Wayne Boatwright wrote:
> On Sun 26 Jul 2009 08:24:53p, Paul M. Cook told us...
>
>> "Damaeus" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> I accidentally posted this first to rec.food-cooking....here's a post
>>> for
>>> this group:
>>>
>>> I like biscuits now and then, and I got the itch to have some a while
>>> back when I was watching the Food Network and saw Tyler Florence's
>>> version. He shocked me when he said to use vegetable shortening, his
>>> reason being that he found that butter tends to burn, while shortening
>>> doesn't.
>>>
>>> Well, here's the recipe, first of all:
>>>
>>> http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/t...lk-biscuits-re
>>> cipe2/index.html
>>>
>>> Okay, I tried the recipe. I have to say they were not unedible, but
>>> nowhere near the quality of biscuits I had made using butter instead of
>>> shortening. These biscuits came out reminding me of store-bought,
>>> canned biscuits. I blame the shortening, because all shortening is, is
>>> hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils. I was skeptical of them
>>> for that reason alone.
>>>
>>> That said, I had normally made biscuits with plain whole milk, not
>>> buttermilk. We normally don't keep buttermilk in the house, but my
>>> roommate had a craving for fried chicken with buttermilk batter, so
>>> since we had some left, I made buttermilk biscuits, then buttermilk
>>> pancakes a few days later. The biscuits did rise nicely, however. But
>>> they turned out with a very yellow color inside, which surprised me
>>> greatly. They were quite white going in, but you'd think I'd laced
>>> them with turmeric, they came out so yellow. (I used unbleached
>>> flour.)
>>>
>>> As for the doneness, there was an even, brown crust all the way around
>>> it, that was almost cookie-like in texture, about a millimeter thick.
>>> I layered it as he suggested on TV, and as a result, they simply pulled
>>> apart like a biscuit-bun, no need for a knife to cut it in half.
>>>
>>> Once I get some more flour, I'm going to try buttermilk biscuits again
>>> before it expires, using butter instead of shortening to compare.
>>>
>>> What is your experience with using butter versus shortening? So far,
>>> I'm not impressed with shortening, but I may have to blame the
>>> buttermilk if using butter in the next go-around results in the same
>>> type of experience.
>>>
>>
>> I've never found butter to work well in biscuits. You get a crispy
>> rather than soft biscuit. I don't like the heavy taste anyway as I put
>> butter on the biscuits. I have always used lard or vegetable
>> shortening. Lard makes the best biscuits IMO.
>>
>> Paul
>
> Lard + buttermilk + soft wheat flour (like White Lily) make the lightest
> and best biscuits.
>
I can see I need to buy more lard. I am thinking I can use the
recipe in James Beard's American Cookery, but with those
ingredients. Yes?

Speaking of buttermilk... This is probably a stupid question, but
is it possible to find real old-fashioned buttermilk anywhere in
the Boston area?

--
Jean B.