MAW MAW’S BISCUITS
Daisy calls my mother Maw Maw. Since my mother taught me how to make these biscuits, I call them Maw Maw’s Biscuits.
To me, a biscuit is a magical thing. How can three simple ingredients come together to create such joy? Once you get the hang and feel of making biscuits, you can turn them out in no time flat. A couple of things to remember when you’re making biscuits: don’t work the dough too much and use a sharp cutter so the edges rise nicely. I know people who just use a juice glass to cut their biscuits. Use whatever you’ve got, but a nice cutter will make you a prizewinning biscuit.
Makes 8 biscuits
2 CUPS SELF-RISING FLOUR, SIFTED
4 TABLESPOONS BUTTER, COLD AND CUT INTO CUBES, AND AN ADDITIONAL 2 TABLESPOONS MELTED
¾ CUP COLD MILK
1. Preheat the oven to 450˚F. Grease a 9-inch cast-iron skillet.
2. Use your hands or a pastry blender to mix the flour and 4 tablespoons cold butter in a bowl until it feels crumbly. Add the milk and mix well, but don’t overwork the dough. Knead the dough just a couple of times, then on a lightly floured surface roll it out to a ½-inch thickness. Cut the dough into biscuits using a 3-inch round cutter. Knead the leftover scraps of dough and roll and cut again so that you get a total of 8 biscuits.
3. Place the biscuits in the prepared skillet. It will be snug, and they will be touching. Bake for 12 minutes. Generously brush the 2 tablespoons melted butter on top of the biscuits and return them to the oven until golden brown, about 3 more minutes.
SOUTHERN SIMPLE: We often roll and cut out the biscuits 15 to 30 minutes before guests arrive, cover them uncooked in the refrigerator, then bake them just in time to have hot biscuits without the mess. But don’t leave them in the refrigerator longer than 30 minutes.
SOUTHERN SIMPLE: Usually there aren’t any biscuits left, but when there are I add them to a bag I keep in the freezer and then use them later for making Southern Dressing and Gravy.
If you’ve never had sorghum and butter on a warm biscuit, then, my friend, you’ve missed one of life’s simple pleasures. Sorghum cane is processed into syrup in a fashion similar to processing sugar cane. The flavor is a little milder than molasses and a bit less sweet than honey.
SOUTHERN MOTHER: I grew up thinking everybody had homemade biscuits for supper every night. I’m glad my mama made us feel that way. She most likely learned that from her grandmother. My great-grandmother Grandma Burrell was mother to six kids. She was an angel of a lady and a pro at making biscuits. She probably could have made them in her sleep. She used to cook thirty biscuits every morning before her boys went to work out in the fields! She wanted their tummies to be full. A tummy full of biscuits can yield a whole crop of good vittles! She would also cook up that many biscuits at night. My great-aunt Maxine fondly remembers standing by her mama while she would make a little well of flour in her biscuit bowl and add the milk and lard. She would then pinch off pieces of dough, slap them on a pan, and give them a little pat with the back of her fingers. She certainly had a system. How else could one woman make five dozen biscuits a day!
If you ever find yourself down in my neck of the woods around October, take a field trip to the Museum of Appalachia, where they have a working cane mill and a wonderful lineup of bluegrass, old-time, and Americana music at their annual Fall Homecoming Festival.