On Tue 28 Jul 2009 05:22:07a, Jean B. told us...

> 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...milk-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?

Absolutely.

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

Most of what you'll find in any city is cultured buttermilk, but quality
varies. I usually buy mine at TJ's or Sprouts. You'd probably have to
find a private dairy to get the "real thing", but good quality cultured
buttermilk works just fine.

Once you have some, you can perpetuate your supply by mixing up a quart of
non-fat dry milk, adding a cup of buttermilk and leaving it to set on the
counter overnight, or until it clabbers. Then shake well and refrigerate.
You can repeat this process indefinitely. Buttermilk used for cooking
purposes can be kept refrigerated for months without spoiling.



--
Wayne Boatwright
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oil and potatoes both grow underground so french fries may have
eventually produced themselves, had they not been invented. A.J. Esther