Southern Buttermilk Biscuits

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Cook’s notes: For a flaky, buttery biscuit, keep the ingredients cold and do not overwork the dough. Liquid measures are approximate, use more or less to achieve a barely moist dough that holds together, but is not wet or elastic.

Ingredients

Makes six 3½” biscuits.

  • 2 cups (250 grams) all-purpose flour, spooned & leveled
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 6 tablespoons (85 grams) cold unsalted butter, cubed
  • 1 cup (180 ml) cold buttermilk, plus more for the tops of the biscuits

Instructions

Preheat oven to 450°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt until well combined. Add the in the cubed cold butter and cut into the dry ingredients using a pastry cutter (you may also use a food processor for this step) until you have small pea sized pieces of butter. Pour the cold buttermilk into the mixture and gently work it together until the dough starts to come together.

Alternative method: add dry ingredients to food processor and pulse several times to combine. Add cold, cubed butter to food processor and pulse briefly several times, until butter is pea sized. Add buttermilk and pulse until just combined. Do not overwork the dough.

Scoop the dough onto a lightly floured surface and gently work it together with your hands. Pat the dough into a rectangle and fold it in thirds. Turn the dough, gather any crumbs, and flatten back into a rectangle. Do not use a roller. Repeat this process two to four more times.

After the final turn, pat the dough into a 1/2-inch thick rectangle (make sure to measure!). Using a floured 3.5-inch biscuit cutter, cut out the biscuits. Continue to gather any scrap pieces of dough, patting it back down to 1/2-inch thickness.
Arrange the biscuits on the baking sheet touching each other. Brush the top of each biscuit with a little bit of buttermilk or melted butter.

Bake at 450°F for about 15-17 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Remove from the oven and brush with melted butter if desired. Allow to cool for a few minutes, serve.

Credit: Southern Buttermilk Biscuits, Genius Kitchen

Basic Focaccia

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Ingredients

  • 3¼ to 3½ cups bread flour
  • 1 tbsp kosher salt
  • 1 sachet bread yeast
  • Scant 1½ cups warm water, divided
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Directions

Proof yeast in 1 cup warm water.

Combine flour, salt and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook.  Add the yeast with its water and allow mixer to knead the bread until it is a soft dough.  Coat with olive oil and cover with plastic wrap.  Allow to rise 24 hours.

Pan method

Preheat oven to 450°F .

Prepare a rimmed, half tray cookie sheet with 3 tbsp olive oil. Turn out dough and spread to the edges of the pan.  Allow to rest 1 hour.  Dimple top with finger tips, then brush with olive oil and kosher salt.  Bake 15-20 minutes, until top is lightly browned and edges are golden.

Stone method

Preheat oven and stone to 450°F.

Prepare a peel liberally with corn meal.  Turn out dough onto peel and spread to the edges.  Allow to rest for 1 hour.  Dimple top with finger tips, then brush with olive oil and kosher sale.  Transfer to stone, and bake 15-20 minutes until the top is lightly browned and the bottom is golden.

Credit: Unknown provenance

Yankee Pot Roast

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This is a crock pot recipe that takes about 8 or 9 hours to cook. Halve cooking time for conventional oven and dutch oven roasting.

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 lbs lean beef chuck roast, trimmed of fat & cut into serving-size pieces
  • 3 medium baking potatoes,  cut into quarters (about 1 lb)
  • 1 large parsnip, cut into 3/4-inch slices
  • 2 celery ribs, cut into 3/4-inch slices
  • 2 large carrots, cut into 3/4-inch slices
  • 1 medium white onion, sliced
  • 2bay leaves
  • 1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves
  • 1 tsp dried rosemary
  • 1/2 c beef broth

Directions

Trim roast of fat and silverskin.  Season roast with salt & pepper.  Combine vegetables & seasonings in crock pot.  Place beef over vegetables, & pour broth over beef.  Cover and cook on LOW until meat is fork-tender, approximately 8 -9 hrs.  Remove beef to serving platter, & arrange vegetables around beef. Remove & discard bay leaves.

To make a gravy, ladle the juices into a 2c measuring cup; allow to stand 5 mins, skim off & discard fat. Measure remaining juices & heat to a boil in small saucepan. For each cup of juice, mix 2 tbsp of flour with 1/4 cup of cold water or dry red wine until smooth.  Stir mixture into boiling juices, stirring constantly until thickened (about 1 min).

Basic Bacon dry cure

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For a dry cure bacon, use 22g salt, 10g sugar and 3.2g PP#1 per kilogram of pork belly. Cure 7-14 days, turning daily. Rest in a cool, dry refrigerator to desiccate for up to 48 hours before smoking. Surface should feel papery or leathery.

Ratios: 2.2% salt, 1% sugar, 0.32% PP#1 by weight.

For bulk cure, per weight of salt: 100% salt, 45% sugar, 15% PP#1. Add cure to meat at 3.52% by weight of meat.

Smoke at 180°F over hardwood to an internal temperature of 145°F, about 3 hours.

Bacon, bacon, bacon!

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Our last attempt at curing bacon didn’t work out so well, coming out more like a country ham than bacon. The cure also gave the fat a kind of sickly, gamey flavor that I found mildly off putting. It was a combination of too much salt, too much time and blurring the line between a wet cure and a dry cure.

Back to fundamentals. This 10 pound belly is split into thirds and I’m working on three different recipes: a basic dry cure, a basic wet cure and a bourbon & black pepper wet cure.

Basic Dry Cure

Derived from several online sources. This is for 3.3 lbs of belly.

  • 3.3 lb pork belly, trimmed
  • ¼ cup sea salt
  • ¼ cup raw sugar
  • 1 ½ teaspoon pink salt

Combine dry ingredients and coat pork belly liberally on all sides. Seal in a zip lock bag and displace as much air as possible. Refrigerate 5 days, turning daily. After 5 days, rinse the cure from the belly, pat dry and refrigerate on a rack 4 hours or overnight, uncovered. Smoke over 225°F until internal temp reaches 150°F. Refrigerate up to 1 week, or freeze up to 2 months.

Basic Wet Cure

Derived from several online sources. This is for 3.3 lbs of belly.

  • 3.3 lb pork belly, trimmed
  • ¼ cup sea salt
  • ¼ cup raw sugar
  • 1 teaspoon pink salt
  • 2 cups cold water

Combine ingredients in a zip lock bag and slosh around to dissolve. Seal belly in the bag with the brine and displace as much air as possible. Refrigerate 2-3 days, turning daily. After 3 days, rinse the cure from the belly, pat dry and refrigerate in a rack 4 hours or overnight, uncovered. Smoke over 225°F until internal temp reaches 150°F. Refrigerate up to 1 week, or freeze up to 2 months.

Bourbon & Black Pepper Wet Cure

Derived from several online sources. This is for 3.3 lbs of belly.

  • 3.3 lb pork belly, trimmed
  • ¼ cup sea salt
  • 2 tablespoons raw sugar
  • 2 tablespoons coarse ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon pink salt
  • 1 ½ cups cold water
  • ½ cup Kentucky straight bourbon, 80 proof

Combine ingredients in a zip lock bag and slosh around to dissolve. Seal belly in the bag with the brine and displace as much air as possible. Refrigerate 2-3 days, turning daily. After 3 days, rinse the cure from the belly, pat dry and refrigerate in a rack 4 hours or overnight, uncovered. Smoke over 225°F until internal temp reaches 150°F. Refrigerate up to 1 week, or freeze up to 2 months.

Limoncello #2

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Reply

Another variant on Lemoncello.

Ingredients

  • 1.75 L Everclear
  • 12-15 unmarked, unblemished lemons
  • 7 cups water
  • 4 2/3 cups sugar

Instructions

  • Wash the lemons with hot water, removing any wax. Be careful not to damage the skin.
  • Using a citrus zester or chef’s microplane, remove the yellow zest, and set aside. Try not to score too deeply into the pith (white part) of the rind, as it will bitter the product
  • Combine the alcohol and zest in a large jar. Seal and store in a cool dark place for 20-40 days. Allow to macerate. Give it a good shake once or twice during the first week.

On bottling day, prepare the simple syrup. Combine sugar and water in large saucepan and stir over medium heat until solution clarifies. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature (2 hours). Measures above yield about 2.5L.

When the syrup is cool, strain the zest out of the alcohol mixture. A coffee filter works well, and can be supported in a strainer or a funnel.

Combine the alcohol and syrup in a vessel large enough to accommodate the alcohol and the syrup.
-or-
Combine measured amounts of syrup and alcohol in screw-top bottles using 3:2 sugar-alcohol ratio.

[Optional] Store bottles in a cool, dark place to rest for another 20-40 days. This allows flavors to “marry” in the bottle, and lends a smoother product.

Store one bottle in the freezer and serve ice cold in a shot glass or small cordial.

Some notes:

  • You want to start with a neutral alcohol, the higher proof the better. Higher alcohol content will leach the oils out of the lemon rind more quickly. I use Everclear. Things finish up in about 3 weeks, but I give it the full 40 just because.
  • Higher proofs call for more lemons, because you’ll cut it down more at the end for a “sane” proof. This dilutes the lemon flavor.
  • Pick 12 unmarked, unblemished lemons. Try to avoid lemons that are still green, have been stamped, bruised or have dark spots. You’re going to use the outermost layer of the fruit, so you’ll want to work with the best you can find.
  • You’re going to have a lot of nude lemons laying around. They’re good for gin & tonic, marinade or whatever else. If you can’t use them immediately, the juice lasts longer in a bottle than it does in a denuded lemon.
  • The simple syrup mix is subjective. Some people like sweeter cello, and use a water-sugar ratio of 1 part water, 1 part sugar. I found that to be a little too sweet for my tastes, and thinned out to 3 parts water 2 parts sugar. I’ve seen some recipes that go out as far as 2 parts water to 1 part sugar. It’s up to you. You’ll just need a working volume to hit your target alcohol content. (see below)

One thing I’ve found is it’s hard to target a given volume of syrup. The sugar loses volume when it dissoves, and again when it heats. In general, I think you lose about 25% of the sugar volume to solution and heating. You’ll have to play around and see.

  • Alcohol content. You probably know that the “proof” value on the bottle is twice the value of the alcohol by volume (ABV). So, 100 proof is 50% ABV. Most lemoncello sold commercially has a bottle proof of 60 to 70, or is between 30 and 35% ABV. I like mine a little stronger, around 80 proof which is the proof at which most liquor is sold. Everclear is 195 proof, or about 97.5% ABV. I like using Everclear because (1) it makes the math easy and (2) when cut down to bottle proof, it yields a larger volume. Good for storing and good for gifts.

When I’m done macerating the fruit rinds and strain the alcohol out, I get a hair less than 1750mL in the jar, and it’s still at 97%. I want to target 80 proof (40%) so I just divide the volume (1750) by the target proof to get a total volume of 4375mL, or 4.375L. I need to add 2.625L of volume to my 1.75L of “pure,” 97% alcohol cut down to roughly 80 proof. If you have a big pot, bottling bucket or lemonade tun, you can just dump everything into the pot, mix it up, and then pour it into the bottles. If not, then you need to mix measured ratios into your bottles. With Everclear, it’s an easy 3 parts syrup to 2 parts alcohol mix. (60-40– see?)

When working with lower proof alcohols, part of the “cut” is already done. It complicates the math. If you started with 100 proof vodka, and just cut it in half, you’d have 50 proof limoncello. Your need to adjust your sugar ratio, too.

For a given volume of 100-proof vodka, it’s 50% water by volume.

Sweet Cornmeal Pudding

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Ingredients

3 cups whole milk (do not use lowfat or nonfat)
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter, cut into pieces
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup buttermilk
6 large eggs, separated
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Powdered sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter 8 cup souffle dish. Bring milk to boil in heavy large saucepan. Reduce heat to medium. Gradually mix in cornmeal and salt. Stir until mixture becomes very thick, about 1 minute. Add butter; stir until melted. Remove pan from heat. Stir in 1/2 cup sugar and buttermilk. Whisk yolks in large bowl to blend. Gradually whisk in cornmeal mixture. Using electric mixer, beat egg whites in medium bowl until frothy. Add remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat until soft peaks form. Gently fold whites into cornmeal mixture.

Transfer mixture to prepared dish. Bake until mixture puffs and is golden brown. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve hot.

ref:1996, M.S. Milliken & S. Feniger, all rights reserved

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sweet-cornmeal-pudding-recipe.html?PageSpeed=noscript&oc=linkback

Dixie sweet cornbread

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Makes an airy, moist cake.

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons of bacon fat, butter, shortening, oil or a combination for greasing the pan
  • 1-1/2 cups of all purpose white or yellow cornmeal
  • 3 tablespoons of all purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons white sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup of buttermilk
  • 1/2 cup of sour cream
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 (15 ounce) can of creamed corn
  • 2 large eggs, beaten

For a savory cornbread, optionally add:

Preheat a 10” cast iron skillet to 450°F while preparing the ingredients. Combine dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl and whisk together. Combine wet ingredients in a second bowl and whisk together. If melting butter, reserve
in a separate bowl until combined.

When the cast iron is heated, pour wet ingredients over dry and stir with a silicone spatula until just combined. Grease the hot skillet with lard or vegetable oil and pour in batter. Bake 20-25 minutes at 450°F, or until a toothpick draws clean. Turn out onto a cooling rack.

Adapted from http://www.deepsouthdish.com/2012/10/buttermilk-sour-cream-cornbread.html

Bisquik substitute

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Bisquik is a premix of flour, leavening, salt and fat. Substitute it 1:1 in recipes with a blend in this ratio:

  • 6 cups bread flour
  • 3 tablespoons baking powder
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 1 cup vegetable shortening, cubed

Cut the shortening into the dry ingredients until the mixture is the consistency of bread crumbs.

Cold lard may be used in place of shortening if using same day.