Cooking from scratch – Better light and fluffy biscuits.
Light and fluffy biscuits. The centerpiece of every sausage and egg breakfast. When I was a kid, I would sit at the kitchen table and watch my Granny cook dinner. This always took place at four in the afternoon. It also always began with the biscuits. Or the cornbread. However, the cornbread will have to wait for the next recipe article. The biscuits were made from scratch. Furthermore, that is the theme of this article. Cooking from scratch.
It’s tough to visualize how that might sound in today’s world. Cooking from scratch is very much old school. Additionally, it is not centered around convenience. In fact, cooking from scratch, is all about timing. For example, the biscuits my granny used to make were actually a timed part of the family meal. And it was a family meal. She would prepare a four or five item supper, from scratch. With every part of it timed so that it would be ready at or near the same time. Very impressive considering there were no microwaves or other miracle appliances to help.
Having all the different parts of a balanced meal ready at the same time is a cooking skill. It’s one of the reasons a dine-in restaurant makes the big bucks. Likewise, it’s why the food tastes so good. In most cases it is freshly prepared. Microwave use is at a minimum in a five star restaurant. Food comes from adding ingredients together and then cooking them. The comparison in quality between freshly prepared food and frozen food is extremely one sided.
Cooking From Scratch
The comparison in quality between freshly prepared food and frozen food is extremely one sided because fresh food wins every time. Ever had a breakfast at Waffle House? If not it’s worth a try. Waffle House is not offering any compensation for this advertisement and they wouldn’t have to anyway. Their cooking speaks for itself. Waffles are made straight from the batter. Eggs are real. They crack them and cook them to order. Bacon sears on the griddle while the coffee brews. Compare that to a frozen meal. Frozen waffles and frozen eggs.
Maybe the eggs are semi real. They don’t look like eggs, but that could be because they are frozen. The waffles are like cardboard, but with enough syrup they are manageable. Not so with a waffle made from the batter, and cooked in a waffle iron. The comparison is to say, there really is no comparison. Cooking from scratch is budget friendly and healthy. Additionally it is a way to save time. And while that might seem unlikely, there are more than a few examples.
Ingredients can be used for more than one batch. In the case of the biscuits, the flour is the self rising kind. Even the smallest bag of flour has enough flour for more than one batch of biscuits. In fact, for this particular recipe there are only three ingredients.
Ingredient List For Light Fluffy Biscuits
- All purpose self rising flour.
- Fat (Butter, Lard, or shortening) The colder the better.
- Whole Milk or Buttermilk
- (2 cups) Self Rising Flour
- 1/4 cup (4 tbsp) Cold unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup Cold Milk/Buttermilk
There are very few ingredients and they blend together to make light fluffy homemade biscuits. While preparing the dough preheat the oven to a toasty 450 degrees. Additionally set the cookie sheet or baking pan in the oven. A hot pan gives the dough a crispy edge. Next, in a separate bowl, mix the flour and the butter together. A cheese grater will help if the butter is cold enough. Additionally cutting the butter into small cubes will work. Combine the butter and flour until a coarse, crumbly dough forms.
Next, add the milk. Make a hole in the middle of the newly formed dough ball and add the milk. Mix the dough until a rough looking dough forms. It won’t be pretty, but that’s okay. Once the dough forms solid enough to move, place it on a flat surface and pat it into a square roughly and inch thick.
The Fold – Cooking from Scratch
The fold is the secret to layers. This is why a rough looking dough that hasn’t been overworked is best. After spreading the dough into the inch thick square, fold it over on itself one time. Then turn it 90 degrees and press it out into a one inch thick square, again. Then fold it one time, again. Repeat this four of five times. Then on the final fold, press the dough into a 3/4 inch thick square and using a cookie cutter or the opening of a glass, begin cutting biscuits from the dough.
Once the biscuit discs are ready, pull the hot pan from the oven. Place the biscuit discs on the pan with the sides touching. (Sides touching makes the biscuits rise taller. Spaced apart makes the biscuits spread outward.) Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown. All that folding creates those fluffy layers. Once the biscuits are ready, pull them from the oven. Then immediately brush the tops with melted butter.
Buttering the top of the biscuit, softens the top crust and gives the biscuit that classic dinner glow. This is a quick and easy recipe to practice cooking from scratch. The preparation time is minimal and the ingredient list is small. Furthermore, the entire recipe is user friendly. The ingredients in the image above are enough for two batches of biscuits. Similarly, the cost is under ten dollars. Preparation time, and total cooking time, is under forty five minutes. Placing the biscuits close together, with sides touching, created the best rise in the dough. More cooking from scratch, in upcoming articles.
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