Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Buttermilk Biscuits & Curry Gravy

I'm going to cut right through it and clear up the curry gravy mystery right now. First off, I don't make gravy for biscuits from scratch. Bacon or sausage grease are best soaked up in a paper towel and tossed, in my humble arteries' opinion. I'm partial to packaged powder like Jimmy Dean brand; just add to cold water, whisk, bring to a simmer and cook till thick. Normally I add
a dash of ground cayenne for flavor. This past Saturday morning I was looking for the cayenne at the last moment and grabbed the turmeric by mistake - and ended up with yellow gravy (I still added a dash of cayenne). Deciding to keep quiet, which I often do when trying to pull a fast one, I waited for Paul's reaction. Of course he noticed; he almost always does; and he loved it! Who'd of thunk? So if you're feeling brave, give turmeric, an important ingredient in curry, a whirl!



For the biscuits, I've tried making them with part butter and part z-trim, but, honestly, cold butter is important for flaky biscuits. However, a couple of modifications are in the recipe. And if you don't have buttermilk, substitute in 1 tablespoon of white vinegar into 1% or 2% milk. Also it is a good idea to use a great quality biscuit cutter. From personal experience I can tell you a sharp cutter will yield higher biscuits. Endurance brand cutters are my fave. Try online like King Arthur Flour site or your local fine kitchen store will have them.



2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup HiMaize
1/4 cup wheat germ
3 T organic sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1 egg, beaten
1 1/8 cups buttermilk



Combine dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add egg and milk all at once; mix until dough forms a ball. Turn dough out on a lightly floured surface and knead 10 to 12 times. Roll out to ¾” thickness. Cut with floured 2-½” biscuit
cutter. Place biscuits you aren’t immediately baking on ungreased baking sheet and freeze. When biscuits have frozen, they may be stored in a plastic bag in the freezer until needed.

To bake biscuits, place on lightly greased baking sheet, bake at 475° for 12-15 min. or until light brown. Makes 1 dozen.


I do bake a few and freeze the rest. I find that placing frozen biscuits onto a baking sheet and into a cold oven and THEN turning the oven on works very well. Enjoy!