the hallowed object: the Southern biscuit

[anotheranon]

I was pleased to see that Alton Brown devoted one of his shows to the the subtle art of Southern biscuit making. It was a treat because he had a "bake off" against his own grandmother, who, in true Southern grandmotherly fashion, didn't really measure, and has used the same baking pan, mixing bowl etc. for years!

I remember when I first begged my mom for her biscuit recipe, and she couldn't give it to me, because she never measured anything! She finally came up with a recipe (provided upon request), but I've never been able to make mine as good as hers. I'm guessing this is the sort of thing that is really best learned from your mom or grandma, and not from a book.

AB demonstrated some cooking tips that might help (use aluminum pans, as dark/teflon pans can burn the bottom of biscuits; use the right kind of flour), but it almost feels like a betrayl to consider following his recipe to the letter - you just don't blithely choose someone else's biscuit recipe over that of your own mother unless you've tried absolutely everything to get mama's recipe to work! :P

Got me craving biscuits now, though.

Comments

[hadesgirl.livejournal.com]

Hey - bring your recipe with you and we'll try it together!!! Mikey can be our guinea pig.

Gee, do you realize it's only 21 days till you come here?????? Wow! I'd better start cleaning, LOL!!!!!!!!!! It'll take that long to clear out the cat hair...

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

Would be quite happy to do so! And don't worry - I am used to cat hair. Indeed, given the composition of my family homes, I think cat hair may actually be a biscuit ingredient in my family! :D

[hadesgirl.livejournal.com]

It was quite amusing, though, the last time you were here - you were in black when you arrived, but by the time you left, you were a furry, tabby orange!