My Grandmother made the best biscuits ever. She would throw together the ingredients in her flour bowl, mix the ingredients with her hands, pat them into balls and place them in a greased pan. She dabbed a bit of grease on top and baked them until they were brown.
I wanted desperately to learn how to make those biscuits. And she was willing to teach me. But she couldn’t. She was one of those Southern cooks who never measured anything. By the time I came along, I don’t think she even thought about it as she made the biscuits. She’d just made so many over the years it was as natural as breathing to her.
This recipe comes from the November 1990 issue of Redbook magazine. Yeah. I know. Another clipping I saved. And, yes, I can make biscuits that are pretty good but not as good as the ones my Grandmother used to make.
Parslied Buttermilk Biscuits
2 ½ cups self-rising flour
1 teaspoon salt
¼ solid vegetable shortening
2 to 4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
¾ cup buttermilk
Heat oven to 500 degrees. Lightly green large cookie sheet.
Sift 1 ½ cups flour and salt into large bowl. Cut shortening into flour mixture with pastry blender or fork until mixture resembles coarse meal; stir in parsley.
Pour in buttermilk all at once; stir with fork until dough just holds together. Don’t overwork; dough should be wet, sticky and a little lumpy.
Flour hands with some of the reserved flour; pull off ¼-cup piece of wet dough. Toss dough lightly in bowl of flour to coat; roll gently into smooth ball between palms of hands. Inside of biscuit will still be very wet; place biscuit carefully on prepared cookie sheet.
Repeat procedure with remaining dough, flouring hands as necessary and placing biscuits as they are made on cookie sheet so they just touch. Pat each gently to flatten slightly.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes until golden brown.
Makes about 8 biscuits, at 202 calories per biscuit.
Note: If desired, use 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour sifted with 5 teaspoons baking powder instead of self-rising flour. Increase salt to 1 1/2 teaspoons.
