Tag: biscuits

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buttermilk biscuits

Biscuits are tasty.
No need for a lame boxed brand.
Butter, flour, salt.

Oh flaky layers,
with your comforting embrace.
Pastry of my dreams.

So good with collards,
eggs, cheese, meat, jam, and honey.
So good all the time.

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Buttermilk Biscuits, adapted from Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc at Home
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 lb (two sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1 tablespoon pieces and very cold
1 1/2 cups buttermilk, very cold

Preheat your oven to 425° F, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a food processor, plus flours, salt, baking powder and baking soda together until combined. Add the butter and pulse until the butter has been chopping into pea-sized pieces. Turn into a large bowl.

Make a well in the center of the flour mixture, and pour in the buttermilk. Stir with a wooden spoon until just combined. Don’t over mix, you don’t want tough biscuits. Turn the dough onto a counter and pat into a 3/4″ thick rectangle. Cut into 12 or 16 pieces using a pizza cutter, and place immediately in a hot oven. (Do not wait to bake them!  You’ll cry later at the rocks surrounded by pools of burnt butter you pull from the oven. If you must wait, put them in the freezer). I chose square biscuits because I did not want to waste any of that delicious, buttery dough, but you could also use a round cookie cutter. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until golden brown. Serve warm.

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—Emily and Jordan

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Recipes

savory tomato cobbler

When I came home from work last Thursday, I was greeted by Miss Willow and a GORGEOUS bowl of cherry tomatoes. They were so beautiful and there were so many of them! I was so excited! Jordan had picked up our CSA earlier in the day and the tomato bounty of late summer finally hit.

Earlier in the week, I had been making my food blog rounds and saw a recipe for a Tomato Cobbler on Honey and Jam. I also saw a similar recipe on Lottie + Doof. I guess it was a Martha Stewart recipe gone viral, fueled by the surplus of tomatoes at this time of year. Well, the photos on both blogs were so beautiful and the recipe so tempting that I knew instantly what to do with my big bowl of cherry tomatoes.

When most people think of cobbler, they think of stewed fruit with a crumbly topping. This is similar technique turned savory— stewed tomatoes and onions with a biscuit topping.

Despite my absolute love of raw cherry tomatoes, I am so glad I made this dish. It was the definition of comforting, but also still fresh and bright. The biscuit topping was buttery and balanced nicely by the acidity of the tomatoes. Plus, no one’s ever criticized the combination of thyme and tomatoes. Like Hannah from Honey and Jam observed, this dish is the perfect transition between summer and fall.

Tomato Cobbler
For the tomato filling
1 large onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, sliced
2 pounds cherry tomatoes
3 T flour
olive oil, salt, pepper, chili flake, thyme

In a cast iron skillet or dutch oven, saute the onion in olive oil over low heat for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, make the biscuit topping and preheat an oven to 375 degrees. Add the garlic and saute for another 3 minutes. Turn of the heat and add the tomatoes, flour, and a nice pinch of salt, pepper, chili flake and thyme.

For the biscuit topping 
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup cake flour (you can substitute APF if you don’t have cake flour)
1 T baking powder
1 T fresh thyme
1/2 t salt
1/2 cup butter, cold and cut into cubes
3/4 cup buttermilk

Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the butter, rubbing it into the flour with your fingers until small clumps of dough form. Add the buttermilk, stirring until the dough is just combined. Divide it into 5 rough clumps and top the tomato mixture with the balls of dough. Bake for 45 minutes  – 1 hour, until the biscuits are golden brown and the tomato mixture molten. Remove from the oven and let cool for 15 minutes before serving. Enjoy and be transported to a heavenly buttery, tomatoey land.

This dish was also wonderful the second and third days. I am most definitely making this one again. Hopefully before the season is out!

-Emily

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Recipes

oven ribs and buttermilk biscuits

We love pork. Pork spare ribs are an amazingly delicious and yet affordable cut. Sadly, we do not have a barbecue. Or a smoker. But, we do have an oven and some ingenuity! This recipe is for all you barbecueless, smokerless apartment dwellers out there … introducing Jordan’s oven ribs!

These ribs are delicious and versatile. This time around we kept them super simple to let the pork flavor shine (and test our new technique), but this low and slow recipe is adaptable to all kinds of flavors. Next time we are going for a more traditional BBQ flavor with a brown sugar, ketchup, chili, mustard and vinegar glaze. I cannot wait!

Jordan’s Oven Ribs
1 rack of pork spare ribs
1/2 onion, sliced thin
1/2 lemon, sliced thin
1/2 cup broth
salt, pepper

Preheat an oven to 250 degrees. Salt the ribs. Make a packet out of tin foil. Cover the bottom with the onion slices, then layer on the lemon slices. Top with the ribs. Pour in the broth and cover with another piece of foil. Seal tightly. Put on on baking sheet and bake low and slow for 4 – 5 hours, until the meat is tender and falling of the bone.

Once the ribs are tender, remove them from the packet and cover loosely with foil. Pour the rib juice from the packet into a sauce pan. Puree. Reduce over medium high heat and taste for seasoning. Heat the broiler. Brush the sauce onto the ribs and broil for a few minutes until brown and caramelized to mimic the grill effect. Enjoy with cabbage slaw and buttermilk biscuits.

Buttermilk Biscuits, from Ad Hoc at Home

I halved this recipe and made 10 two-inch biscuits. These are best right out of the oven so plan to pull them out just before broiling your ribs.

1 cup cake flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 T kosher salt
1/2 T baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1 stick butter, cut into cubes and chilled
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 T melted butter, for brushing after they come out of the oven

Preheat an oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a food processor. Pulse to combine. Add the butter cubes and pulse until the pieces of butter are the size of small peas. Pour mixture into a mixing bowl. Add the buttermilk, stirring just to incorporate. The dough will not form a solid mass – this is what makes the biscuits so delightful and flaky.

Pour the dough onto a lightly floured counter and pat into a rectangle. Cut the biscuits using a round cutter or cut into squares if you don’t have an adorable cutter. Gather the dough scraps and cut the remaining biscuits. Place on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 15 – 18 minutes. When they come out of the oven, brush them with the melted butter and enjoy!

What’s not to love about ribs and biscuits!

-Emily