"every day" dinner breads. I'm ready to start baking and I miss fresh

[NMDemDist2]

bread at dinner.

who's got killer biscuit/roll recipes to share?

I'm ready to break out the "Beast" and yeast and go to town!!

[SoCalDem]

1. Somewhere I have a great recipe of "dinner muffins"

They are not sweet like breakfast muffins..and a yummy.. I'll look for the recipe :)

Bisquick buscuits are pretty darned good :) and easy too :)

but a basic recipe follows :

2 c Flour
4 ts Baking powder
1 ts Salt
2 tb Lard
1 c Sweet milk

Sift dry ingredients together. Rub in lard, add
milk gradually. Mix to a smooth dough, roll out
1/2" thick. Cut with biscuit cutter. Handle as
little as possible to make light, flaky biscuits.
Bake in a quick oven.

[NMDemDist2]

2. i tried Bisquick the other night

i must have worked them too long, they weren't good

Lard huh? I keep shortening around for my cast iron pans but lard isn't a staple for me, but I bet they do make the best biscuits :evilgrin:

[Warpy]

3. The trick to Bisquick

Mix it according to package directions, form into a brick and let it rest in the fridge for at least 20 minutes.

Take it out, roll between 2 sheets of floured waxed paper, cut and bake.

The resting allows the gluten to relax, making the biscuits more tender.

They're still not homemade butter biscuits, though.

[NMDemDist2]

5. i'll try that next time Warpy thanks!

i used to do well with them, but need some practice obviously

what's your butter biscuit recipe?? if you care to share.....

[Warpy]

7. It's the "blitz biscuit" recipe from Crust & Crumb

2:1 flour to butter, baking powder, baking soda, buzz in a blender until butter is distributed but much coarser than for piecrust. Enough buttermilk, milk or water to get the dough to hold together. Roll out, fold in thirds, roll out, fold in thirds, then rest. Do two more roll & folds followed by a rest. Then roll out 1/2 inch thick and cut. I find cutting into triangles works better than using a round biscuit cutter.

This is poor man's puff pastry. The biscuits will be light and buttery with flaky layers.

They are wonderful and absolutely packed with fat and calories.

[housewolf]

10. Warpy, have you ever made the scones recipe from that book?

It's one of my favorites but I've never been able to get that scone recipe to come out right - they just almost melt into like c big cookie (delicious, admitedly so, but not what I was trying to get). I've tried it a number of times, trying to be _very_ careful to not over-do the liquid and had them fail every time (probably 6 - 8 trials). I keep wondering if the amount of butter in the recipe is correct. Have you had any success with those scones?

[Warpy]

17. I haven't tried that one

I have a cream scone recipe from an ancient cookbook that I use the once every two years I bake scones. I can't drink wine, so the scones seem a bit pointless.

I'll check it out. If they're spreading that much it sounds like there's too much fat or too little flour.

[TygrBright]

18. What's your elevation in Carlsbad?

If you're higher/lower than you're used to, it can have a startling effect....

ruefully,
Bright

[NMDemDist2]

19. i'm at 3100 ft here, PHX was about 800 i think

but i'm nothing like you in Sante Fe

ps are you home again?

[TygrBright]

20. Then it'll make a definite difference...

...anything over 2500 feet is likely to do funny things to baking.

Yep, we're back in the cool again. The backyard needs a little tweaking on the drainage thing but nothing serious, and the planted areas are happy, happy, HAPPY for a change.

I can't recommend "Pie In The Sky" strongly enough as a high-altitude baking guide. It includes yeast breads, quick breads, pies, cakes, cookies, bars, and miscellaneous stuff, with each recipe calibrated for several different altitudes on a chart that includes adjustments for baking time, temperature, etc.

Your library might have it, if not, ask them to get it on loan, it's really worth it!

assuredly,
Bright

[NMDemDist2]

22. super suggestion and I need an excuse to check out the new library

and glad your plants are happy. If you aren't flooded out after this week the house should do fine

we had to put in some "french drains" in PHX too, just get a power post hole digger, dig a 4-5 foot hole, fill it with gravel and it'll give the water a place to run off in those trouble spots

:hi:

[Warpy]

24. Funny, I didn't need to make that many adjustments

coming from sea level in Boston to a mile up here. I did find out that I had to cook pasta a whole lot longer and that larger beans required pressure cooking to get done. I also lost 2 cans of soup before I figured out that vacuum packed tins weren't going to give a loud hiss at this very low air pressure when the lids were punctured by the opener.

My only funny one was my first batch of bread. I walked away from the bowl for the amount of time I'd used in Boston and came back to find the sponge had not only filled the bowl but was all over the counter. Yeast has to be approached cautiously and bread needs 2 days of rising to develop decent flavor.

High altitude baking really isn't that much of a challenge. Once you get that first batch of anything to come out right, you're basically set with the knowledge of how to do everything, especially if you're like me and take recipes as suggestions, only.

[NMDemDist2]

25. "recipes as suggestions only"

:rofl:

You're my kinda gal Warpy! :pals:

[Gormy Cuss]

4. Biscuits are the one thing that my mother made and I never learned how.

Hers were with shortening and light as a feather. In fact when she made them she made extra trays and sent us around the neighborhood delivering them to her fans.

Fried biscuits with jam is a Proustian memory for me.

My biscuits are supplies for the NHL.

[NMDemDist2]

6. "supplies for the NHL"

:rofl:

that's how my bisquick came out the other day :cry:

[grasswire]

8. I've made pretty good Bisquick biscuits by...

....putting more liquid in than called for, and I also add melted butter to the batter. Also, I barely work the dough at all. Barely stir the liquids in and quickly turn the sticky dough out on a floured board. Just two folds of the dough on the board, then pat it out pretty thick. Cut circles and put on baking pan with dough sides touching -- no space in between for a more tender biscuit.

[grasswire]

9. one time my family played "biscuit hockey" at the dinner table

We had some particularly tough little bakery-made biscuits and a big shiny dining room table. One thing led to another and we were off to a rollicking hockey game, grandparents and kids too. We've laughed about it for a couple of decades.

[housewolf]

11. For yeasted dinner rolls...

you can take your regular bread recipe and replace the water with milk (some recommend that you scald it first and then let it cool to room temp) or alternatelly, stay with the water and add 1/4 cup dry milk. Also add up to 1/4 cup softened butter. That's for a 2-loaf bread recipe.

Then just divide up the risen-dough into small rounds and bake them in a greased round or square pan, first dipping them in some more melted butter before placing them in the pans. Let them rise again and then bake in a pre-heated oven. They'll bake faster than your loaves so keep an eye on them. Yum!!!!!!!

You can play with shapes, too - basically if you just put little rounds of dough into a round or square pan, they will take on the shape of the pan as they rise. You can do clover-leafs by cutting each little round into 3 and baking them in a muffin tin, 3 smalls balls of dough per cup. Or parker house rolls by flattening the balls a bit, brushing with melted butter and then folding one side over the other - leave the edges of the dough free of butter so that the dough will stick to itself when you fold it over. There are lots of other shapes that are fun to make and serve and many are just variations of a basic bread recipe.

Are you at high altitude? If so, it can have an effect on your baking and there are some adjustments that you might need to make.

[NMDemDist2]

13. the new place is at 3100 feet so I don't think the altitude is a problem

is it??

and can I freeze then after the first rise?

how are you anyway?? hope all is well with you and work has calmed down a bit for you.

PS I have lots of pics of the new place over in the DIY group if you'd like to check them out

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=287

just look for my name as author, there are several of them!

[housewolf]

21. check with your state's Agricultural Extension

they'll tell you all about whether you need to adjust for the altitude there or not, they are usually most helpful organizations.

Sure you can freeze rolls - freeze them just after you shape them into the roll shapes. You can either freeze a whole pan of them in the pan or you can freeze them individually on a baking sheet or somoething in the freezer, then bag them after they are frozen. Best is to thaw them in the refrigerator over night, then let finish rise at room temp and bake.

Thanks for the link to you pics!

[NMDemDist2]

23. I need to find them anyway and see what grows here

they are doing some free classes on zeriscapes too and I need to check into them

i never thought to ask them about baking though!

[Reciprocity]

12. Baking Powder Biscuit

2 cups flour
5 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix dry ingredients, and sift twice.

Work in butter with tips of fingers; add gradually the liquid, mixing with knife to a soft dough. It is impossible to determine the exact amount of liquid, owing to differences in flour. Toss on a floured board, pat and roll lightly to one-half inch in thickness. Shape with a biscuit-cutter. Place on buttered pan, and bake in hot (400°) oven twelve to fifteen minutes. If baked in too slow an oven, the gas will escape before it has done its work.

[NMDemDist2]

14. thanks! that's going in the recipe file as it is stuff I keep on hand all

the time

I bought some fresh catfish filets for tomorrow so I'll try them then thanks!

[Reciprocity]

15. This takes like ten minutes to mix and make.

Every time I make them from scratch I think why I don't make them more often. Instead of a cutter I use my hands the why my mamma made them. You just take some of the dough and squeeze it between your thumb and forefinger into a ball the size you like. I prefer to cook them in a greased ( bacon grease) cast iron fry pan. Yummy, yummy, yummy!

[NMDemDist2]

16. i will have lots of bacon grease around soon enough

no more Costco, so no more precooked bacon. but on the up side, our local meat market has GREAT bacon!

[politicat]

26. These go nicely with a soup or salad or a light meal...

Cheddar-Chive Drop Biscuits
Ingredients :

2 cup all-purpose flour (500 mL)
1 tbl baking powder (15 mL)
1/2 tsp salt (2 mL)
1/3 cup butter at room temperature, cut into pieces (75 mL)
1 cup old Cheddar cheese shredded coarse (250 mL)
2 tbl fresh chives chopped (25 mL)
1 1/2 cup buttermilk (300 mL)
Additional chopped chives

Method :
1. Preheat oven to 400=BAF (200=BAC).
2. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Cut in butter using a pastry blender or a fork to make coarse crumbs. Add Cheddar and chives.
3. Stir in buttermilk, just enough to make a soft sticky dough. Drop 12 heaping tablespoonfuls onto a large greased baking sheet. Sprinkle tops with additional chopped chives.
4. Bake on middle rack of oven for 18 to 20 minutes, or until edges are coloured. Transfer biscuits to a rack to cool.

It's essentially my recipe (I stole this text from www.fooddownunder.com). I use a bit more chives, and sometimes other herbs if I've got them.

I've also made these yeasted, making a big, soft dough and kneading in the cheese and herbs at the last minute. Those, however, have to get somewhat cool for the cheese flavor to be prominent.

[spinbaby]

27. Beer bread

Really fast, really easy.

3 cups self-rising flour
1 can beer
3 tablespoons sugar
Mix, dump into a 9x5x3 loaf pan, bake at 350 degrees for about an hour.

[NMDemDist2]

28. sounds like a great recipe

but I haven't had beer in the house since 1992 :rofl: