Sour Cream Drop Biscuits – MFC

This is the recipe I have used for years and years. It is from my mom’s very best friend -Mary Francis Christy. It is simple and so very good and the technique, you must admit makes it even better. I have made these for years and years when I just want a simple biscuit to go with my dinner and maybe a couple left over for breakfast the next day.

I do not have self-rising flour in the house often, unless I plan on some biscuits and in this case, I was not thinking ahead. If I don’t have self-rising flour, I do know how to make it out of all-purpose flour.

So here is the dead simple deal:

1/2 pint full-fat sour cream (full-fat – come on, you are making biscuits, right?)
8 Tbs unsalted butter, melted
healthy pinch of kosher salt
2 cups self-rising flour (or the make your own version w/A-P flour)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix all ingredients. Drop into greased muffin tin and bake until golden brown, 25 – 30 minutes, turning half way through.

You can also drop them onto an parchment-lined baking sheet, but the muffin tin thing is so much easier and they cook at the same time because they are the same size. Great, or what? Yep, great.

Sorry – since we are in the Biscuit Project, I really think these beat the drop biscuits from Cook’s Country. But you must understand – they are in Boston – that should tell you everything you need to know.

Although, I will allow that the technique here – baking the biscuits in muffin tins really makes a big difference. Cook’s Country – take note.

My mom and Mary Francis were like two peas in a pod. It was like having a local aunt, since all my real aunts live in North Carolina or beyond. I loved going to her house and I loved it too when she came to our house. Every time we just hung out in the kitchen and sort of saw what happened.

It is good to have people like that in your life when you are still impressionable – you know – what they now call tweens. But I’ve always been happier in the kitchen than anywhere else.

Sour Cream Cornbread

This is my go-to recipe for cornbread. Again, another recipe from a friend that I have been making for years. It is so damn good I take leftover, if there are any, to work for breakfast – split it open, toast it in the toaster oven and cover it in Kerry Gold Irish butter.  One of the best breakfasts, um, ever. Sometimes I gild the lily and add some extra-sharp cheddar before the toasting.

Now I must make this for the upcoming week at work.

That said, this is what I make to go with chili. I want the cornbread in the bottom of the bowl and chili on top with some extra sharp cheddar, scallions or chives, and sour cream. Oh, and a squeeze of lime never hurt this party.

1 cup self-rising cornmeal (you can make this if you just have plain cornmeal)
2 large eggs
1 small can of cream corn – I use Publix brand, it is really good.
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup canola oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 9×9″ baking dish with cooking spray. Combine all ingredients, mixing well. Pour into pan and bake for 20 – 30 minutes. You will know it is finished when it starts to pull away from the side and the bottom is slightly brown (that is, if you are using a glass baking dish).

Source: Dawn Randle Jennings

Sour Cream Drop Biscuits

My mom made drop biscuits a lot for dinner. I would make them into my dessert. Split a biscuit open, add lots (yes, lots) of butter, and then some honey. You have to eat this with a fork because otherwise you end up with honey all over your fingers. Or at least that’s what happens to me.

Cook’s Country

12 biscuits

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbs baking powder
1 tsp salt
16 ozs sour cream
7 Tbs unsalted butter, melted and cooled, divided (5/2)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Stir in sour cream and 5 Tbs of butter until combined.

Using a greased 1/4 cup measure, drop generous dough scoops 2 inches apart. Brush with remaining butter and bake till golden brown, 20 – 25 minutes rotating the pan half way through. Let biscuits cool on sheet placed on wire rack for 15 minutes. Serve warm.

Compared to my mom’s best friend’s sour cream biscuits – Mary Francis Christie – that woman could really cook. And I made those biscuits over and over again – so the challenge is on. Along with lots of other drops biscuits that I have yet to try.

I have to say, I was underwhelmed with these biscuits. The flavor was pretty good, but the biscuits were just kind of on the flat side. I didn’t fiddle with the recipe either – did it just as prescribed. I did take them to work for breakfast and spilt them and put them in a toaster oven, added butter, and honey and the taste was good – crunch from the toasting was nice, but they were not my idea of a biscuit.

More experimentation in the future. Damn, make me try more biscuits, my life is so difficult, right?

Cranberry Relish

I really feel like I have been making this for 20-something years, and when I get right down to – that’s not too far off the mark. Yikes. How old am I? Well the other option is not being older (ie: dead), so I will take what I can get. More Cranberry Relish for me and my friends. And not being dead …

I grew up with the cranberry sauce in a can – with the funny little ridges. And do not get me wrong, I loved that stuff. No, really loved it, but this recipe was just such a lucky, fortunate fluke – sometimes you just have to take the wins where you can get them.

So many people think, ugh – horseradish, but honestly. Give it a go – even if you only do a half recipe while the fresh cranberries are on sale (at the Publix). You might just find a new favorite.

Other advantages – keeps well in the fridge for months; is excellent with other roasted meats, esp. chicken and pork; and amazingly good on the obligatory leftover turkey sandwich on white bread with bleu cheese dressing (miss you, Walt). Oh, and good on a cheese plate as well – sweet and sour with a little heat from the horseradish. I have a friend that I make this for that uses it on a peanut butter and “jelly” sandwich. O…kay. I will never do that but I am glad he does and enjoys it. To each his own.

How do I explain the cloves? This recipe is the only reason I buy ground cloves.
Definition – “the dried flower bud of a tropical tree, Syzygium aromaticum, of the myrtle family.” Means nothing, thank you dictionary.com. Oh, and “Food Lover’s Companion,” my go to food bible – again – thanks for nothing. Just spend the money and get the tiny jar of ground cloves. It is kind of like allspice in way – hard to explain, complex, but in this case, very necessary.

2 packages (6 cups) fresh cranberries
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups fresh orange juice
1/3 cup prepared horseradish, just drain it a bit
1/2 tsp ground cloves

Rinse cranberries, removing any that seem suspect. Combine sugar and orange juice in a large saucepan. Heat on medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Add cranberries and mix until the cranberries start to burst. Simmer for a bit. Let cool completely. Mix in the horseradish and the cloves. Refrigerate.  This will keep for months. And that is an excellent thing. Because you never know when you are going to need it. Yes, need it.

Always check the horseradish and cloves before making. Usually, this is when I buy horseradish and cloves for the year. Cloves keep a little better, but you might need to add more than usual, but I have learned my lesson with the horseradish. Unless you have access to a horseradish root (lucky devil), get the freshest prepared horseradish you can – if it somewhere close to local – all the better. This is the time of year, I use horseradish a lot.

11 November 2017 – appetizer potluck at work for sweet potato ham biscuits

18 November 2017 – gifts – Sandy, Traci, Joyce, Doug, Tony. Elaine, Josh … etc.

20 November 2017 – Thanksgiving

Cranberries on sale – at the Publix right now – 2 packages for $3. Excellent. I will just keep making this for the next month for sure. There is never enough cranberry relish and never enough friends to share it with.

Me taking pictures again. Not horrible, but not great either. Rhino in the bkgd.

Source: Since 1998 or so – Southern Living, I think, or maybe not. Who knows at this point, and does it really matter if you’ve been doing it for almost twenty years?

Sweet Potato Biscuits – a cautionary tale

Yes. It’s that time of year, again. Sweet potatoes biscuits with ham, horseradish cream, and cranberry relish. Another Thanksgiving and a new version of a sweet potato biscuit. I am still searching for some illusive thing in the sweet potato biscuit department. Will I ever find it? Not sure, but I will not stop looking until I am very satisfied with what I am baking.

Tried a new recipe – did not work, um, at all.
Source: Chowhound. Don’t make this recipe. Just saying. 8 November 2017

I am sorry. I am not satisfied. These were blah. I did like the idea of the grated frozen butter though but I am thinking I am going back to my recipe from Foster’s Market. Lord I loved that place. Maybe Sara Foster would let me open one here it the best part of Florida which is, by the way, just Lower Alabama. This is LA.

So here is my go-to so far. And what I will make this weekend for our Friends-giving pot luck appetizer lunch on Monday. Thank goodness is we have a three day weekend, because otherwise this would never happen especially since I have to plan for way more food than I may never make.

Sweet Potato Biscuits (easy recipe to half)

5 cups self-rising flour
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 cup cold butter, cut into small cubes
1/4 cup cold vegetable shortening
2 cups buttermilk
1 cup cooked mashed sweet potato – usually 1 sweet potato (roasted)
2 Tbsp. salted European butter, melted – spend the little bit extra.

Preheat oven to 425°. Stir together first 3 ingredients in a large bowl. Cut butter cubes and shortening into flour mixture with pastry blender or fork just until mixture resembles coarse meal. Cover and chill 10 minutes.

Whisk together buttermilk and sweet potato in a large measuring cup. Add to flour mixture, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Don’t over work this – I think it effects the rise.

Turn dough out onto a well floured surface, and knead lightly 3 or 4 times. Pat or roll dough to 3/4-inch thickness; cut with a 2-inch round cutter, reshaping scraps once (Do not twist cutter – this is way more important than you may think, but biscuits are a bit fussy about things like this – just don’t do it. The won’t rise well if you twist.).* Place rounds on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.

Bake at 425° for 18 to 20 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown. Remove from oven, and brush tops of biscuits with melted (salted) butter – do this, yes. Serve immediately.

Makes 3 dozen.

Source: Foster’s Market – Foster’s is on the 15-501 between Chapel Hill and Durham, NC. It is a fanciful place that does so many things well. I miss it greatly, but I loved going there. Sara Foster is gifted in a way not many people are and it was a great joy to be able to frequent the shop/restaurant/coffee shop/whatever. The Foster’s Market Cookbook is the ONLY signed cookbook I have. Ms. Foster is charming, engaging, and lovely.

Made a half recipe this time, excellent as always.

Had been using Emeril’s recipe for sweet potato biscuits for years – a dozen or so, but I think the Foster’s Market version rose a bit better. I do like the use of ground pecans in Emeril’s recipe. Need to figure out how to combine the two. Both recipes are now in my Thanksgiving binder, so that means something

*This year, did not bother with biscuit cutters at all and just used my # 30 disher and it worked out really well as a drop biscuit. Yeah, so much easier than rolling and cutting and whatnot. Not quite as uniform, but tasty all the same.

Butter / Egg Usage – December 2016

December started out for me on the 16th. This does not a good month of cooking/baking make. I mean it is December after all, but sometimes after Thanksgiving, you just do the best that you can do. Sad, but true. That and my dishwasher died – serious impediment to doing anything in the kitchen. It is surprising how much so.

Southern Toffee

16 December 2016 – 12 Tbs / 2 eggs – Chocolate Chip Pretzel Bars

18 December 2016 – 24 Tbs – Southern Toffee 

22 December 2016 – 2 eggs – M&M Cookies

26 December 2016 – 8 Tbs unsalted butter- Chex Mix

26 December 2016 – 16 Tbs / 2 eggs – Sugar Cookies

26 December 2016 – 4 Tbs – Real Macaroni and Cheese

27 December 2016 – 2 Tbs – Sautéed Apples

30 December 2016 – 12 Tbs – Pecan Chocolate Toffee Shortbread Cook’s Country

30 December 2016 – 5 1/3 Tbs – Sausage Cheddar Scallion Biscuit Bread
Eggs = 6

Butter = 83.3 Tbs = 10.4125 sticks – 41.65 ozs – 2.603 pounds.

Eggs = 2 +2 +2 +6 – math is involved. = 12 large eggs.

 

 

Thanksgiving

So I have mostly always made my same Thanksgiving appetizer, and I have to say it really is pretty much amazing. Sweet potato biscuits with ham and horseradish cream.  Just going to say, thank you once again to JW because this was all him. He was the best caterer for UNC-Chapel Hill while I was there and I totally took the idea and ran with it.

Even so, I wanted to find a new appetizer for this Thanksgiving. But I do think I will make my small little sweet potato biscuits with all the best things, just because I can. But maybe this year my excellent cranberry sauce will be part of this mix.  Indeed.

That said, I have been looking for Thanksgiving appetizers – they all seem to involve cranberries or Rosemary – thank you most overwhelming pinterest. Sigh. Do love some Rosemary, but isn’t there anything else?

When I was young, Thanksgiving was a huge deal at our house. The only downer part about it was being stuck at the kids’ table. Really? Ugh. I understand that my older brother and sister were a LOT older and were pretty much married by the time I was 9-ish, but I was stuck with my younger sister and nieces and nephews – it was just insulting.

One of those weird things that I remember was a glass dish that my mother would take out for Thanksgiving and put gerkins on one side and olives on the other. Olives = ick. Gerkins = loved them. Besides Bread ‘n Butter pickles, gerkins were the only pickles I ever liked.

I  can totally see that glass dish. Should have asked for it long ago and now it is too late. Let that be a lesson – do not wait –  ask for what you want from your parents because if you do not you will be forever disappointed. I know I will be giving things away very early – like my Dad’s mom did. Simplify everything.

That just got slightly strange – but on to the Thanksgiving plans. And planning is involved – lots of it.

Apparently spell check does not like the word gerkins. No, it sure doesn’t.

So we are about a week-ish out from the big day and, my friends, this is go time.

1. Make decisions on what to make and how much depending on your guest list – my list, this year, is small. But that is not a bad thing because The Boy will be joining us and that makes me very happy.

2. Develop a grocery list of what you need and when you need to buy it. And then develop the “making” list – ie. when you can/will make each thing, but do what I do … plan for a catch up day on the Wednesday before the big day. That day, with nothing planned, will save you.

3. Order your turkey from the butcher shop. And also call your favorite bakery to order Parker House Rolls – I have been doing this forever. No need to make yourself crazy at this point. They will, pretty much, be better than anything you can make – unless you are making biscuits for Thanksgiving – and in that case, I salute you.

4. Pick one, just one, no seriously just one, new recipe to try. I will try.

5. Figure out what appetizer to make. Just don’t go overboard – less is more in this case. See above.

6. Add staples (butter, eggs, heavy cream, lemons, chocolate chips, local pecans, etc.) to your regular grocery list.

7. Watch grocery ads for Thanksgiving specials. Traditional there are lots of them. Hello fresh cranberries.

8. Decide if you want girkins. Hope you do for my sake.

Fall / Thanksgiving planning

I guess it is time to start thinking about the fall baking/cooking season and, dum dum dum … Thanksgiving. It seems that Thanksgiving always sneaks up on me. Because it does not get cold here, really, until after January. I’m still wearing opened toe sandals for heavens’ sake.  I can’t imagine doing Canadian Thanksgiving – October 12th. Too soon for us in the South, but not too soon for them, I suppose. Good on you!

And here are the things I am thinking about:

Down-sizing recipes – for a few of us that is what will happen. How do you scale down cornbread dressing? I have no idea. Depending on what family stays, what family and friends are coming into town, and what family goes to others out of town, it makes a difference in planning. But there are certain things that just must happen for Thanksgiving. Cranberry relish – yes!

Why not biscuits for Thanksgiving? Hello, we are in the south – yep. Drop biscuits are my favorite. Sour Cream drop biscuits instead of my usual Parker House rolls.

Sweet Potato Biscuits with ham and horseradish cream

I think I need a new filling for my sweet potato biscuits. I love them the way they are, (with ham and horseradish cream} but I think I must come up with something new. But I do think horseradish will be involved. It is a stupidly great combination.

Something with corn – I’m thinking a corn soufflé which could be really cool.

Some kind of apple dessert – slab pie, maybe? Or this apple cake “Tatin” thing?  Did that this month, and … so amazing. You can read about here.

A Fall Salad – with apples, pecans, some spinach and, in my perfect world, mandarin oranges. Yep.

Do hate all the pumpkin crap,,, Guess that is, mostly, because everyone goes all pumpkin crazy beginning in August. It is just way over kill. And the taste is largely meh. But apparently I’m in the minority on this one. I just don’t get it.

Sausage Cheddar Biscuits

Sausage Cheddar Biscuits

I love biscuits. Guess every real Southerner does – it is probably genetic to some degree. My favorite weeknight biscuits are drop biscuits. They come together fast and are super satisfying with a quick dinner. They are also great the next day, split open and toasted and topped with cream rich butter.

The recipe I used for these Sausage Cheddar Biscuits is from Tricia Yearwood’s cooking show. I enjoy her show because so much of what she fixes, based on her family recipes, are very very (!)  similar to the way my mom always cooked. In fact, I’ve used several of her recipes to help be get back to something my mom made, but I never had a recipe for. Part of the problem is that my mom, largely, didn’t have recipes for most of the things she made. Another part of the problem was me. I would call and ask for help with making something and I made just the laziest of notes about them, and then she was gone. It took time to realize all the things I didn’t know. So now I’m trying to get back to what I never took the time to do before.

On to these biscuits. I think, really, I know, any time you add sausage to something, it is good eats. Lovely as well is that I had all ingredients on hand. Not surprising considering that there are only five.

8 ozs pork bulk breakfast sausage, hot
1/2 pound unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sour cream
2 cups self rising flour
5 ozs shredded extra sharp cheddar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment.

In a skillet, cook sausage until well browned, breaking the sausage into small pieces. Drain on paper towels and cool completely.

In a stand mixer, mix together sour cream and butter mix in flour, a little at a time until fully combined. Add sausage and cheese and mix until incorporated.

Drop heaping tablespoonfuls of dough onto parchment. Bake until lightly brown 20 – 25 minutes, rotating half way through.

Notes: So many things.
First, I did not have self-rising flour, so I made my own.
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/tips/homemade-self-rising-flour.html
This is not a problem in my opinion because I rarely use enough self-rising flour to keep it on hand.
The original recipe used pork sausage with sage – not a flavor I’m a fan of, so the change.

The thing I did wrong on the first batch was forget what one of my mom’s best friend taught me about drop biscuits. I made the biscuits too big, they spread a bit much, but they tasted amazing. And duh, what’s the trick? Bake drop biscuits in a muffin tin. It is perfect! Every time.

Sweet Potato Biscuits – Foster’s Market

Foster’s Market Sweet Potato Biscuits with tavern ham and horseradish cream

I always seem to make too many sweet potatoes for my most requested Sunday Sweet Potatoes dish for Thanksgiving. So there are two things you do with excess sweet potatoes. Oh, and in November / December they are really inexpensive.

1 – feed dogs mashed sweet potatoes – they totally love it. And then they start to expect it – spoiled puppies. But I love them – probably way too much.

2 – make sweet potato biscuits. A sublime thing, that is stupidly, simple.

I was living in Chapel Hill, NC the first time I had sweet potato biscuits and they were served just like this – with salty ham and horseradish cream. Heavenly.

Sweet Potato Biscuits

• 5 cups self-rising flour
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 cup cold butter, cut into small cubes
• 1/4 cup cold vegetable shortening
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 1 cup cooked mashed sweet potato
• 2 Tbsp. butter, melted

Preheat oven to 425°. Stir together first 3 ingredients in a large bowl. Cut butter cubes and shortening into flour mixture with pastry blender or fork just until mixture resembles coarse meal. Cover and chill 10 minutes.

Whisk together buttermilk and sweet potato. Add to flour mixture, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened.

Turn dough out onto a well floured surface, and knead lightly 3 or 4 times. Pat or roll dough to 3/4-inch thickness; cut with a 2-inch round cutter, reshaping scraps once. (Do not twist cutter.) Place rounds on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.

Bake at 425° for 18 to 20 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown. Remove from oven, and brush tops of biscuits with melted butter. Serve immediately.

Makes 3 dozen.

Foster’s Market

Made a half recipe this time, but they were excellent.

Had been using Emeril’s recipe for sweet potato biscuits, but I think the Foster’s Market version rose a bit better. I do like the use of ground pecans in Emeril’s recipe. Need to figure out how to combine the two.