Southern Style Biscuits

Homemade biscuits are something I grew up with. I learned to cook through trial and error starting when I was in college. Maybe it was a way to cope with any homesickness I might have been experiencing. I stayed away from making biscuits for a long time because I thought they were hard to make. Eventually I gave it a try and found out that the poor excuses for biscuits I had in restaurants were more an indication of the cook than the complexity of making the biscuits. What I discovered was that while the recipe is simple, the techniques may take a lifetime to develop.

First, the ingredients:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 1/3 cup of shortening or butter
• buttermilk

	Pre-heat the oven to 490°F. Whisk the first three ingredients together in a mixing bowl. If you would prefer, self rising flour can be used instead of the all purpose flour and baking powder. Cut in the shortening or butter. This can be done with pastry cutter or fork. The pieces of shortening or butter should be as small as possible and dispersed throughout the mixture.
	Mix just enough buttermilk for the mixture to come together as a stiff dough.
	Flatten the dough out on a floured surface. The quicker you can do this the better. Excessive contact with your hands will melt the shortening or butter.
	Using a biscuit cutter, cut the biscuits onto shape. Use vegetable oil to oil both the top and bottom of the biscuit as you place it on a pan or baking sheet. Allow the biscuits to rest for 6 - 8 minutes to allow time for any dry flour to moisten into the dough.
	Bake 20 - 25 minutes until the biscuits are golden brown.

I mentioned earlier that your technique will have to be developed. It takes practice and can be a bit frustrating the first few times you make biscuits, just keep at it. The good news is, even my worst biscuits were better than some I've had in restaurants.