1/2 c Shortening
2 1/4 c Flour
2 1/2 ts Baking powder
1/2 ts Baking soda
1 tb Sugar
1/2 ts Salt
1 1/4 c Buttermilk
Place shortening in small plastic food bag. Flatten shortening between
plastic sheets so it is thin and return to freezer. This allows
shortening to become hard enough to break, into tiny pieces when
added to dry ingredients. Tear 2 pieces wax paper about 15 inches
long and place on counter, Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda,
sugar and salt onto wax paper. Place empty sifter on top of bare
sheet of wax paper, lift sheet of wax paper holding sifted dry
ingredients by sides and pour through sifter, sifting onto bare wax
paper. Sift back and forth 3 times, then sift once more into large
mixing bowl. Remove shortening from freezer. Cut into small bits,
about 1/4-inch square. Drop shortening bits into bowl of dry
ingredients and, using fingertips, lightly rub shortening and flour
together, occasionally tossing flour mixture so you touch all
particles of shortening with flour. When mixture has bits of
flour-covered shortening throughout, begin adding buttermilk. Using
fork, add buttermilk, lightly stirring to mix with dry ingredients.
Cover board or surface with dusting of flour. Gather sticky mass of
dough and place on floured surface. Dust hands with flour and gently
knead dough, adding enough flour only to make dough manageable. Pat
dough with hands or roll with floured rolling pin into round 1/2-inch
thick. Using 2-inch cutter, cut out biscuits and place touching each
other in 3 rows, in center of greased baking sheet. Place on middle
rack of 425-degree oven and bake 12 minutes, or until lightly golden.
Remove from oven and serve hot or warm. Makes 19 (2-inch round)
biscuits. ***NOTE::By Marion Cunningham Thanks to Eula Mae Dore, a
great Southern cook from Avery Plantation, La., I’ve learned to make
the best Buttermilk Biscuits I’ve ever had. Eula Mae says a good
biscuit is one of the best things to have on hand for quick meals.
She uses them in emergencies to make simple sandwiches filled with
scraps of ham or cheese and serves them with pickles and a small
salad. For dessert, she warms a biscuit or two and makes a shortcake
with fresh fruits or berries. She has convinced me that you can’t
have too many biscuits on hand. Eula Mae learned to cook and bake
from her grandmother, not from cookbooks, and the artfulness of her
preparation was a joy to watch. Here are some of her biscuit-making
tips: + First go out and replace your baking powder, unless you
bought it within the last four months. More baking flops occur from
old, tired baking powder than from any other cause. And don’t rely on
the old test of checking the freshness of baking powder by putting a
spoonful in a glass of water to see if it fizzes. Baking powder, like
a carbonated drink, can fizz a little and still be almost flat.
Buying new baking powder costs very little when you consider the cost
of baking failures. + Next, Eula Mae insists that sifting the dry
ingredients four times is the reason her biscuits are perfect. I
tested the recipe sifting and not sifting and, indeed, sifting does
make a slightly higher, more tender biscuit. + After you cut the
biscuit dough, put the pieces on a baking sheet upside down. This
ensures a taller, lighter biscuit by making sure any edges crimped by
the pressure of the cutting don’t interfere with the rise. (The
French use the same trick when making puff pastry.) + The tip that
helped me the most was using less flour than usual. Eula Mae’s dough
was soft and sticky. She handled it gently, dusting her hands and the
dough with only enough flour to make the dough manageable. The result
was a lighter biscuit.
Yields
12 Servings