Chapter 2

CATHEAD BISCUITS, BISCUIT BREAD AND MORE WONDERS FROM WHEAT

In Appalachia, biscuits have traditionally been breakfast bread, although leftovers could be used at any time. They were also something to be baked whenever gravy was going to be on the menu. Most of the time, in day-to-day diet, though, cornbread ruled the culinary roost. Biscuits weren’t quite in the position of rarefied “special” treats, but they didn’t have the same “common fare” billing as cornbread. Occasionally, usually when time was at a premium, cooks would take a shortcut and bake biscuit bread. There was no difference in the dough; it was just that when a kitchen wizard didn’t have time or want to be troubled by the final step of patting out or cutting individual biscuits, they took a shortcut. They simply put their kneaded dough in a pan or atop a cookie sheet. It would be served as a whole piece, and you just broke off or cut a chunk, much like was done with cornbread.

Regular biscuits, properly made, were a source of quiet but significant pride among Appalachian cooks. Few words of praise were more welcome than statements such as “Her biscuits are so light they almost float on air,” “That woman’s biscuits rise like the morning sun” or “Now that’s a sho’ ’nuff cathead biscuit.” The latter description applied to a really large biscuit, and many cooks had their own special device or method of cutting a biscuit of considerable size. Whatever descriptions might be used in connection with biscuits, they were a step or two up the ladder from cornbread in much the same fashion chicken ranked above pork on the meat scale. Biscuits may or may not have been daily fare, but they invariably graced the table when the local preacher, out-of-town family or special guests came to eat.

Biscuits kneaded, patted, cut and ready to bake. Tipper Pressley.

Grandma Casada’s Biscuits and Biscuit Bread

In this particular case, I’ll have to confess that I have no idea how Grandma Minnie worked her culinary magic with biscuits. I just know they were always perfect—light, fluffy, shaped by hand and big enough to hold a fried egg from Grandpa Joe’s chickens without white sticking out over the edges. Often, if she was in a hurry, Grandma wouldn’t make individual biscuits. She’d just get the dough ready and put it in a loaf pan for baking as biscuit bread. The taste was the same, and when it came to biscuits and gravy, it was just the ticket.

While I don’t remember Grandma’s biscuit recipe, and Momma always left this aspect of food preparation to her, this is pretty much what was involved, and it’s also the approach used by my coauthor for her “never fail” biscuits (see her recipe following this one).

2 cups self-rising flour

1 to 1½ cups heavy cream

Mix flour and cream well and knead once or twice. Cut out biscuits from the resulting dough and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes or until a light golden brown on top.

About all that then remains is to slather with butter and your favorite jam, jelly or syrup as biscuit adornment. When an advertising genius for an old-time cane syrup called Dixie Dew said it “gives a biscuit a college education,” he knew whereof he spoke. Alternately, cut the cathead open and apply plenty of gravy. Let out your belt two notches and get busy with your trencherman duties!

—Jim Casada

Cream Biscuits

2 cups self-rising flour (I prefer White Lily)

1 cup heavy whipping cream

Using a ratio of 2 to 1 makes this recipe easily decreased or increased depending on need. Mix flour and cream together and turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Kneed once or twice until mixture comes together; add a little flour, if needed. Flatten dough out with your hand or a rolling pin and cut with a biscuit cutter or glass. Place biscuits on baking pan and bake at 450 degrees for about 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.

TIP: This recipe can also be used to make baked hand pies.

—Tipper Pressley

Cheese Biscuits

Make cream biscuit recipe, add a good handful of grated cheddar cheese and sprinkle garlic powder to taste. Mix well. Drop batter by spoonfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 450 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.

TIP: After removing the biscuits from the oven, brush melted butter on top for more decadence.

—Tipper Pressley

Cheese biscuits finished to a golden turn. Tipper Pressley.

Baked Hand Pies

Cream biscuit dough

Applesauce or your favorite fruit preserve

Make cream biscuit recipe. Take a small amount of batter; on a floured surface, roll the ball out into a circular shape. Place a tablespoon of applesauce, or your favorite fruit preserve, in the middle of the circle. Fold the dough over and seal the edges by crimping with a fork or your fingers to keep all that sweet goodness inside. Poke a few holes in the top to allow steam to escape. Place on greased baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes or until done, and you have a very tasty treat. Hand pies make a dandy dessert, snack or breakfast.

Baked hand pies. Tipper Pressley.

TIP: A small saucer can be used to trace out a more precise circle.

—Tipper Pressley

Buttermilk Biscuit Bread

2 teaspoons bacon drippings (or lard)

2 cups self-rising flour

¼ cup cold butter, cut into cubes

1½ to 2 cups buttermilk

Add bacon drippings or lard to an 8-inch cast-iron frying pan and place pan in cold oven. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place flour in bowl and cut in butter until it resembles coarse crumbs. Add buttermilk to flour mixture. The batter will be very moist but shouldn’t be runny. Pour batter into hot cast-iron pan. Spread the dough evenly over the bottom of the pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Remove from oven and flip bread out onto a cooling rack or plate. Slice or break off and serve.

TIP: Baking dough in a piping hot frying pan gives the outside a wonderful chewy crust. The buttermilk adds a nice whang that goes perfectly with butter and honey.

NOTES:

An old adage suggests, “Biscuits that are light are biscuits that are right.” Certainly, cooks take pride in light, fluffy biscuits, and there are a number of tricks of the baking trade to help in that regard.

1. Sift your flour immediately before making your dough. It may not need sifting for the usual reason (the removal of coarse pieces), but the process adds air.
2. Nestle individual biscuits next to one another in the pan. That encourages baking upward rather than outward.
3. Use a cast-iron skillet as your baking dish. It cooks from the side as well as the bottom. Better still, employ a Dutch oven.
4. Do not twist your biscuit cutter. This sort of seals the sides of the biscuits and keeps them from rising as easily.

Bake at high temperatures (you’ll notice that most of the recipes above suggest 450 degrees). That encourages rising.

—Tipper Pressley