On the occasion last week of what I hope was our last snow day of the season, my thoughts turned to the kitchen to bake something yummy to accompany lunch that afternoon. I had just made, the night before, a batch of White Bean & Kale Soup with some home-cooked cannelini beans and kale from my farmers' market run a couple of days earlier. Knowing I still had a small bit of buttermilk left over from the ice cream I made a couple of weeks previously, I thought I'd use the last of it to try my hand at buttermilk biscuits.
I had bought a quart of Calder Dairy buttermilk to make the buttermilk ice cream I mentioned in an earlier post. Calder is a local dairy with its own farm in Carleton, Michigan, and a dairy store in Lincoln Park. It's been getting some good press lately, for its use of milk from its own cows, and its earth-friendly practices such as bottling its milk in recyclable glass bottles and relying on healthy feed instead of artificial hormones to enhance milk production. Its products are available nearby at Western Market in Ferndale, Westborn Market in Berkley, and Holiday Market in Royal Oak, and are featured prominently on the menu of one of my fave dining spots: Mudgie's Deli in Corktown.
Given buttermilk has a quite long shelf-life, I knew it would be safe to finish off the last of it to make a batch of fresh biscuits to go with my soup. I found a basic recipe from Epicurious and doctored it a bit to create something a little more special than just plain buttermilk biscuits. The result:
Parmesan-Black Pepper Buttermilk Biscuits (adapted from Gourmet, June 2005, via epicurious.com)
1 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3/4 c. grated Parmigiano Reggiano (divided)
2 tsp. freshly cracked black pepper
3/4 c. well-shaken buttermilk
1 Tbsp. milk or cream for brushing biscuits
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda into a bowl. Blend in butter with fingertips (or cut in with 2 butter knives) until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 1/2 cup of Parmigiano and all of the black pepper. Stir in buttermilk with a fork until a dough just forms (will be moist).
Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead gently 6 times. Pat dough out into an 8 x 5.5-inch rectangle and cut evenly into 6 biscuits (8, if smaller biscuits are desired). Transfer to a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Brush tops with 1 Tbsp. milk or cream, then sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup Parmigiano.
Bake until pale golden, 12-15 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool.
I realized when baking these that my baking powder and/or baking soda had lost some of their leavening power. Be sure to use fresh powder and soda to ensure the biscuits get a good rise. Mine were slightly flat, but tasted delicious nonetheless.
I've been wanting to take a field trip to both the Calder store as well as the farm to learn more about their products and their dairy operation. Hopefully, I'll make it to the store soon and the farm this spring. For more information, visit their website:
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