from a box this weekend...)
your biscuits look amazing, by the way :)
Mmmm... Biscuits. Where the trick is knowing how little to knead instead of how much. Those look like they'd be amazing with ham, honey mustard, and a bit of Swiss cheese.
I prefer to "sift" my own self-rising flour together in the food processor. That way I can control everything from gluten content to levening.
- Chubbypanda
ECL,
That comment would have been quite cruel if you hadn't added the brownie mix part. Yes, you're right--I may have to do it the old-fashioned way.
oh BBC,
I didn't mean to be cruel, sorry. I am quite attached to my kitchenaid as well--but in the, oh, three whole times that I've baked bread I kneaded by hand and it was very fun and satisfying. I thought you might like it too. I hope your mixer gets fixed soon.
Rokzane,
You are a regular fount of information. Or is it font of information? I will search out the White Lily flour next time I'm at Williams-Sonoma.
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