Throwdown Black Pepper Biscuits

[Bryan S]

Throwdown Black Pepper Biscuits
Recipe courtesy Bobby Flay, 2008

Biscuits:
4 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, plus 4 tablespoons, melted
1 1/2 cups cold buttermilk
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper, not super fine and not coarse, somewhere in between

For the biscuits:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a food processor and pulse until ingredients are incorporated. Scatter the cold butter pieces over the top of the flour mixture and continue to combine until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the buttermilk and pulse until the mixture just begins to come together.
Scrape the dough onto a lightly flour counter. Pat the dough into a 10 by 12-inch rectangle about 3/4-inch thick. Use a 3-inch round cutter to cut out biscuits. Press together the scraps of dough, and repeat process. Place the biscuits on 2 baking sheets lined with parchment paper; brush the tops with cream and sprinkle with black pepper. Bake the biscuits for 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Remove from the oven and brush the tops with melted butter.

My notes: I used Pulgra unsalted butter, Rumford Baking Powder, and Ceresota AP Flour. I do like Alton Brown and have the biscuits just barely touch each other on a jelly roll pan, no parchment. I didn't put the melted butter on top when done, butter went inside of them when done. These biscuits rose to over 2" and were so light and flakey.

I just made a batch of these and they are Outstanding, and so easy to make.

 

[timothy]

Bryan. I dunno about a throwdown, but definitely a toss down. Will try this weekend. Timothy

 

[Bill Hays]

So, how many of the 16 biscuits did YOU eat, Bryan? Huhhh? I can make a meal out of good biscuits!! Send me the big pic tonight when you get a chance, would ya?

Bill

 

[Chris Allingham]

I saw Bobby Flay make these on "Throwdown" and thought they looked good. I have never made biscuits from scratch before (yes, I bake those stupid ones in a can ) and was intrigued by the fact it used the food processor for all the hard work. I rarely get to use my food processor, so that seemed like a plus, too.

Mine turned out just like Bryan's photo. They were fabulous.!

The only thing is it doesn't seem very practical to buy a quart of buttermilk and a half-pint of heavy cream each time you want to make these. I know it would change the taste, but I suppose one could just substitute whole milk for the buttermilk in the same quantity, and skip the heavy cream and just brush with butter before baking? Or would eliminating the buttermilk require changing the amount of baking powder or baking soda? I might make them more often if I did it this way.

I didn't have a 3" round cutter, so I just used a plastic cup with a 3" mouth. That's what Mom and Grandma would have used, I guess.

Anyway, these were stupid easy to make. I'm feeling pretty proud of myself tonight.

Regards,
Chris

 

[Bryan S]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Chris Allingham:
They were fabulous.!

The only thing is it doesn't seem very practical to buy a quart of buttermilk and a half-pint of heavy cream each time you want to make these.

Anyway, these were stupid easy to make. I'm feeling pretty proud of myself tonight.

Regards,
Chris </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Chris, Butter milk flap jacks in the AM.

I totally agree with the heavy cream, 8oz is the samllest size and you only use a TBS or two. Reg whole milk would work just fine IMO since you are using the cream to hold the Pepper, for that matter you could just use melted butter to hold the black pepper. And Yes, stupid easy is a great way to put it. I was always scared of biscuits, but these are so easy to make and are very, very good.

 

[Rita Y]

Biscuit tip: Don't twist the cutter when stamping out the biscuits. It will "seal" the cut edges and the biscuits won't rise as high.

Leftover buttermilk: Kevin's Buttermilk Coleslaw, buttermilk ranch dressing, buttermilk cornbread....

Double the recipe and freeze extras raw. Google for "freezing biscuits") or see:

http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/food_preservation/61502

Buttermilk has pretty good keeping qualities and will probably keep at least week or two, maybe longer, in your fridge after opening.

Our supermarkets in Atlanta also sell buttermilk in pint "bottles." You might look closer in the buttermilk area of the shelves. Maybe it's a Southern thing.

Google for other recipes that use buttermilk.
As a last resort, people have been known to even drink it!

Rita

 

[Dan Wicker]

Chris.. keep true to the south.. don't skimp on buttermilk!

My mother-in-law made a living for 23 years making buttermilk biscuits from scratch every day and selling them at her breakfast restaurant. She'd flip if she ran out and would make us run to the store to get more! It was the secret ingredient!

 

[Mel]

These sound and look delicious! Chris, if you don't want to buy a whole quart of buttermilk you can use 1 tablespoon of vinegar per 1 cup of milk. Since this recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups of buttermilk, use 1 1/2 tablespoons of vinegar and then fill the milk to the 1 1/2 cup mark on your measuring cup. Mix and let set for 5 minutes of so. The vinegar will curdle, thicken, and sour the milk. It's not EXACTLY the same, but it's a pretty darn good substitute!

 

[Billy]

Mel, I was just getting ready to type that. We're those people who usually do have buttermilk and heavy cream on hand (wife loves buttermilk pancakes, and the cream goes in sauces or gets whipped for hot chocolate), but when we don't we add a teaspoon of lemon juice to 1c of milk which achieves the same effect.

 

[David Lohrentz]

In my opinion, buttermilk really adds a lot to biscuit recipes. If you swap it for milk you would have to alter the baking powder/baking soda ratio. The stores around here carry buttermilk in a smaller size that is one-eighth of a gallon I believe.

Buttermilk is really versatile.

Here are a few more ideas:
Buttermilk salad dressing
Buttermilk marinade for chicken
pancakes
scones

I like white pepper in biscuits. Give that a try next time.

 

[K Kruger]

Agreed, it really adds to biscuits. (It is a good marinade base for lamb or beef as well as chicken.)

Note, Chris, that buttermilk freezes pretty well. If you can buy the quarts in plastic bottles so much the better, or just transfer the buttermilk from its paper carton to a bottle; use what you need for the biscuit recipe (or whatever you're making), recover, then stick in the freezer. When you next need buttermilk simply thaw in the fridge or on the counter then shake well before use.

 

[Chris Allingham]

Do you think this food processor method can be used successfully with other biscuit recipes? How would you identify which recipes it would work for and which ones it would not?

Regards,
Chris

 

[K Kruger]

Oh, my, yes--absolutely. I've made many different ones with a processor.

The ones that work (and in my estimation it's most) are those that require a cutting-in step after the dry ingredients are mixed. The key thing is not to over-process during cutting-in of the fats (in the above recipe butter, in others lard and/or butter) or when the liquid(s) are added--one doesn't want the fat(s) to be cut in so finely that flakiness becomes near impossible.

For some recipes--especially those with added herbs, say--I'll transfer the processor mixture (the dry items including the cut-in fat) to a bowl and stir in the herbs and liquids by hand.

The other recipes that this approach (processor for dry and cutting-in, mixing the liquids in by hand) is helpful is those that rely on a high moisture content (Google Shirley Corriher's 'Touch of Grace' biscutis for an example--note the difference of dry-to-liquid ratios between it and the recipe above). Though many of this type use a by-hand process from start to finish, there is no reason why you can't mix the dry and do the cutting-in with the processor. The reasons to then remove the mixture to a bowl are two, primarily: the mixture is so moist that it is a PITA to remove from a processor bowl (and the blades), and it is too easy when doing a highly saturated recipe to overmix if using a processor--and that will lead to poor results.

 

[K Kruger]

P.S.-- I should have noted that there are recipes out there that rely on a specific form of cutting in fats where the processor won't work, and/or rely on a folding technique of the dough whereby the cut-in fats are dispersed and flattened by this technique (like the technique for homemade croissants, this approach affords a layering effect that contributes to rise and flakiness). The recipes that rely on these sorts of things are quite obvious (they'll be very specific).

Others, though, that simply say to cut in with a pastry cutter or forks or knives or fingers (in other words, that give you options) can be made with a processor. Again, if the dough is not highly saturated, you can use the processor throughout. If saturated or you're unsure, remove the dough from the processor prior to the liquid addition and stir in the liquid by hand till just combined.

 

[Lucius]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I know it would change the taste, but I suppose one could just substitute whole milk for the buttermilk in the same quantity, and skip the heavy cream and just brush with butter before baking? Or would eliminating the buttermilk require changing the amount of baking powder or baking soda? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Remember, if cooking is an art, baking is a science. I'm sure you could eliminate cream or buttermilk, but you'd have to introduce something else that provides the same characteristics (fat, protein, water, whatever) or change the whole recipe.

When a baking recipe calls for 1 cup of flour, you don't eyeball it, you measure it out and level it off. A tsp of salt? No pinches allowed. Again, measure it out and level it off.

 

[James_P]

I've made this recipe and its great.

That said, I want to have them for dinner on Sunday but may not have enough time to prep it while dealing with other recipes and family too. Is it OK to make the dough ahead of time on Saturday & wrap it in plastic-wrap and keep it in the refrigerator or freezer? I've done that before with cookie dough and pie crust dough and have had the final product turn out just fine.

thanks,
James

 

[K Kruger]

Not likely. The reason is that the rise of the biscuits is predicated on three issues, primarily: one, the use of baking powder and soda and their interaction with the acids in the buttermilk; two, the heat of the oven; three, the quickness of the timing, both in assembling the ingredients and n ot over-working the dough, and in getting the cut biscuits into the oven.

You can mix the dry ingredients ahead of time (the flour, salt, powder and soda) but, ime, that's about all you can do in advance if you want the best rise.

All that said, one thing you can do is amke the dough ahead of time then freeze, using one of two approaches. Either:

--Make the dough, cut the biscuits, then place on a parchment-lined sheetpan and stick the pan in the freezer. Freeze 5-6 hours till frozen all the way through. Remove the biscuits and place in a Ziploc and return to the freezer till needed. DO NOT THAW FIRST. Bake as directed, adding probably 8-10 min to the time. They will thaw in the oven.

or-

--Make the dough, cut the biscuits and then bake as directed but remove the biscuits from the oven when they have risen completely but before they have taken on any color. Cool completely on a rack then freeze on a parchment-lined pan as noted above, removing to a Ziploc when completely frozen. Finish baking from a frozen state, baking till thawed and then browned.

 

[James_P]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by K Kruger:
Not likely. The reason is that the rise of the biscuits is predicated on three issues, primarily: one, the use of baking powder and soda and their interaction with the acids in the buttermilk; two, the heat of the oven; three, the quickness of the timing, both in assembling the ingredients and n ot over-working the dough, and in getting the cut biscuits into the oven. </div></BLOCKQUOTE> Thanks Kevin. I had a feeling it had to do with baking chemistry. I'm going to make them right before we eat. I guess I'll have my brother run interference so I can pay enough attention to cooking.

Thanks again.

James

 

[Chris Allingham]

I made these again tonight after a long time and they are still delicious. They're a big, dense biscuit, not light and fluffy. A little country gravy and I was a happy camper.

 

[Dwain Pannell]

Blast from the past!