Ok y’all. Let me just tell you about how my weeks have been going as far as this blog goes. On the weekends I’ve been pretty good about getting a post done for Monday or Tuesday. And then I’m all optimistic, thinking I can work on a post for the middle of the week on Monday and part of Wednesday, and then maybe I can squeeze in some time to write a post on Friday for Friday. And around Wednesday every week the week just starts laughing at me.
Although I’m not complaining this week because Wednesday night, Halloween, I had planned on handing out candy and writing this post for you but we ended up doing things that were much more fun. At about the time we realized we were going to have a pathetic number of trick-or-treaters (like really. We had 15 maybe?) we also saw that our across the street neighbors were making a party out of the whole thing and having drinks around a fire pit in their front yard. So we went over to say hi and got sucked in, and well, this post didn’t get done on Halloween. Although honestly I’m not sorry about it at all because that was way more fun.
But I promise I do have more food and stories to share with you than it seems like lately. I have some of the most ridiculous brownies I have ever come across. I have our Christmas Eve tradition soup, which we made early this year for tailgating. And hopefully I’m going to have another pumpkin treat soon, assuming it tastes good when we cut into it tonight.
Right now though, I have these biscuits, which, you don’t know this, but I’ve been trying to share them for months. You see, about a year ago I got this cookbook, ordered with great joy from our absolutely favorite restaurant on our honeymoon. I’ve made a few things out of it, but the one thing that seems most important is the biscuits. Because Tupelo Honey Cafe is known for their biscuits served warm and steaming at the table with butter and honey. Which I know might seem like a breakfast food, but I promise it is just as appropriate before your chicken sandwich at lunch or your burger at dinner.
The first time I made them out of the cookbook I was disappointed though. The temperature was too high, the dough was too dry, the cooking time was too long. And I couldn’t understand how a recipe could be so wrong because those dry overcooked biscuits that I first pulled out of the oven months ago were not restaurant worthy. And while I still don’t have an answer to what is wrong with the recipe (it could be user error, but I’m thinking that’s not likely because 25 minutes at 450 degrees even for biscuits seems like a little much), I do know what makes the recipe better: a little more moisture and a shorter cooking time.
The secrets to these biscuits though have nothing to do with me. The most genius thing: grating frozen butter. It’s a little bit of work on the front end, but it makes cutting the butter into the flour mixture much easier and more consistent. Every time I make these biscuits Gerrit comes in and asks what we’re having cheese on. And then there is the baking powder, more than seems logical, that makes the biscuits full of fluff. And lastly, the sour cream, just a bit to give the biscuits a slightly savory flavor that is impossible to pinpoint. Serve with honey anytime of day. Actually, scratch that. Don’t just serve with honey. Pour honey over them. And butter, too.
[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:10]
Using frozen butter is such a great tip isn’t it? It’s really changed my baking! These biscuits look so wonderful and fluffy; thank you for sharing them :)