Our Favorite Buttermilk Biscuit

The May 2014 issue of Southern Living magazine included a wonderful section on homemade biscuits. My Grandmother made the best biscuits. She had a flour bowl and just kind of threw ingredients in, mixed it all up with her hand, shaped the dough and placed it in an old greased tin pan. They were so good!!! I wanted so badly to learn how to make them but she didn't know how to teach me. She'd done it for so long, it was instinct. It didn't work when she slowed down and thought about it.

 

I doubt any of these biscuits will come close to those my Grandmother used to make, but they're sure worth a try. I probably won't use the parchment paper but I'll follow the remainder of the directions.

Our Favorite Buttermilk Biscuit

1/2 cup butter (1 stick) frozen
2 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 cup chilled buttermilk
Parchment paper
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Grate frozen butter using large holes of a box grater. Toss together grated butter and flour in a medium bowl. Chill 10 minutes.

Make a well in center of mixture. Add buttermilk, and stir 15 times. Dough will be sticky.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Lightly sprinkle flour over top of dough. Using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll dough into a 3/4-inch-thick rectangle (about 9 x 5 inches). Fold dough in half so short ends meet. Repeat rolling and folding process four more times.

Roll dough to 1/2-inch thickness. Cut with a 2 1/2-inch floured round cutter, reshaping scraps and flouring as needed.

Place dough rounds on a parchment paper-lined jelly-roll pan. Bake at 475 degrees for 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Brush with melted butter.

Makes 12 to 14 biscuits.

For Pillowy Dinner Rolls that are soft even when cool:
Cut in 1/2 cup cold shortening instead of cold butter.

For Crunchy bottom biscuits that are perfect with Sausage Gravy:
Warm a cast iron skillet in the oven and spread a bit of butter in the skillet before adding the biscuits.

Dixie Peanut Brittle

This recipe comes from the Alabama Peanut Producers Association. It was included in a newspaper insert a few years ago. I hope you enjoy making your very own Peanut Brittle.

 

Dixie Peanut Brittle

2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
4 cups raw peanuts, skins on
2 teaspoon baking soda

In a heavy saucepan, heat sugar, syrup, water and salt to a rolling boil. Add peanuts. Reduce heat to medium and stir constantly. Cool until syrup spins a thread. Add butter, then baking soda. Beat rapidly and pour on a buttered surface, spreading to 1/4-inch thickness. When cool, break into pieces.

Chocolate Pound Cake

This recipe is from Kim Daisy and was published in People Magazine's special entertaining issue. She has a cookbook titled Daisey Cakes. It sounds wonderful. Can't wait to give it a try!

Chocolate Pound Cake

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
3 cups sugar
5 large eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Chocolate Icing (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 10-inch tube pan.

Beat butter and shortening at medium speed with an electric mixer for about 2 minutes, or until soft and creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating at medium speed 5 to 7 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until yellow disappears.

Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Reduce mixer speed to low. Add flour mixture to butter mixture, alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Mix at low speed just until blended after each addition. Stir in vanilla.

Pour batter into greased and floured 10-inch tube pan.

Bake for 1 hour or until long wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Do not open the oven door during baking. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool completely on wire rack, about 1 hour.

Frost with Chocolate Frosting if desired.

Sugared Nuts

This recipe comes from the Alabama Peanut Producers Association. It was included in a newspaper insert. My Mother makes these and they are just really, really good.

Sugared Nuts

1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
2 cups raw shelled peanuts (with skins on)

Dissolve sugar in water in saucepan over medium heat. Add peanuts and continue to cook over medium heat, stirring frequently. Cook until peanuts are completely sugared (coated and no syrup left). Pour onto ungreased cooked sheet, spreading so that peanuts are separated as much as possible.

Bake at 300 degrees for approximately 30 minutes, stirring at five minute intervals.

Boiled Peanuts

Some folks say that Boiled Peanuts are an acquired taste. Maybe. I wouldn't know. I honestly can't remember ever not eating Boiled Peanuts. I guess when you grow up in the Deep South, Boiled Peanuts are just part of life. It's a big crop around here. My hometown even has a peanut mill. And, yes, I once graded peanuts for the state.

That's not to say that all Boiled Peanuts are equal. They aren't. Personally, I prefer smaller peanuts. Some folks like them larger. Some folks like them saltier and some don't. But for all folks they are messy and just really, really good.

This recipe was provided by the Alabama Peanut Producers Association and was included in a newspaper insert a while back. I just never got around to sharing it. Sorry. But here you've got it, just in time for peanut season this fall.

Boiled Peanuts

Wash peanuts thoroughly in cool water; then soak in clean water for about 30 minutes before cooking.

Put peanuts in a saucepan and cover completely with water. Add 1 tablespoon salt for each pint of peanut.

The cooking period for peanuts will vary according to the maturity of the nuts used. Boil the peanuts for 35 minutes, then taste. If they are not salted enough, add more salt. Taste again in 10 minutes, both for salt content and to see if the peanuts are fully cooked. If not ready, continue to taste every five minutes until they have satisfactory texture.

Drain peanuts after cooking, or they will continue to absorb salt.

Limeade

I haven't had Limeade in years. This recipe is in the July 2014 issue of All You magazine. It sounds so easy I made have to make a pitcher to go with these hot days we've been having.

Limeade

1 cup sugar
1 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
water

Bring 1 cup water to a boil. Remove from heat and add sugar. Stir until sugar has completely dissolved. In a large pitcher, combine 6 cups cold water and lime juice. Add the sugar-water mixture and stir well.

Serve over ice, or cover and chill to serve later.

Tip: If you'd like a green tint, add a few drops of food coloring.

Salted Peanut Butterscotch Bars

Once every quarter or so, the Coffee County Extension Office hosts a Crafting on a Shoestring Budget event. It costs $10 per person and we go home with some wonderful items we've assembled, painted, etc. And they feed us a snack. Like a mini-meal type snack. Super good. Really. This recipe is one of those snack items. I went back for seconds. It wasn't my fault. The pieces were just too small. LOL

We also had hotdogs on skewers. They'd taken crescent rolls, cut them into strips, and wrapped the dough around the hot dogs. Then they baked them. They didn't stop there. A triangle piece of cheese went on the top and upside-down cupcake holders went on the bottom. They were stuck upright in Styrofoam covered in bright red paper. The result? Rockets. My youngest nephews would LOVE this! Super good to eat too! As were the strawberries, blueberries, and marshmallows. Yes. In case you doubted at all, I've already got my reservation in for the next craft event.

Salted-Peanut Butterscotch Bars

15 whole graham crackers, broken up
3 tablespoons sugar
pinch of salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
One 11-oz. package butterscotch morsels (about 1 3/4 cups)
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 cup chopped salted roasted peanuts

Line a 9-inch square baking pan with foil, allowing ends to overhang by 2 inches.

Process graham crackers with sugar and salt in a food processor until finely ground. Pulse in butter until moistened. Transfer to lined pan and press crumbs down evenly and firmly.

Place butterscotch morsels in a large bowl and microwave on high for 1 minute. Remove and stir until smooth and creamy. (Continue to microwave in 10-second intervals if morsels have not melted. Do not overheat or mixture will seize up and turn into a stiff mass.) Stir in peanut butter and peanuts. Blend well and spread evenly over graham-cracker crust. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour 30 minutes or until firm.

Lift bars out and remove foil. Use a sharp knife to carefully cut into squares.

Makes about 36 1 1/2-inch squares