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Frozen Butter Biscuits
Difficulty Level Easy
YIELD Makes eight to 10 large biscuits
I was just getting ready to sit down to my Soup of the Week for lunch when I started to think about a biscuit recipe that appeared in our local newspaper yesterday. It was a recipe from Canadian chef Michael Smith and he wrote that the secret to his mother's great biscuits was using frozen butter.
I had taken the precaution of putting butter in the freezer with the thought of making these to go with a hearty stew for some dinner. But once it had occurred to me that they would be good with the mushroom soup, I had to make them. By the time the oven was hot, they were ready to go in. I just made them straight up, but you could certainly add dried herbs, and maybe a little Parmesan cheese. In any case, they were a wonderful treat on a wintry day.
INGREDIENTS
| 4 cups | all-purpose flour |
| 2 tablespoons | baking powder |
| 2 teaspoons | salt |
| 1 cup | frozen butter |
| 1½ cups | milk |
| A sprinkle or two of salt and pepper | |
PREPARATION:
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together until evenly mixed. Shred the frozen butter through the large holes of a box grater or potato grater directly into the dry ingredients. Toss gently with your fingers until the butter shards are spread evenly throughout the flour.
- Pour the milk into the flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon upside down to form a dough mass. (The handle of the spoon is gentler on the dough than the bowl.) Fold the dough over a few times with your hands until all the ingredients comes together. If necessary, add a bit more milk to help gather up any stray flour. This kneading will strengthen the dough a bit, but not enough to toughen the biscuits. It'll also help them form a crisp crust when they bake.
- Pat the dough out on a lightly floured cutting board, forming a loose round shape. Cut it into wedges-like a pie-or any other shape you'd like.
- Position the wedges on a baking sheet and sprinkle a bit of coarse salt and coarsely ground pepper. Bake for 15 minutes or so. You'll know they're done when they turn golden brown.
- Biscuits are easily scented with herbs and spices. Feel free to add a spoonful or so for lots of flavour. Rosemary, thyme and curry all taste great.
From the February 13, 2008 edition of The Globe and Mail
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