I think it’s been said a time or ten that I love bread.  Could one live on bread and water?  Given a nice variety of the bread, I do indeed think I could last quite a while :)  I’ve lately been going back and trying to “perfect” some classic/staple recipes that I think are important to have in my repertoire.  Among these classics is good old fashioned buttermilk biscuits.  Done properly, they’re a wonderful addition to a good old fashioned home cooked meal.  Done poorly and they make a nice door stop ;)  In my quest for  buttermilk biscuit “perfection” I’ve decided it comes down to technique just as much as the actual recipe itself.  I’ve tried countless recipes… and thrown away a lot of biscuit wanna-be’s but the recipe I’m about to share with you today has just been crowned the winner!

How do y’all feel about Twitter?  It fascinates me, really.  Seems I can get much more involved in Twitter than I can in Facebook.  Don’t get me wrong, Facebook is quite an adventure in and of itself.  I have a fan page on Facebook and one of my first fans was a guy at work that I didn’t know very well… but he loved the pastries I brought in to work and followed my blog quite regularly.  I also keep up with what’s going on in my sister’s life by watching her wall posts.  A really good friend from middle school found me on Facebook (he’s so totally cool)… my best friend from college found me on Facebook (after losing touch for a loooooong time)… and a guy I was totally into who broke my heart by marrying someone else?  Yup, he found me on Facebook too!  This whole social networking phenomenon just fascinates me… but Twitter has me hooked.  After trying countless buttermilk biscuit recipes… and suffering countless disappointments… I put out the word on Twitter that I needed some help.  Like a knight in shining armor, Food Muse came and saved me.  I do mean saved me.

He shared with me his recipe called “Perfect Buttermilk Biscuits” and trust me, at first blush I scoffed at the title.  “Perfect”? HA!  I’d decided there was no such thing as a perfect homemade buttermilk biscuit.  The ones I’d seen were certainly nothing more than photoshopped images… the ones I’d heard about were surely just folklore (like Big Foot and the Loch Ness Monster).  But the nosey curious side of me was intrigued so I gave the recipe the once over.  Didn’t seem difficult… most biscuit recipes don’t… and the ingredient list was pretty standard except for one thing. Lard.

Hey… whoa… where ya goin???… don’t stop reading now.

Lard is not the enemy – though I’m sure some of you have preconceived notions about it.  I know I sure did so let’s learn a little about it.  But before I go there, if you’re vegan or completely against lard for some other reason, I totally respect that and have no intention of changing your mind.  By the same token I hope you respect my feelings as well and find a way to refrain from blowing up my inbox and comment space telling me your side of the story.  I respect you… you respect me… it’s all good :)  But… ahem… as I was saying… let’s learn something about lard.  According to Big Oven - Lard may not be as healthful as margarine, vegetable fats, or oils, but it remains in demand for cooks who want the flakiest pie crusts and most delicious biscuits. Because of its high smoke point, it is also a popular frying oil and flavoring behind traditional tamales. Lard is made of rendered and clarified pork fat, which means high cholesterol content, but no trans fatty acids.  Okay there’s the education portion of today’s blog post… class dismissed :)

A few biscuit-making tips I’ve learned along the way…

1. use good quality flour… I’ve tried generic, store brand flour and find it does not perform well for biscuits
2. don’t make your dough too thin… I like the dough close to 1/2″ thick before I cut out the biscuits
3. when cutting out your biscuits don’t rotate the cutter as you press down… I can tell the difference when I do/don’t
4. let your biscuits kiss on the baking sheet if you want them to rise sky high… this makes them rise UP instead of OUT
5. don’t manhandle the dough… pat it out gently, treat it kindly and you’ll be rewarded with tender biscuits
6. gentle folding and flouring of the dough really helps in creating defined layers… and ya want defined layers dont’cha?

You see that biscuit in the front right corner of the photo?  That’s my kinda biscuit!  It was cut the thickest and rose the best.

So by now, I’m sure you’re wanting this incredible recipe… right?  Right!  Here’s a link to Perfect Buttermilk Biscuts that my new BFF FoodMuse gave me.  He’s got a great blog and knows soooooooo much about food.  Definitely check him out :)

Em’s Favorite Buttermilk Biscuits

adapted from Perfect Buttermilk Biscuits

Ingredients

2 cups  + 1/4 cup King Arthur All-Purpose Flour – divided use

1 Tablespoon  Baking Powder

½ teaspoon  Baking Soda

1 Tablespoon  Granulated Sugar

1 teaspoon  Kosher Salt (I do not use iodized salt)

2 Tablespoons  Unsalted Butter (chilled and cubed)

2 Tablespoons  Lard or Bacon Fat (chilled and cubed)

1 cup  Buttermilk (chilled)

Method

Preheat oven to 500° F  and set oven rack to the center of the oven.

Prepare a baking sheet with silicon mat, parchment or non-stick spray.

Reserving 1/4cup of flour for later use, combine 2 cups of flour and the remaining dry ingredients in a food processor and pulse to blend.  Add chilled butter and lard and pulse just until the the mixture looks pebbly – do not overmix.

Pour into a large bowl and using a fork gently stir in the Buttermilk just until incorporated.  The dough will be very wet and sticky at this point. If the dough is too much like pancake batter, add the remaining 1/4 cup flour.  You may not need to do this.

Turn onto a generously floured board and generously flour the top, and fold over.  Flour again, pat out flat, fold again, flour again and keep repeating until the dough is workable but still a little tacky.  This should take about 5-10 folds.  Try not to add too much flour, as that will toughen the biscuits, and do not knead the dough, which also will toughen the biscuits.  Simply fold and pat out flat.  The final pat before cutting should leave your biscuit dough about 1/2″ thick.

Cut biscuits using a floured biscuit cutter or the floured rim of a drinking glass and place them on the baking sheet with the sides of the biscuits just kissing each other.

Put the baking sheet in the oven, close the oven door, and turn the temperature down to 450° F.  Bake for 14-16 minutes, rotating the baking sheet half way thru the baking time.  Remove from oven and serve immediately.

Have a delicious day!