when I was a kid I tried to eat as many of these as I could. not much has changed.
yet another recipe from my mom of her mom’s. thank you ladywomen of my family for such great food.
a very simple affair:
1/3 C good shortening
1 3/4 C all purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3/4 C milk
. set thine oven to 450
. grab a goodly bowl and put the flour, baking powder and salt in it. mix to get everything evenly incorporated
. wunk in the shortening and cut it into the flour either using two knives or a fork or a pastry cutter. I prefer the latter. you don’t want to mix this with your hands because the heat from them will melt the shortening and you won’t get nice flaky biscuits
. when the mix is all crumbly, add in the milk. if you live in a dry climate you’ll need the full 3/4 cup, but if you’re in a more humid zone, try adding a half cup first and seeing if the mix is dry enough. to incorporate the milk, use your hand to fold the dry crumbs into the milk gently while giving the bowl a quarter spin with your other hand. repeat this until a loose dough is formed and it peels away from the side of the bowl
. do 5-8 gentle kneads (pressing the heals of your hands into the dough and pushing it out to stretch it a bit) and then lightly flour a flat surface so you can roll the dough out. roll until it’s 3/4 of an inch thick and cut out rounds with a glass, or just use a knife to cut them however you like
. get ’em on a baking sheet and fire ’em into the oven for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown
these are obviously great with tea… serve hot with butter, or at room temp with whatever you fancy.
thefirdge 