In Biscuit Bliss, James Villas promises you biscuit happiness and delivers page after page. This is one of the first recipes in the book. It’s in the classic Southern tradition: vegetable shortening, ideally Southern flour and buttermilk. Light, flakey and exceptional, these biscuits are a quick breakfast delight.
Southern flour? White Lilly if you can possible secure it. If soft, low-protein Southern flour is not available for you do a mix: 2 parts all-purposed flour and 1 part cake flour.
Oh, and if you don’t keep vegetable shortening on hand, we did butter and these biscuits were heavenly. Heavenly.
Eat right out of the oven, when the butter melts and the jam can slide into those flakey folds.
Look here for a review of Biscuit Bliss with some other biscuit ideas for you.
Mother’s Buttermilk Biscuits
Yield: about 16 biscuits
Ingredients:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup chilled vegetable shortening
- 1 cup buttermilk
Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 450°F.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the shortening and cut it in with a pastry cutter or rub with your fingertips till the mixture is mealy. Gradually add the buttermilk, stirring with a wooden spoon just till the dough is soft and slightly sticky.
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and, using a light touch, turn the edges toward the middle, pressing with your hands. Press the dough out ½ inch thick and cut straight down I into even rounds with a 2-inch biscuit cutter. Pat the scraps together and cut out more rounds.
Arrange the rounds on a baking sheet no more than ½ inch apart and bake the upper third of the oven till lightly browned on about 12 minutes.
Source: Biscuit Bliss by James Villa [Harvard Common Press, 2004]
Photo Information: Canon T2i, EFS 60mm Macro Lens, F/4 for 1/30th second at ISO‑320