I don't usually brag, but I must say Southerners know how to make delicious biscuits. Some folks perfer them high and fluffy, some prefer flatter crusty biscuits. For myself I like my biscuits flatter and crusty. But fluffy or crusty all Southern biscuits are very tasty.

Everyone has an opinion about what recipe makes the best biscuits.Some cooks will use nothing but lard. Some use butter, which I do. Some use oil. My favorite and the one I cook most often is buttermilk biscuits. If you don't have buttermilk, put a spoon of vinegar in a cup of milk and let it sit a minute or two.Then use it as buttermilk. You wont be able to tell the difference.

To make your biscuits rise higher, place biscuits so they touch on each side. That gives them a little boost. Also, to get a fluffier biscuit, use cold shortneing rather than butter.

Buttermilk Biscuits

1/2 cup butter
2 1/2 cup selfrising flour
I cup chilled buttermilk
2 tablespoons butter melted

Preheat oven to 475. Grate butter using large holes. Toss together butter and flour in medium bowl. Chill 10 minutes.
Make a well in the center of flour mixture.
Add buttermilk and stir about 16 times. Dough will be sticky.
Turn dough out on a lightly floured surface. Lightly sprinkle flour over top of dough.
Using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll dough into 3/4 inch thickness in a rectangle, about 9 by 5 inches.
Fold dough in half so short ends meet. Repeat rolling and folding process 4 more times.
Roll dough into 1/2 thickness. Cut with a 2 1/2 inch round cutter, reshaping scraps and flouring as needed.
Place dough rounds on oil sprayed biscuit sheet. Bake at 475 for 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Brush with melted butter.   

The above recipe is my written recipe but I must tell you that I improvise. You can do that if you wnat to. I sift flour into a large bowl that I use for that purpose, add grated butter, sometimes I just pinch off the butter and mix well with flour rather than grating. I do this using my fingers. Then, I add milk and mix the dough up with my hand. When it looks ready, I pinch off pieces of dough and shape them into biscuits with my hand. I hardly ever use a biscuit cutter. Made this way my biscuits are flatter and crusty, just the way I like them. For even more crunchy biscuits, warm an oiled iron skillet in the oven, then add biscuits. The bottoms will end up crunchy and golden brown. These biscuits will hold up to being smothered with gravy, and I do like gravy with my buttered biscuits. Try making biscuits by different recipes and see which suits you best.

You can also make biscuits with different flavors. One of my favorites is pickle biscuits. You could use a little salsa or whatever you like.  Stir 4 tablespoons drained pickle relish into buttermilk before adding to flour mixture and make your biscuits as usual. These biscuits are very tasty with vegetables.

rubyhawk

I write because I love it. My first love is poetry but I enjoy researching and writing about other subjects. . My hobbies are quilting and painting. I have recently returned after being away for awhile. I hope to make contact with my friends and get back in the groove quickly..,