Macheesmo

I am a sucker for a savory breakfast. But I’m even more of a sucker for a savory and sweet breakfast. That’s why I was really excited when the Black Pepper Biscuits won last week’s poll.

Drizzled with a bit of honey, black pepper biscuits are awesome.

I cannot claim (unfortunately) to make the best biscuits in the world. I know this because I’m pretty sure I’ve had the best biscuits in the world at Loveless Cafe in Nashville. Their biscuits were worth the 75 minute wait.

That said, I can still make a pretty decent biscuit. In my mind there are only three rules to making a good one: 1) Use real ingredients. No low fat. No margarine. This is not the time to be concerned with calories people. 2) Don’t over work the dough. Keep it light. 3) Don’t over work the dough. Seriously, it’s that important.

Black Pepper Biscuits

by Nick

Serves:

Makes 12 biscuits

Prep Time:

15 mins

Total Time:

35 mins

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Ingredients

4 Cups all-purpose flour

4 Teaspoons baking powder

1 Teaspoon baking soda

1 Teaspoon salt

3/4 Cup (1.5 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 1/2 Cups chilled whole buttermilk

Heavy Cream

Coarsely ground black pepper

Instructions

1) Get the butter really cold and then cube it into 1/2 inch cubes.

2) Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and then cut in the butter. If you have a food processor, by all means use that. If you don’t you can use a fork or even your fingers. You want your butter in pea-sized pieces.

3) Pour in the buttermilk and mix it until the dough comes together.

4) Turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough out into about an 9 inch by 6 inch rectangle and then slice it into 12 fairly even biscuits.

5) Put the biscuits onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper with an inch or so of separation. Brush the tops of them with some cream and give them a healthy topping of freshly ground pepper!

6) Bake these biscuits at 400 degrees for about 18 minutes. A toothpick should come out clean from the center and the biscuits should be lightly golden brown.

7) Let them cool for a few minutes before digging in.

Like I said, if you choose to substitute either the whole buttermilk or the real butter, I claim no responsibility for the success of the recipe! Although I think you could substitute lard for the butter without too much problem.

Making the dough

This dough is pretty easy to pull together actually. It’s starts out kind of like a pie crust. Get your butter really cold and then cube it into 1/2 inch cubes.

Mix all your dry ingredients in a large bowl and then cut in your butter. If you have a food processor, by all means use that. If you don’t you can use a fork or even your fingers.

You are looking for pea sized lumps of butter throughout the mixture. Kind of like this.

Then pour in your buttermilk and mix it until your dough comes together. Turn it out onto a lightly floured surface.

Forming the biscuits

I don’t do round biscuits anymore. For one, it’s more work. Second, if you do round biscuits then you have to take the leftovers and rework it to get more biscuits. However, if you do square biscuits, then all you have to do is get your dough into a rough rectangle and cut it up.

All you need to do is roll your dough out into about an 9 inch by 6 inch rectangle and then slice it into 12 fairly even biscuits. You barely even need to use a rolling pin for this. Again, the key is to not work the dough too much. We want to keep all of those little bubbles of butter intact and happy.

Once your biscuits are cut, put them onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper with an inch or so of separation. Brush the tops of them with some cream and give them a healthy topping of freshly ground pepper!

Bake these biscuits at 400 degrees for about 18 minutes. A toothpick should come out clean from the center and the biscuits should be lightly golden brown.

Let them cool for a few minutes before digging in. You know you’ve gotten it right if you can almost count all the individual layers.

Light and fluffy!

I decided to have mine with some honey because I was out of jam for some reason. I think you could easily make an awesome breakfast sandwich out of these guys also. (And yes, if you check out that post, I’ve changed my opinion since then on round biscuits. I do square now!)

The thing about biscuits are that they are very delicious on day one. Very moist and flavorful. On day two they are not anywhere near as good. On day three they make perfect paper weights!

Actually, they are still decent on day three if you reheat them slightly, but you should down as many as you can on day one.