Homemade Biscuits

I now make biscuits from scratch. Because of this, I have become quite a biscuit snob and the can-biscuits just won't do. It's not just the taste of these homemade biscuits, even though they are wonderful, it's the act of making them. I use the recipe that my grandmother's cook, Eva, used. I really don't think there ever was an actual recipe, but my super smart cousin sat down with Eva one afternoon and got this biscuit recipe out of her.

Eva

First, I meticulously clean off the area of counter where I will roll and cut the biscuit dough. This focuses my attention on the task at hand. I use Eva's sifter. It's an old aluminum 3-cup measure with a hand crank that sifts the flour, salt and baking powder. The Crisco is cut in and then the buttermilk is added. The aroma of soft dough fills my kitchen reminding me of how my grandmother's kitchen always smelled. Smells are so place-specific. I knead and roll out the dough on tip-toe, for some unknown reason. (I did reach Eva's height when I was just in high school, maybe she did the same thing.) Knead, roll, cut. Knead, roll, cut. No scrap left to be thrown out; Eva was raised during The Depression. The small white circles are lined on a pan ready for the freezer. I cover mine in foil, Eva used white trash bags. My hands are soft from the fat of the dough. I feel like I have not just completed a task, but continued.

Eva’s Biscuit Recipe (for step-by-step pictures, click here)

These biscuits are not your big “country style”, but more of the tea biscuit size. The story goes, my aunt was having a party and wanted to serve Eva’s biscuits, but she wanted them small, one- or two-bite size. Eva used what she had handy, an old snuff can, to make the perfect size biscuit for the party. They have been that size every since, and she used the snuff-can-cutter for years after.

Sift together:

6 cups Flour*

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

Blend in 1 ¼ cup Crisco into the sifted flour mixture with a pastry cutter, or your hands if you want to really follow Eva’s recipe, until it resembles coarse crumbs. Be careful to not work the dough too much at this point or the Crisco will begin to melt and then you will have to start all over.

Dump in 2 cups of buttermilk and mix together. Roll dough onto countertop and knead, then roll out with rolling pin. Roll the dough to about ½ inch thickness or less, then fold over to make two layers. Use a small biscuit cutter to cut. Re-roll and cut until all the dough is used.

Place biscuits on ready –to-cook trays, disposable foil work best, and wrap tightly. Place in the freezer until ready to bake. Freezing is the secret to tender biscuits.

Bake at 450 for about 10 minutes until they are lightly browned. Serve warm with butter or homemade peach preserves.

(*edited 8/7/13: Since I started making these biscuits I always thought something was a little off. My mother would say, "they are almost just right". I finally figured out what was wrong. It was the flour. I began using flour from a local granary. Flour that has not been processed or refined. Now, they are perfect. The perfect color, the perfect texture. You can order that flour through OakView Farms Granary or visit their store. )

My children love these biscuits and love to help make them. One day they will learn why we all call them Eva's biscuits.

My grandmother wrote a book for her grandchildren. Below is her description of Eva and her exquisite gift of cooking.
Excerpt from Yesterday’s, by Kathleen Hollingsworth Cope, p.78

                Eva is as imbued with the art of cooking as other artists are with the art of painting and writing. Cooking is an art, and like the other arts, you have it or you don’t have it, though of course proficiency can be learned and often is, necessarily. But Eva is a natural. She has learned a lot along the way and still learns, but that special touch is woven into her being. You can watch a natural cook handle food and see that they are naturals. There is a certain way they hold the hands, curve the fingers, stir the dough, hold it up, turn it over, poke and punch and fold it. Some inner instinct tells them what to do. Who, having tasted them, could ever forget Eva’s fried chicken, her hot biscuits and corn cakes, her iced tea? She will give you the recipe but she can’t give you the sleight-of-hand.