Biscuits

Ripped shamelessly from Quail Ridge Press's Best of the Best of Louisiana, which in turn comes from Chesta e Chida. The recipe is accurately called Never Fail Biscuits.

2 Cups Flour I use all-purpose, occasionally whole wheat
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt, scant I reduce or eliminate this, because the fat is salted
6 Tbs. oleo see note I reduce this
2 Tbs. sesame seed I scatter a solid layer in the pan rather than measuring
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar and this actually matters a lot, so try to find some
Milk ha! I use soy or rice milk, or water

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. I use convection for this recipe and drop it to 425 or so. Place large iron skillet in oven. I use a Le Creuset pan, but a decently seasoned pan works fine. These don't turn out as well with pans that aren't iron -- they don't brown as well. Make sure your handle will tolerate the heat. A cast iron baker also works well for double batches. Once you take this sucker out of the oven, handle only with very thick oven mitts or pads and don't put it down on a non-heat-safe-surface. It's easy to forget how hot it is when you're dropping the biscuits in. In mixing bowl, mix dry ingredients. Cut in oleo with pastry cutter. This works great in a food processor. Add milk to desired consistency. (I usually make mine very soft and use about 1 to 1 1/3 Cups milk and then I drop them.) So do I. Remove skillet from oven and place enough oleo to coat the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle 1 or 2 Tbsp. sesame seeds on the bottom of the skillet. Drop biscuits and bake 12 to 15 minute or until golden brown. Remove and invert. These are delicious. You will gain 10 pounds and probably never buy those roll biscuits again, even when you crave them. The hotter the skillet the browner and more crisp the bottoms of the biscuits will be.

Created January 12, 2002
Updated January 19, 2014