John Kane wrote:
> On Jul 28, 9:06 am, Wayne Boatwright >
> wrote:
>> On Tue 28 Jul 2009 05:59:12a, Jean B. told us...
>>
>>
>>
>>> Wayne Boatwright wrote:
>>>> 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...ermilk-biscuit
>>>>>>>> s- 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.
>>> Cool! Thanks. I still would like to find the old-style
>>> buttermilk at least once in my lifetime.
>> Then you need raw milk where the cream hasn't been separated, and a churn.
>> You can buy tabletop churns. You get the best of both worlds, fresh butter
>> and fresh buttermilk. OTOH, if you drive out into the country where there
>> are small farms that keep a few cows, they may make small quantities for
>> themselves and might be wiling to part with some. Is there any Amish
>> country within your driving distance?
>>
> I was just going to sugget the same thing. (Well minus the Amish --
> I'don't think we have any around here.)
>
> We used to make our own butter occasionally and had buttermilk. I
> still shudder at the thought.
>
> John Kane, Kingston ON Canada

Uh-oh! You mean it's possibly better to think one wants this than
it would be to actually have it?

--
Jean B.