[C320-list] Biscuits, was - Galley Sink Waste

[Judy and/or Rick Luce]

Chris,

Thanks for the recipe!  Sounds very much like my pie pastry... can't wait to 
try it!!!

Rick, Echo #488


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Chris Burti" <cburti at yahoo.com>
To: "Bryan Campbell" <bcampbell at valp.net>; "C320-List" 
<C320-List at catalina320.com>
Sent: Monday, December 05, 2005 12:58 PM
Subject: [C320-list] Biscuits, was - Galley Sink Waste


> --- Bryan Campbell <bcampbell at valp.net> wrote:
>
>> How about sharing that biscuit recipe
>>
>
> Bryan,
> Unfortunately, I really don't have a recipe. I learned
> to make biscuits by watching a cook who made them
> without any recipe and practiced until I developed a
> good feel for the proportions. I can now make any size
> batch from three biscuits to three pans of three dozen
> each without really measuring anything. Although,
> bigger batches are much easier to get consistently
> good results because small errors in the proportions
> have little effect.
>
> However, I'll try to explain what I do and hope it
> makes some kind of sense. I can't warrant these
> measures of proprtions, but they should be close
> enough to work.
>
> A good way to start the learning process is with about
> two cups of self rising flour (it has the baking
> powder and salt pre-mixed or you can add about 2
> teaspoons of fresh baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of
> salt per cup of all-purpose flour) in large bowl.
> Note: These are biscuits...not cake. I never use cake
> flour and I never sift.
>
> Cut in about 2-4 tablespoons of shortening with a fork
> until it makes rice sized lumps. Crisco is good if you
> are watching cholesterol, hog lard is best if you want
> flavor to die for, heheheh. If you decide to make
> biscuits regularly, I recommend buying a shortening
> cutter and a couple of different sized biscuit
> cutters.
>
> Now is the time to add grated cheese if you wish,
> about 8 oz. will work for this size batch, which will
> make about a dozen cat-head and about 18 regular sized
> biscuits.
>
> Using a big spoon, stir in the buttermilk. Start off
> with about 2/3 of a cup and add a little more a bit at
> a time until the dough is stiff enough to stay in one
> big lump and is a little sticky. You can use any sweet
> milk as a substitute right on down to skim milk or
> even water in a pinch but... flavor is lost in the
> translation. In a pinch, you can make 'buttermilk' by
> adding a bit of vinegar to fresh milk.
>
> Dust your hands and the counter with flour. If you
> have too much buttermilk in your dough and it is too
> sticky, then heavy and repeated dusting will fix it.
> Place the dough ball on the floured counter and
> flatten it, fold it over left then right hand, in
> thirds, then turn it 90 degrees and repeat. Some cooks
> say you should not over-work the dough and to only
> stir it enough to mix it. I find that kneading it like
> this eight to ten times produces a higher-rising flaky
> biscuit contrary to conventional wisdom.
>
> When ready to cut, flatten the dough ball down to
> about 3/4 inch thick all around. I don't use a roller,
> but you can if you like. I prefer biscuit cutters for
> cutting out the biscuits but a tall thin-rimmed glass
> will function ok, or you can roll a small lump of
> dough into a ball and flatten it. But, you don't get
> those gorgeous sides that a cutter produces.
>
> Take a little bit of shortening on a paper towel
> (usually wiping off the spoon you used to measure out
> the shortening will suffice and that is when I grease
> my pan as well) and wipe a very thin coat on your
> baking pan. Too much shortening will burn, making
> clean-up difficult and causing the cheese in the
> biscuits to stick to the pan = PITA.
>
> Place the biscuits on the pan just touching each other
> and re-knead the trimmings and cut another round until
> the dough is all used up. If you have a little dab of
> dough left over, it is traditionally rolled into
> 'snakes'.
>
> Brush the tops with butter (entirely optional and I
> more often than not just skip it). Drawn butter works
> fine, clarified produces an exquisite golden color.
> Place the pan in an oven preheated to 450-475 degrees
> and bake for about 10-12 minutes, check, and continue
> cooking until golden brown on top, usually about 15
> minutes total, depending on the oven.
>
> Once you have the process down pat at home, try the
> galley. You can make the dough up ahead of time and
> refrigerate it. However, once you get pretty good at
> making biscuits, the results from refrigerating the
> dough are disappointing and you'll find it fast and
> easy enough to do aboard anyway. The gas oven and
> little aluminum pan that come with the Catalina 320
> cook fast so, lower the heat some or else the bottoms
> of the biscuits will be hard when the center is
> finally done.
>
> If you want to try the iron skillet technique, line
> the bottom with two layers of tinfoil, the bottom one
> should be wrinkled a bit. The air between the layers
> makes a good insulator to keep the biscuit bottoms
> from getting too hard. Lightly grease the top layer of
> foil and make your dough just a touch more moist than
> for the oven.
>
> If you cook them on the stove-top, you will need a
> domed lid on your skillet to turn it into an 'oven'.
> This isn't required on the grill, just keep the cover
> closed down tight. You have to keep an eye on things
> because you have very little control over
> temperatures, but if you peek too often, the bottoms
> will be burned and the middles will be gooey when the
> tops turn brown.
>
> Good luck and don't be surprised when after you start
> producing consistently good results...your friends and
> family encourage you to "keep practicing"...it really
> is a compliment.
>
>
>
> Chris Burti
> "Commitment"
> Catalina 320, #867,
> Farmville, NC
>
>
>
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