January Breakfast

This hungry guy joined Pop and I this morning while we had breakfast. He is really a beauty. We really love to watch the birds while we eat.



Speaking of eating - these biscuits are the lightest, flakiest I have ever made. I found this recipe a couple a weeks ago and have been dying to try them. Today was the day. They are a little time consuming, but well worth the work. They are delicious. I did not cut the recipe in half, hence I have enough biscuits to feed the multitudes. It should not be too difficult to cut this in half.

Extra-Flaky Southern Buttermilk Biscuits

4 1/2 cups white lily all-purpose flour (I used generic all-purpose)
2 tsps cream of tartar
2 tsps baking soda
1 1/2 tsps salt
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter cut into pieces
1 3/4-2 cups cold buttermilk
9 tbsps unsalted butter, softened and cut into 1 tbsp pieces
1 tbsp unsalted butter melted

Preheat oven to 450° (500° if using a convection oven). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. In bowl, combine flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. Cut cold butter or shortening into dry ingredients with a pastry blender. (Mixture will resemble coarse crumbs, with no large chunks of butter.) If butter gets very soft at this point, refrigerate mixture for 20 minutes. Add 1 3/4 cups buttermilk, stirring just to moisten all ingredients. Dough should be soft and moist; add remaining 1/4 cup as needed. Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface and knead gently about 10 times, or just untll dough holds together. Roll or pat dough into a 14-by-10-inch rectangle. With short side nearest you, spread top two-thirds of dough with 3 tablespoons soft butter, leaving bottom third, closest to you, unbuttered. Fold dough into thirds by pulling bottom third up over center and then pulling top third over middle. Turn dough so short side faces you. Pat into a 9-by-12-inch rectangle. (I used a rolling pin - it gets messy, but it gets done). In same manner, spread again with 3 tablespoons soft butter and fold letter style. Turn once more in the same manner. Pat into a 9-by-12-inch rectangle (I used the rolling pin again); spread with remaining 3 tablespoons soft butter and fold up. Work quickly and gently so as not to overwork dough. Pat (roll) dough into rectangle 3/4-inch thick on floured surface. Cut into squares with a sharp chef’s knife. (I used my round biscuit cutters, because I love them). Place on pan, 1 inch apart. Lightly brush tops with melted butter. Bake in center of hot oven about 20 minutes (about 12 minutes in convection), until golden brown and firm. Serve hot, warm or room temperature.

Enjoy. I hope to be sending more later.

MOM

(Originaly posted by Bonnie. Imported from old blog by Admin on 7/17/2009)