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12 May 10 - 10:03 AM (#2905214) Subject: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: SINSULL Seems like a good time to share a little silliness with you all. I bought some canned refrigerator biscuits for breakfast at the last house concert but JACQUI forgot to put them in the oven so they have been sitting in the refrigerator, well within their Buy By Date. I noticed that the ends of the cans were bulging - they were rolling around on the ends actually. So I tossed them in the trash. About ten minutes later they went off like Fourth of July fireworks. Cats scattered; dog cringed; I thought WTF! Expecting to find signs of a fire or at least an explosion I peaked into the kitchen. Nothing. I had forgotten about the biscuits. Later as I went to toss some trash I found a mess. Whole new meaning to air biscuits. Should I sue? SINS |
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12 May 10 - 10:09 AM (#2905220) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: Rapparee Yes, without a doubt. It's your duty as an American. |
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12 May 10 - 10:15 AM (#2905227) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: GUEST,Neil D I've had that happen when I went to crack open the roll. I prefer to make them from scratch. I also had a pork roast explode once after reheating in the microwave. There was shredded pork on every surface of the kitchen. |
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12 May 10 - 10:16 AM (#2905231) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: Rapparee I reheated some hominy in the microwave just this very morning, and it blew the lid off the container. |
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12 May 10 - 10:17 AM (#2905233) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: SINSULL Rap, Many years ago I was in a very bad car accident when a truck lost its breaks coming down from an overpass and slammed into the driver's side of my carstopped a a red light. The car was totalled. I was unconscious for a short time but unharmed other than a mild concussion and a few bruises - I was wearing a seatbelt and it saved my life. The truck driver knew his breaks were bad. I had grounds for a major law suit and big bucks. The police cited him for numerous problems with his truck including the breaks. Several witnesses provided descritpitons of the accident to the police, all confirming thatthe truck's breaks failed. BUT, I was un-American and decided to let it go, get the car replaced (company car) and get on with my life. Now for the good part - the truck driver sued me. Seems he figured I didn't sue for a reason - no insurance? no license? LOL Go figure. SINS |
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12 May 10 - 10:18 AM (#2905237) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: SINSULL For all I know, my insurance company may have settled out of court and paid him something. The American Way. |
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12 May 10 - 10:22 AM (#2905240) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: Rapparee That's why nice guys finish last, I guess. As the song says, "If you're nice to someone it prob'ly ain't right." |
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12 May 10 - 10:41 AM (#2905247) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: greg stephens So, excuse me for being a bit English, but could someone describe a canned refrigerator biscuit to me? It sounds interesting. It's just that no English biscuit would dream of being canned or refrigerated, and would in no conceivable circumstances blow up. |
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12 May 10 - 10:41 AM (#2905249) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: frogprince Not all the frivilous lawsuit business is recent. In 1955 or 1966, our family was sitting at a red light when a drunk plowed into us from behind. Dad had severe whiplash for awhile, but no one else in our car was injured. The drunk's wife and mother-in-law were riding with him. None of them appeared injured, but the MIL was so drunk she was semi-or-less conscious. Some weeks later we got a subpoena; the MIL was suing both her son-in-law and my father. We spent two days in court. When the proceeding reached an appropriate point, our insurance company lawyer approached the bench. The judge dismissed my father as plainly not at fault. |
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12 May 10 - 10:46 AM (#2905251) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: SINSULL Here you go, Greg: https://www.pillsbury.com/products/biscuits/refrigerated/Grands-Biscuits.htm Although mine were the store brand. |
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12 May 10 - 10:49 AM (#2905255) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: Ebbie (It is 'brakes', Sins) Canned refrigerator biscuits, Greg S, are not the English biscuit. They are not sweet. I don't know when they first became available - Pillsbury's, I think - but individual 'biscuits' are packed into a cylinder in the unraised dough stage and sealed. When you are ready to use them, you pull the strip off the package and separate the slices onto a cooking sheet. Within minutes they have risen and you pop them into the oven. Unless they explode first. :) |
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12 May 10 - 10:55 AM (#2905259) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: MMario They probably would have been fine to bake. |
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12 May 10 - 11:00 AM (#2905264) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: SINSULL Brakes! DOH! My unbaked biscuits breaked. And my car did too. I need to get back to work or I'll get braked and breaked. SINS |
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12 May 10 - 11:01 AM (#2905267) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: catspaw49 Greg...What you call scones is what we call biscuits. Canned biscuits........Jerry Clower renamed them for every man in America. He called the "WHOMP biscuits." That's the sound the tube makes when you whomp it against the counter edge and it opens. Biscuits and Gravy with fine old Southern Style Sausage gravy is, for most of us, a fine delicacy that any red-blooded good ol' boy knows is a food fit for the gods......and all of us too. Gravy recipes are family secrets and passed on betweeen generations. Biscuits make all the difference though. You take a someone like Karen who makes really fantastic biscuits and you'll find their husband is the envy of many men far less fortunate. And that is where Whomp Biscuits come in. Canned biscuits just ain't the real thing. Oh, they'll do if you have to but even the finest sausage gravy can't make it better. Jeryy Clower said the most disappointing sound in the world is when you head towards the kitchen and that great smell of sausage gravy and you hear, WWHOMP. Just ruins the rest of the day..........All your happiness and great expectation are dashed as the sound of WHOMP hits your ears. Spaw --- Proud and Humble husband of one of the world's great biscuit makers |
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12 May 10 - 11:04 AM (#2905269) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: Noreen US biscuits are more like our scones, greg- (plain and not fruity!) and are often served with gravy- which looks more like our custard :0) I take it that biscuits for breakfast are not served with gravy, Sins? What would they be served with then? They would have been very light if you had baked them! |
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12 May 10 - 11:14 AM (#2905282) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: SINSULL I make great biscuits - I prefer drop biscuits ala Nana Sullivan. And for breakfast they can be served with sausage gravy - not very heart friendly but delicious. I was using them in place of toast because my toaster died - a whole other story. I lead a very exciting kitchen life. Right now my dishwasher is leaking and I live in dread of getting electrocuted. LOL Never a dull moment. By the way, Noreen. How are you doing? Will we see you at the Getaway? SINS |
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12 May 10 - 11:15 AM (#2905285) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: VirginiaTam They are lighter and fluffier than scones.. god I miss southern style biscuits... I would pay big money for some Kentucky Fried Chicken or Hardees biscuits. I used to get Bisquick at ASDA, but they don't stock it any more. Wasn't there a story flying around the emails a decade ago about woman who thought she had been shot after biscuits exploded in her car? She reached back and thought she felt her brains hanging out the back of her head, then passed out. I was terrified of opening canned biscuits. Always got one of the kids to do it. |
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12 May 10 - 11:18 AM (#2905289) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: SINSULL Miss Tam. PM me your address. We have Bisquick in Maine. Very salty though. I frequently say that "My brains are falling out' as per Soupy Sales. Spaw has shown admirable restraint I think. And yes - KFC offers decent biscuits. M |
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12 May 10 - 11:32 AM (#2905300) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: catspaw49 Heart healthy? Why I'll have you know that biscuits and gravy are still on my favorites list although fighting fat is another story. Truthfully, all of my heart troubles and everything else came from smoking. Cholesterol was never a problem. Pre-op testing before the by-pass in '97 was 144 and I had all my blood and urine work done last week for the annual prescription renewal. Everything looked great btw but of special note.......Cholesterol was 103 !!!!! Bring on them eggs and sausage gravy and biscuits!!! Spaw |
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12 May 10 - 11:38 AM (#2905308) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: SINSULL I got my test results back and was told with a big SIGH "Lose weight NOW" Virtual sausage and gravy for me. Congratulations, Spaw. Good news. Love to Karen - I keep her on my list of thoughts and prayers. Mary |
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12 May 10 - 11:40 AM (#2905310) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: VirginiaTam Mary You are right about the bisquick being salty. Could I have your recipe for drop biscuits? Maybe I can approximate though I do find the flour in UK different than in the US. It is much stickier in UK. Is there more gluten in the flour here? |
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12 May 10 - 11:57 AM (#2905322) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: katlaughing Well, there is another Southern tradition, perhaps older than the gravy desecration. Reportedly passed on from my dad's West by Gawd Virginia grandfather....yummy, excellent biscuit recipe with butter and sugar put on them, after splitting them in two. They melt in your mouth and go great with scrambled eggs and, if you have to have meat, some crisp bacon strips! I am glad you explained the WHOMP, Spaw. That was my kids' favourite thing about quick and easy...we used to get the triangle-shaped ones, crescent rolls(?). I'd wrap a hot dog in each, cook them and the kids loved them. Now I'd never dream of feeding a kid such crap.:-) |
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12 May 10 - 12:04 PM (#2905332) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: GUEST,leeneia I used to use reduced-fat whomp biscuits for the DH's sausage biscuits until we checked out the salt. One biscuit supplies 17% of the RDA. Since the sausage has salt too, that's a double dose. Now I make these: MYSTERY BISCUITS Whisk together: 2 cups flour 2 tsp baking powder 1 Tbsp milk powder (if you have it around) Pour on top: 3/4 cup water 1/4 cup mayonnaise Stir well, knead a few times, form into 8 flattened balls. Bake at 375 for about 22 mins on a greased cookie sheet. ------ A note about whomping. Don't whomp the package on the counter unless you want to risk tiles popping off and tools bouncing around. Instead, press the tip of a spoon into the seam of the package. |
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12 May 10 - 12:06 PM (#2905334) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: GUEST,leeneia Re Sinsull's accident: "For all I know, my insurance company may have settled out of court and paid him something. The American Way." Sinsull, I worked for an accident lawyer for several years. Believe me, insurance companies do not pay out money they don't have to pay. They don't even pay money they should pay until forced. |
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12 May 10 - 03:28 PM (#2905490) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: SINSULL Unfortunately, leenia, my experience on the Board of Directors of a NYC co-op was the opposite. An old lady fell down once a year in front of a local co-op and collected about $10,000 each time because the insurance companies said it was too expensive to go to court over it. My recipe starts with cutting in butter or lard with two knives and makes the biscuits very flaky. I will dig it out. SINS |
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12 May 10 - 04:08 PM (#2905526) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: Ed T Hopefully, we never hear of a biscuit bomber. |
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12 May 10 - 04:21 PM (#2905534) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: Bill D I would LOVE to be able to make the sort of biscuits they serve at KFC or Popeye's. I don't even know exactly what to call them....are those 'drop' biscuits? (I want the flavor and texture both.) For Brits... biscuits (get that image of 'cookies' out of your heads)& gravy can be for breakfast, as well as part of other meals...just as biscuits themselves can, but there are several types of biscuits that might be made/served when NOT adding gravy. Biscuits & gravy is one of the things that has a huge range of styles...sadly. It is often tossed together and fobbed off to unwary travelers in a pasty, flavorless gravy over mediocre biscuits....and if people are new to the dish, they wonder why anyone bothers. Really, really good versions are amazingly good. I drove into Memphis, Tennessee one morning and kind of explored a couple of side streets until THAT restaurant looked good. It was family owned, with grandma in the kitchen and grand-daughter waiting tables....and the biscuits & gravy were grade 'A'. I always wondered if anywhere in Memphis would be similar. |
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12 May 10 - 04:36 PM (#2905542) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: Bill D Oh...by the way.... I never had real biscuits & gravy until I was grown. I was raised on what Mom called 'dried beef gravy'..usually called 'creamed, chipped beef'. It was 'usually' served on toast, though it is fine on biscuits also. Stouffers makes a passable frozen version, but Mom made it using 'dried beef' from a little commercial glass jar--then we saved the jars for orange juice. |
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12 May 10 - 04:43 PM (#2905548) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: SINSULL KFC's are rolled biscuits. The first time I had biscuits and gravy it was made from bear meat. Didn't care - it was delicious. SINS |
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12 May 10 - 04:44 PM (#2905549) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: Uncle_DaveO Sins: If your insurance company paid the truck driver, you might think it's no skin off your nose. But the rates that you or your company pays will go up, in all likelihood. Did you report the incident, with its surrounding facts, to the insurance company? You have a contractual duty to do so, even if you would just as soon pass it off. Dave Oesterreich |
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12 May 10 - 04:50 PM (#2905554) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: Becca72 Never mind the sausage gravy. Cover those suckers in strawberries and cream!! |
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12 May 10 - 04:53 PM (#2905557) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: SINSULL Yes, Dave. Police report. Insurance report. Multiple estimates before the car was written off. Doctors' reports for the concussion. Since it was a company car I had no control over the outcome nor did I ever get a report. I don't know whether they paid or not. I was amused that I did not sue when I could have easily gotten thousands. But the truck driver did when he sensed vulnerability. M |
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12 May 10 - 05:30 PM (#2905575) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: Ebbie I too make purdy good biscuits. Bill D, it's not that difficult. As Sins said, use butter, shortning or lard (I'm told that lard is best), make sure it's cold. Put the flour in a chilled bowl (taken from the freezer) and drop the the butter in. Take two table knives, set them pretty much on end and kind of 'walk' them around in the bowl, mixing the butter into the flour. It will make a scrapey sound as the knives work against each other. The usual advice is to continue the action until all the flour is about the texture and size of small peas. Pour chilled water into the mixture and quickly work it in (The idea is to keep the temperature of the mix cold.) You can use your hand for this, if you're comfortable with that. After it is all mixed, most people say to let it rest for five or 10 minutes (I put mine in the refrigerator) and then you are ready to make biscuits. If you want drop biscuits (less work) take a soup spoon and spoon it onto a greased cooking sheet, scraping it off the spoon with another spoon. If you want rolled biscuits (much tidier looking and tend to be more layer-ed), dump the bowlful onto your working surface and roll it to about the thickness of- oh, say, the thickness of three quarters stacked together - then take a cutter (I often use a water glass) and with a twist of the wrist to make a clean cut and then transfer the rounds to a cooking sheet. Oh, yes, and between each cutting dip the rim of the glass or whatever in flour so it doesn't stick or tear the dough. The scraps can be picked up and mashed together and the cutting repeated until it's pretty much used up. (When I was a kid my mother would take those scraps, pat them flat, sprinkle sugar and cinnamon on them then 'fry' them on top of the wood stove and hand them uot to us kids; there's a name for them but I've forgotten it.) Let the rounds sit until they puff up (raise) and pop the sheet into a hot oven. Look in the cookbook for temperature and baking time. Note: You want the dough chilled and you will want to handle the dough as little as possible because you don't want the biscuits to be tough. Now, that I'm sure, is more detail than you could want. :) |
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12 May 10 - 05:35 PM (#2905576) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: katlaughing BillD, we grew up with Chipped Beef in White Sauce on toast for supper very often. Id still eat it, even being a vegetarian, IF it didn't have so much sodium!And, I love the little glasses; they were just right for juice and little ones. I have done it with alternative veggie meat, but it's just not the same. I love a good white sauce, which to my mom and dad, was different from a gravy. My dad and I neither one liked gravy. |
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12 May 10 - 06:12 PM (#2905600) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: The Fooles Troupe "about woman who thought she had been shot after biscuits exploded in her car" The TV show Myth Busters did a whole show about 'exploding biscuits' - they proved it can easily happen that the cans will go off in a hot car. |
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12 May 10 - 06:36 PM (#2905614) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: Bill D Ok! Thanks, Ebbie.. I'll see if I can make something from those instructions. I have cooked a number of things, but never learned baking...(biscuits, pie crusts...etc.) kat..it may be that the 'gravy' we had was closer to 'white sauce' than I realize. and about: "Cover those suckers in strawberries and cream!! " I wasn't gonna mention that, but since it's up...one of my pet peeves is putting strawberries over that doughy, yellow commercial stuff and calling it 'shortcake'. Shortcake is 'almost' a biscuit, and should be served warm! I haven't had really good, homemade shortcake in years. Maybe I'll add shortcake variations to my biscuit attempts this Summer, as good berries become available...(and the best strawberries are NOT those huge photo-ready things they have selected for SIZE. You haven't lived until you have gone to a field and picked your own thumb-sized (we called them Arkansas berries in Kansas). |
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12 May 10 - 07:26 PM (#2905646) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: Ebbie I have never understood where the 'yellow' cakes come from - "shortcake"? More like twinkies. :) |
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12 May 10 - 07:51 PM (#2905658) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: Stilly River Sage Baking Powder Biscuits Preheat oven to 450o (F - this is the U.S.) 2 cups white flour 1/2 cup shortening 4 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar 2 teaspoons sugar 3/4 cup Water (NOT milk! This is a secret trick from a friend in Kentucky) Mix the dry ingredients, add the shortening (or you can use butter), and cut the shortening into the dry ingredients. I used to use one of those multi-wire things, but that same friend from Kentucky said you get a better consistency if you use your hands. Pour in the water, mix gently with a fork, until it all holds together and all of the flour is in the ball of dough. Flour a counter top, place the dough on the floured surface and gently knead it a few times. 10-12 strokes tops will give them some layers and let them be light and fluffy. Roll it out to about 3/4 inch thick with a rolling pin, then cut out your biscuits (I use a round cutter, but growing up, we used to just cut the entire thing into a grid and ate square biscuits.) I separate my biscuits so they have about an inch between each. If you put them close together then they'd end up soft on the sides. Mine aren't. [Drop biscuits are the same recipe but add a little more liquid, and they are dropped from a teaspoon onto a greased cookie sheet] Bake 10-12 minutes. When I make scones I use milk or cream and they have more sugar, and are generally like rich baking powder biscuits. SRS |
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12 May 10 - 09:14 PM (#2905696) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: SINSULL SRS, That's pretty much what I use for a recipe but I hate sweet and cut the sugar back to a teaspoon. Cut the shortening in with two knives until it is pebbly. Add ice cold water to form a ball for rolled biscuits and extra for a stickier dough for drop biscuits. Crisco makes for flaky biscuits but butter gives a nice flavor. I go 1/2 and 1/2. |
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12 May 10 - 09:14 PM (#2905697) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: Q (Frank Staplin) Nothing like biscuits (fresh-baked) and red eye gravy with the eggs and ham on a cold winter morning. English biscuits are hard, those sold here often come in tin boxes and about half of them have some kind of sugar either in or on them. Occasionally someone (usu. agent or salesman) gives us a box at Christmas. We put them outside to give the birds indigestion. |
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12 May 10 - 10:23 PM (#2905728) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: Tangledwood It's just that no English biscuit would . . . . in no conceivable circumstances blow up. What Greg? You don't like cheese and crackers? The Americans apparently enjoy exploding biscuits with their bangers. |
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12 May 10 - 10:39 PM (#2905738) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: Q (Frank Staplin) Americans prefer a good sausage; bangers are for the Fourth of July. |
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12 May 10 - 11:01 PM (#2905743) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: olddude A few years ago I bought a jug of fresh squeezed apple juice from a local farm in the fall. Put it in my office frig ... well like everything else It got forgotten about. One day .. kaboom ... the thing exploded ... it had started to ferment and the gas blew up the plastic jug ... what a mess OMG ... had fermented apple juice all over my office frig ...Smelled like that boones farm stuff we drank when I was a college kid ... good gosh was that terrible ...LOL .. |
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13 May 10 - 12:54 AM (#2905788) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: open mike who would you sue, Sinsull? Jacqui? the Doughboy? http://www.pillsbury.com/aall/default.aspx music content:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yKfDmqV9nA Kate Campbell sings her song Pans of Biscuits kate visits a biscuit joint http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4s-05afG_-0 i posted her Tomato song on the tomato seed thread earlier today. http://www.katecampbell.com/ |
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13 May 10 - 01:03 AM (#2905793) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: Rowan Hopefully, we never hear of a biscuit bomber. The blokes on the Kokoda Track in 1942 really welcomed their biscuit bombers; that was their name for the planes that airdropped food and other supplies as they forced the Japanese to retreat back to Buna. Cheers, Rowan |
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13 May 10 - 01:20 AM (#2905798) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: Liz the Squeak Here's a little tip for light scones - or biscuits if you prefer... Use sour milk. Works well in either sweet or savoury scones but makes them really light and fluffy inside. I made some cheese scones this week and they were bloody lovely. LTS |
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13 May 10 - 02:41 AM (#2905819) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: open mike or add a bit of buttermilk, yogurt, or sour cream, the acid content reacts with the baking powder to make them rise. i had to laugh when i saw "woman who thought she had been shot after biscuits exploded in her car? She reached back and thought she felt her brains hanging out the back of her head, then passed out" scary stuff! |
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13 May 10 - 05:37 AM (#2905900) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: VirginiaTam Hopefully, we never hear of a biscuit bomber Or the Scone of Stone. Bill/D - You make my mouth water. My Mamma also made chipped beef gravy on toast or biscuits. Talk about salt overload. But it was wonderful. She used to hide the jars of chipped beef in her room to keep the kids from sneaking bits of beef. LtS - is there a way to get milk to sour without having to wait for it to go off? Thanks for the recipes above. |
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13 May 10 - 07:57 AM (#2905969) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: Black belt caterpillar wrestler I once found an old tin of black treakle at the back of a little used cupboard. It felt like it was half full so I started to lever off the lid with a spoon handle. The next thing that I knew was a loud bang as the lid hit the kitchen ceiling! It looks like it had been fermenting for the last 5 years or so and the lid had been stuck on with old hardened residues. I should have noticed that the bottom was bowing out! |
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13 May 10 - 08:09 AM (#2905977) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: VirginiaTam 2 christmas' ago, at TSO's parents. we forgot to chill the champagne, so we put it in drawer of freezer. few hours later when we were sitting around telly dozing off a huge meal a loud THWAMPH came from kitchen. I was the only one sober enough to remember that we had forgotten the champagne. |
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13 May 10 - 08:17 AM (#2905985) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: SINSULL Forgot the champagne???? Are you people crazy????? In my younger days, before learning to pull the cork not push it, I blew out a light fixture with a champagne cork. OOOPS. |
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13 May 10 - 10:45 AM (#2906066) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: Ebbie I'm not sure of its efficacy but when I don't have sour milk or buttermilk on hand I add a touch of vinegar to the mix to give it that edge. |
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13 May 10 - 11:59 AM (#2906114) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: Stilly River Sage My recipe has so much baking powder, plus the cream of tartar, that any extra leavening agents are redundant. These are quite light biscuits. My Kentucky friend felt that milk didn't allow the biscuits to be as light and to form as nice of an outer crust as these do. Try a batch with water only before you start trying all of the milky additions, and I think you'll see the difference. SRS |
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13 May 10 - 12:14 PM (#2906121) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: MMario That works, ebbie; as does molasses for those recipes where the sweetness doesn;'t hurt. |
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13 May 10 - 03:03 PM (#2906235) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: katlaughing Hmmm...first I've ever heard of sugar in baking powder biscuits. We always just put it on top of the melting butter after they were cooked and still warm.:-) |
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13 May 10 - 05:47 PM (#2906357) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: gnu Molasses in biscuits? Hmmmm... interesting. |
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13 May 10 - 09:22 PM (#2906472) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: Janie My eastern Kentucky beekeeper granddad introduced us to the proper topping for biscuits. Honeycomb loaded with honey dropped onto a generous pat of butter on the plate, then mashed up real good and messy with a fork. Grab the hot biscuit as soon as Nanny has it out of the oven, break it open, and slather the butter-honey mash onto the biscuit with the fork. Be sure to lick the fork when yer done, and wipe the last of the mixture off your plate with half of the last biscuit that you just got told to share with your sister. Be sure to use all-purpose and not bread flour for biscuits. We prefer the taste of biscuits made with butter rather than shortening at our house. If I want flakey biscuits, I cut it into the flour until it is about pea-sized, as Ebbie said. If I want fluffy, I cut it in until the texture is like a very coarse cornmeal. I don't add sugar to regular biscuits, but make a "shortcake" when strawberries are in by adding 2 or 3 tablespoons of sugar to the recipe and using cream for the liquid instead of milk. BTW, U-Pick signs have popped up all over the county this past week. I know what I am doing Saturday morning. There is a restaurant in town that guards two recipes very closely. One is for their strawberry vinaigrette. The other is for their marvelous small scones. They are on the sweet side and I love the texture of them. They hint at the texture of shortbread without being the least bit dry. Dani taught me to make scones, and I follow her instructions to freeze the butter then grate it into the flour. However, Dani and I have very different ideas regarding the proper taste and texture of scones, and I don't particularly favor her recipe. (People used to mob our shared booth at the farmers market to snap them up, so plenty of people share her taste.) She likes moist scones with a texture very close to that of a fluffy biscuit. I like scones that are closer to a shortbread texture. I have not yet found a short scone recipe that is not too dry. I'm not afraid to tinker with a recipe, but have never been able to come close to the scones made by that local restaurant. |
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13 May 10 - 11:34 PM (#2906520) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: Janie FWIW, when baking, I cut the salt measurement in half. I experimented with eliminating salt from quick bread recipes such as biscuits and cornbread that use baking powder. Don't know the whys of it, but if no salt is used at all, these quick breads taste strongly of the baking powder. An aside. Except for the half measures of salt mentioned above, I did not use salt at all in cooking or at table for nearly 30 years. Time constraints due to life changes in the past 3 years have lead to me buying and using those highly salted frozen or otherwise prepackaged or prepared "shortcuts" in dinner preparations most week nights in order to get a hungry teenager fed before 8:30 or 9:00. Now unsalted foods or recipes taste very bland. Still don't use salt at table but have weakly succumbed to adding it to cooking water and sauces. Blood pressure - stable at an enviable 110/60 for years - is now fluctuating pretty wildly, and rarely goes below 140/80. |
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14 May 10 - 11:34 AM (#2906854) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: Liz the Squeak Vinegar or lemon juice in milk will 'turn' it - or just leave it out overnight in a warm climate - usually works! LTS |
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15 May 10 - 11:35 AM (#2907524) Subject: RE: BS: Exploding Biscuits From: GUEST,leeneia Liz dear, don't go leaving milk out overnight. Just add the acid (lemon juice or vinegar, as you say) and proceed with the recipe. Milk left out for that many hours is not safe to eat. It's spoiled, and we have no idea what microbes are in it. Baking will kill the living microbes but may not affect toxic by-products which the microbes produced while metabolizing the milk. Two teaspoons of lemon juice in a cup of milk will give you the 'sour milk' you need. I don't usually buy milk, so when a recipe calls for sour milk or buttermilk, I use plain yoghurt. That's how I make Irish soda bread every St. Patrick's Day. And if I'm feeling slapdash, 2 tsp of lemon juice in a cup of water will do. |