Derby Day. Biscuits, beer cheese and some good hacks.
I really wanted to have a food and good living section here. I am not a blogger. I am not a food stylist. I have a day job. But, here we go.
Yesterday was Derby Day and I do love me a theme. So here’s our post time spread:
Bourbon. Biscuits. Country ham (shaved as thin as possible and warmed in a little butter). Beer cheese.
Lets start with biscuits. Any recipe is fine as long as you: (1) use grated frozen butter as your fat and (2) fold your dough over itself twice for some instant easy lamination. You will always have flaky tender biscuits this way. Milk or buttermilk doesn’t really matter and this is a great way to use sourdough discard. Add in cheese or chives or black pepper. This is a true choose-your-journey adventure. But this is a fine basic recipe for cocktail biscuits.
Basic cocktail biscuits
Ingredients
1 ¼ C (277g) AP flour
1 ½ tsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ stick frozen butter
½ C cold whole milk or half and half
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line quarter sheet pan with parchment paper. Whisk together dry ingredients in a wide shallow bowl. Grate frozen butter into flour (HACK ALERT. You are probably using your grater wrong. Here’s a great way to quit hating your grater. Lay it on top of your dry ingredients with the large holes facing the ceiling and the handle closest to you. Grasp the top handle with your non-dominant hand. Hold the butter with the butter wrapper and grate away from you. Engage your core. Grate away. This also works for cheese. END HACK). Toss the butter with the dry ingredients until well coated. Add the milk or whatever you are using (use cream, be decadent) and mix with a rubber spatula until no dry flour remains (I have a dry house, so sometimes I need up to 2/3 liquid). Turn dough onto well-floured surface. Flour top of dough. Press out into a rectangle ½ inch thick. Fold 1/3 of dough over onto itself, then 1/3 over that 1/3. Rotate dough a quarter turn and repeat pressing out to ½ inch (you can use a rolling pin) and folding. Roll or press out again to 1/2” thick and cut into 2” rounds with a floured cutter, cutting straight down and not twisting the cutter. Place biscuits on prepared sheet pan with sides nearly touching. Bake for 22-25 minutes or until golden brown.
Tags: biscuits, grater hack, Derby Day