Savory Buttermilk Biscuits Food

CHEF JOHN'S BUTTERMILK BISCUITS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
• Whisk flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda together in a large bowl.
• Cut butter into flour mixture with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs, about 5 minutes.
• Make a well in the center of butter and flour mixture. Pour in 3/4 cup buttermilk; stir until just combined.
• Turn dough onto a floured work surface, pat together into a rectangle.
• Fold the rectangle in thirds. Turn dough a half turn, gather any crumbs, and flatten back into a rectangle. Repeat twice more, folding and pressing dough a total of three times.
• Roll dough on a floured surface to about 1/2 inch thick.
• Cut out 12 biscuits using a 2 1/2-inch round biscuit cutter.
• Transfer biscuits to the prepared baking sheet. Press an indent into the top of each biscuit with your thumb.
• Brush the tops of biscuits with 2 tablespoons buttermilk.
• Bake in the preheated oven until browned, about 15 minutes.

SAVORY BUTTERMILK BISCUITS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees with racks set in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.
• In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and baking soda. Transfer half of the dry ingredients to the bowl of a food processor. Add butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs, with some larger pieces still remaining. Return this mixture back to the bowl with the rest of the dry ingredients. Add herbs, if using, and stir to combine.
• Make a well in the center and gradually add buttermilk, stirring with a fork or wooden spoon until large clumps form; do not allow a dough to form in the bowl. Turn mixture out onto a lightly floured work surface, and using lightly floured hands, knead two or three times just until a dough forms.
• Pat dough into an 8-by-8-inch square. Using a sharp knife, cut 2-inch square biscuits, or use a 2-inch round cutter, and transfer to prepared baking sheet, spacing 2 inches apart. Brush tops with buttermilk. Transfer to oven and bake until golden brown, about 12 minutes.

FLAKY BUTTERMILK BISCUITS

Steps:

• Chill all the ingredients (except for the buttermilk) and all the equipment in the freezer, including the blade and bowl of the food processor. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, kosher salt, and butter in the bowl of the food processor. Pulse the mixture until it is the texture of fine meal.
• Transfer the flour mixture to a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the center, pour the buttermilk into the well, and mix by hand until the dough comes together.
• Turn the dough onto a clean work surface, dust with flour, and roll it into a ½-inch thick rectangle, applying even pressure and squaring off the edges. Laminate the dough by folding it into thirds, like a letter, and dust with flour; then roll the dough into a ½-inch thick rectangle again. Repeat this procedure a total of seven times, dusting with flour as necessary.
• Use the dough scraper to cut the dough into 2x2-inch squares; discard the excess dough. Place the cut biscuits on a baking sheet close together, with about ¼-inch or less between them, so they'll touch gently when they bake. Chill the cut biscuits for an hour.
• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Brush the tops of the biscuits with melted butter and sprinkle them with the sea salt. Bake the biscuits until they are golden brown, about 20 minutes. Remove them from the oven and serve warm.

HOMEMADE BUTTERMILK BISCUITS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a Silpat (French nonstick baking mat) or parchment paper; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar.
• Transfer about 2 1/2 cups flour mixture to a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Add butter, and pulse until the largest pieces are the size of peas. Return butter mixture to the bowl with the flour mixture. Use your fingers to combine.
• Add buttermilk, and stir just until mixture comes together; the batter will be sticky. Transfer to lightly floured work surface; use floured fingers to pat dough to 1-inch thickness. Use a 2 1/2-inch round biscuit cutter or cookie cutter to cut biscuits as close together as possible to minimize scraps. Gather scraps together once, pat together and flatten, and cut out.
• Transfer biscuits to prepared baking sheet; bake until lightly browned, 18 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven; cool on a wire rack. Serve warm.

SAVORY CHEESE AND HERB BISCUITS

Steps:

• Notes on how to make STELLAR biscuits:.
• 1) Spoon flour into a dry measuring cup and level off with the straight edge of a metal knife. DON'T use a liquid measuring cup or you'll end up with too much flour and rock hard biscuits!
• 2) I find it easier to incorporate room-temperature butter into my dry ingredients but then put the bowl with flour/butter back into the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes to chill the mixture. The colder your butter is, the higher your biscuits will end up. If you want to work with cold butter, this step is NOT necessary.
• 3) Shake the carton of buttermilk before measuring and make sure the buttermilk is COLD! It keeps the butter cold, and you have a lighter, fluffier biscuit.
• 4) Dust the work surface with All-Purpose flour when rolling and shaping the dough. (Leavening in Self-Rising flour leaves a bitter taste on the outside of the biscuit.).
• 5) Cut STRAIGHT DOWN with a sharp biscuit cutter! Do NOT twist the cutter or you'll be sealing the edges of the biscuits and reduce the rise of them. Ditto on using a glass to cut out biscuits: both sides of the cutter need to be open to allow air to exit as you press down. The glass ends up sealing the edges of the biscuit.
• Directions:.
• Preheat oven to 450-degrees F.
• In a very large bowl combine all the dry ingredients: Flour, Baking Powder, Baking Soda, Sugar, Salt, Black Pepper and Cayenne Pepper. Stir well to evenly distribute the ingredients.
• Drop the cut tablespoons of butter all around the flour mixture. Cut in butter using a pastry cutter until mixture is about the size of peas or very crumbly. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes to allow the butter to become hard; this will aid in having a very flaky biscuit.
• Add the cheese chunks and chives to the chilled butter/flour mixture. Stir to coat them well with the flour.
• Stir in buttermilk only until dough holds together very slightly, about 30 seconds. DO NOT OVER STIR! THIS IS THE SECRET TO INCREDIBLY FLUFFY AND LIGHT BISCUITS! The dough should "hold together" but still be very lofty and NOT packed down!
• Turn dough out onto a floured board, kneading dough a few times (about 3-4 times) and then pat into a 5-inch x 9-inch rectangle; Sprinkle top of dough with a small amount of additional flour and fold into thirds like a letter. Repeat entire process 2 more times, beginning with pressing into a 3/4" inch-thick dough rectangle again.
• Press or pat dough into a 1/2 inch thickness on a lightly floured surface; Dip edges of 2.5-inch biscuit cutter into flour and cut out a biscuit.DO NOT TWIST THE CUTTER! JUST PRESS FIRMLY DOWN, ONCE. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet, placing biscuits side by side so they touch. Continue with existing dough. With the scraps, very lightly press dough together to form another rectangle and continue cutting out the biscuits. Caution! The MORE you work the dough and manhandle it, the tougher your biscuits will become so work with a very light hand when pushing the dough back together.
• Brush tops of biscuits lightly with cream.
• Bake for 14-16 minutes or until biscuits are lightly browned. Take out of oven by sliding the parchment paper with biscuits attached, onto table or counter top. Allow to sit for ONLY 1 minute, and transfer to a wire rack to cool for only a couple of minutes before serving. Caution! Moisture really builds up on the bottom of these biscuits, which is why they only sit on the parchment paper for 1 minute. Cooling on the rack for 2-3 minutes allows the cheese to set enough that it does NOT burn a person's mouth when eating it!
• VARIATIONS ON BISCUITS:.
• 1) Feta-Oregano or Marjoram: Stir 4-8 ounces of crumbled feta cheese and 1 teaspoon of either oregano or marjoram into the chilled butter/flour mixture before adding the buttermilk. Proceed with recipe as directed.
• 2) Bacon-Cheddar: Stir 6 cooked, drained, cooled and crumbled slices of bacon into the chilled butter/flour mixture along with 1/2 a cup of cubed Cheddar Cheese. Omit chives. Proceed with recipe as directed.
• 3) Gruyere-Rosemary: Stir in 1 cup of cubed Gruyere cheese and 1/2 tablespoon of fresh, snipped rosemary into the chilled butter/flour mixture. Use 1/4 cup of snipped chives and 1/2 tablespoon of freshly ground black peper. Proceed with recipe as directed.
• 4) Havarti-Dill: Stir in 1 cup of cubed Havarti cheese with 1 tablespoon of freshly snipped dill into the chilled butter/flour mixture. Omit chives. Proceed with recipe as directed.
• 5) Pimento Cheese: Stir in 1 cup cubed Sharp Cheddar Cheese with 1-4 ounce jar of DRAINED and patted dry Pimento into the chilled butter/flour mixture. Omit chives. Proceed with recipe as directed.
• 6) The ONE failure that I had was with Pepperjack Cheese. The actual cheese is too mild to taste in the end results and the remaining hot peppers were too much for the biscuit. Avoid this combination!

FLUFFY BUTTERMILK BISCUITS (AND VARIATIONS)

Steps:

• Makes 1 dozen 2 1/2 inch biscuits.
• Preheat oven to 450*. Sift dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles corn meal. Add water and mix until dough is pliable. Do not overbeat! Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and knead 30 seconds. Roll or pat 1/2 inch thick, no less. Cut with floured cutter. Place close together on ungreased baking sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes until golden brown.
• Variations:.
• Add parmesean and grated cheddar to the batter and brush with garlic butter on top for a savory biscuit.
• Roll out and sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon, rolling up to make cinnamom rolls. Bake 15-18 minutes. Drizzle with icing.