Why mess with perfection? This is the buttermilk biscuit recipe my mother made and her mother before her and her mother before her. Who knows where it originated, but we can give credit to my Great-grandmother Allie Pierson. I posted her jam cake recipe before and a photo of her---not a very friendly-looking woman, but apparently a hand for baked goods. I'm sure Allie used lard instead of vegetable shortening, but we can all breath easier with that subtle change. Otherwise, these are the same as they have been for over one hundred years.
I remember my grandmother explaining how Allie put this recipe together, mixing the dough right in the pan and serving hot biscuits from the oven. These biscuits were a star of meals when I was growing up. I recall for most Sunday dinners, and some other meals, we had biscuits hot from the oven. Barbara always put them in last so that once everyone was seated and serving themselves, there was no delay in getting them from the platter to your mouth. If she was feeling ambitious or it was a special meal, we would have both fresh biscuits AND mashed potatoes. Otherwise, it was usually one or the other.
I also remember mom getting her feelings rather hurt after my brother and I started asking for canned biscuits. My mam-ma was a country cook who moved to the city as a young wife and mother, quickly embracing the post-war convenience foods of the 1950s. She would serve us canned biscuits for breakfast and I'm sure the added sugar and preservatives hit just the right note on young, under-developed palates. Of course, I know better now and would turn my nose up if you tried to serve me a store-bought biscuit, even if the NYTimes reports that purchased biscuits and rolls are now rather commonplace in the South. The work of carpetbaggers, I say.
How to eat a biscuit? There are many ways. I like mine spread with butter and jam, right on top of the biscuit, but other people prefer to split theirs open and dress the insides. Another treat that is très provincial is to mix molasses with softened butter and slather the rich, sweet spread over the biscuit. If you have gravy, that's another way to top these treasures and hot biscuits with cream gravy are the perfect accompaniment to a platter of scrambled eggs in the morning. My dad likes to tear up the leftover ones , put them into a mug and top with buttermilk and my brother will eat them cold from the fridge. But for me, there is no such thing as a leftover biscuit--they are either hot and fresh from the oven, or they are a treat for the dog.
I remember my grandmother explaining how Allie put this recipe together, mixing the dough right in the pan and serving hot biscuits from the oven. These biscuits were a star of meals when I was growing up. I recall for most Sunday dinners, and some other meals, we had biscuits hot from the oven. Barbara always put them in last so that once everyone was seated and serving themselves, there was no delay in getting them from the platter to your mouth. If she was feeling ambitious or it was a special meal, we would have both fresh biscuits AND mashed potatoes. Otherwise, it was usually one or the other.
I also remember mom getting her feelings rather hurt after my brother and I started asking for canned biscuits. My mam-ma was a country cook who moved to the city as a young wife and mother, quickly embracing the post-war convenience foods of the 1950s. She would serve us canned biscuits for breakfast and I'm sure the added sugar and preservatives hit just the right note on young, under-developed palates. Of course, I know better now and would turn my nose up if you tried to serve me a store-bought biscuit, even if the NYTimes reports that purchased biscuits and rolls are now rather commonplace in the South. The work of carpetbaggers, I say.
How to eat a biscuit? There are many ways. I like mine spread with butter and jam, right on top of the biscuit, but other people prefer to split theirs open and dress the insides. Another treat that is très provincial is to mix molasses with softened butter and slather the rich, sweet spread over the biscuit. If you have gravy, that's another way to top these treasures and hot biscuits with cream gravy are the perfect accompaniment to a platter of scrambled eggs in the morning. My dad likes to tear up the leftover ones , put them into a mug and top with buttermilk and my brother will eat them cold from the fridge. But for me, there is no such thing as a leftover biscuit--they are either hot and fresh from the oven, or they are a treat for the dog.
Recipe: Allie's Buttermilk Biscuits
This is a double recipe and also the basis for my family's dumplings. I haven't tried it, but some recipes suggest you can freeze unbaked biscuits and bake from the freezer with a slightly longer cooking time.
4 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons salt
2-4 tablespoons shortening
2 cups buttermilk
Sift the flour and mix with the dry ingredients. Cut in the shortening using a pastry knife, the food processor or you hands. And the buttermilk and mix well, but don't over mix. Pat out on a floured board or wax paper, then cut into rounds. You can add a dab of shortening to the top of each biscuit or spray lightly with cooking spray to give a less-floured look to the tops.
Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes.