Fat, Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits

Alright, I don't know what is going on with my biscuits but they never seem to be as tall as the photos of the recipes I use. I'm not sure if I'm rolling them out too thin or the baking soda/powder isn't working correctly. In any case, I made these while my parents were in town. Taste great but I don't think I've found "best" biscuit recipe out there yet. The search (and baking) is still on (no complaining either... I clearly have a love for southern biscuits).

Here's the recipe from Bakergirl and a photo of hers... they just look much more scrumptious than mine!

Whole Wheat Biscuts, Homemade Butter & Crafting

I went over to Ann's recently for a little afternoon crafting to make Grace a Minnie Mouse headband to give her on my trip home. Here's both the headband, the headband-maker Ann and my "contribution" to crafting - whole wheat biscuits with homemade butter.





The whole wheat biscuit recipe can be found here. A nice departure from regular biscuits, lots of texture and not at all dry like some wheat things can be. And, here's the link for the homemade butter recipe. Super easy! The pictures are really instrumental in knowing you didn't screw it up (which is what I thought happened once the cream turned into whipped cream).

Mike took photos of Grace, Stephanie, Shane and to-be Baby Joel while we were at home over the weekend. He'll post photos at his blog soon... hopefully he was able to snap one of Grace in her new headband!

Bacon Cheddar Biscuits

Its no secret that I love making biscuits. These came up on thekitchn last Friday... suggesting they would be an easy bake over the weekend. I made them Sunday morning. They are very easy (especially with the use of a food processor) and pretty tasty. I opted to brush with melted butter as opposed to the bacon fat suggested in the recipe. I also substituted green onions for chives since that's what I had on hand.







Sadly, mine didn't rise as much as the biscuits in the photos on the website. No judgment though... I'm sure they will all be eaten.

Crispy Parmesan Biscuits

I made these crispy parmesan biscuits by Giada last weekend for brunch with Mike, his mom, her boyfriend and Mike's sister Rachel. We had it with another Giada recipe - sausage and peppers frittata. The cooked biscuit picture will show up with the pictures for the frittata!

These biscuits are pretty great. We had them with brunch. Giada's recipe says to stack them with smoked salmon and arugula. I have also made them before to serve with chicken salad and chili.

Note - the thing I have the biscuits baking on is one of the things I use most often in the kitchen. Its a silpat mat you place on baking sheets. Its totally non-stick on its own and you just rinse and wipe clean after you are done with it. Love it! See them here , here and here!

A weekend's worth of recipes!

Our great friends threw us a luau shower over the weekend (stay tuned for pictures) and we had lots of family in town to celebrate with us. I made lots of yummy things to have on hand for our visitors including classic chocolate chip cookies, salsa, sonoma chicken salad (I actually swapped out 2/3 of the mayo and used low-fat greek yogurt to decrease the fat content), pancetta and green onion tart and finally buttermilk cheddar biscuits made mini-style.








Ok - that sounds (and looks) like a lot. But I planned ahead and got to spend lots of time with the fam while having a kitchen full of goodies. I prepared the cookie dough the weekend before, rolled it into an easily sliceable log and froze it. Thursday night, I sliced the dough into about 3 dozen cookies and baked them. I also made the salsa Thursday night. Saturday morning before our company arrived, I chopped and crisped the pancetta, chopped green onions, grated cheese for both the tart and biscuits and chopped the butter for biscuits. I put all that back in the fridge (all measured and ready to go!) All that planning made Sunday morning much easier on me. I woke up and was able make a great brunch for me and Mike; my parents, sister and her boyfriend; my grandparents; my aunt, cousin and baby G; and Mike's mom and 2 sisters! We definitely had a full house!

Thanks to everyone for coming to visit and making the shower special!

First Dish of Christmas - Cream Biscuits

I have finally had some time in town to do my First Dish of Christmas! I made "Cream Biscuits" that I saw on the delicious Smitten Kitchen website. They turned out really well! Perfect snack on this cold day. I added about half the sugar the recipe called for and rolled the dough out a bit thinner than called for so I could be sure to have enough to bring for the shower decorators to snack on tomorrow! Be sure to check out the pics and the recipe here!

Neglected Kitchen and Buttermilk Biscuits

Since I have spent the past few weeks in Virginia, my kitchen has been completely neglected. There has been no time for cooking. I had to make up for it so I attempted buttermilk biscuits over the weekend using Ina Garten's recipe. I left the cheddar out since they were for breakfast.

They turned out really good! I need some practice on the timing and kneading but I'm sure Mike won't object to more fresh biscuits!

I also made salsa and beef and spinach quesadillas over the weekend. Here's the salsa recipe:

Salsa
2 cans Rotel (drained)
1 can crushed tomato (if needed)
1 jalapeno
cilantro
garlic salt

Put drained Rotel, jalapeno (seeded if you want it less spicy), cilantro and garlic salt (as much as you want, depends on your taste) into a food processor or blender. Blend to desired consistency, I make mine totally smooth. Taste. If its too spicy or thick, add some of the crushed tomatoes until you reach the desired taste and consistency.