I just ate my weight in biscuits. Well... almost my weight. When Cori gets home and I make dinner, I will have then eaten my weight in biscuits. Life is hard.
Today was supposed to be filled with laundry, vacuuming, scrubbing the bathroom, and generally getting all my stuff done.
Instead...?
Hah. Hi. I made biscuits. Let's just forget all the rest of that other stuff, shall we? Look at these!
Who needs a clean bathroom when you're toasting one of these babies for a scrambled egg and bacon sandwich? Am I right or am I right??
*silence*
Okay... so maybe now I can start that stuff, since the biscuits are out of the way and all.
Speaking of these biscuits, they're absolutely delicious. Studded with cheese and chives, flaky and moist... Oh man, I wish Cori would get home already. Sweet goodness alive, I'm surprised there are any left.
Flour, baking soda and salt are whisked together, awaiting their cheesy, chivey friends. No better friends than that, I say.
Cheese. Oh man.
I chose an applewood-smoked cheddar, but you roll with your favorite curd. Cheese is all good.
Stir them together and add your butter. Now comes the fun part where I got to use my "just because" gift I got from the girlfriend a few weeks ago...
Cut into your butter like it's the turn of the century. This is a hand-done project. No mixers or food processors are welcome when making biscuits. Do it with love. Do it for the love of food. And cheese. And biscuits, specifically.
Once the butter is cut in, add the milk and stir until it's dry-looking and shaggy. Remember Shaggy? I bet he likes biscuits too.
Turn out that gorgeous, shaggy dough onto your floured surface.
Work into a patty. Pat into a ball. Roll into a disk.
Use a biscuit cutter (some are fancy, some are not... this is the same one I used for the donuts, which worked out rather well). Put on your rimless baking sheet and bake them off to a golden deliciousness.
Cheddar-Chive Biscuits
From Williams-Sonoma, 2006
2 cups flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sharp cheddar, finely shredded
1/4 cup fresh chives, minced
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cut into chunks
3/4 cup milk
*preheat oven to 425 degrees; line a rimless cookie sheet with parchment paper*
1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Stir in the cheddar and chives until mixed thoroughly. Add butter and cut in using a pastry blender (or two knives), until crumbly and the bits are pea-sized. Pour in the milk and stir with a rubber spatula until the dough is shaggy and the milk disappears.
2. Turn out the shaggy dough onto a lightly floured work surface and work into a thick disk. You may need to "push" the dough pieces together, but trust that it will come together. Knead 5-6 times until you can get more of a dough ball shape. Using a floured rolling pin, roll out until the disk is 3/4 inch thick. Cut biscuits out with a 3 inch biscuit cutter (original recipe calls for a non-fluted edge, but we're working with what we've got here), and place 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 15-18 minutes. Biscuits will be lightly golden and will have puffed up a bit. Transfer to a cooling rack for a few minutes and then serve warm. Should make about 12 biscuits (I only got 8 because I used a larger cutter).