Mess of Greens

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Biscuits and Breads

Biscuit Quest Attempt #2… Bon Appetit

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I’m not gonna lie, these biscuits turned out pretty well. Flaky, buttery, thick enough to serve with a slab of canadian bacon or egg…. Bon Appetit‘s Pies and Thighs biscuits didn’t disappoint me as I continued the search for the world’s perfect biscuit. (Ok, obviously this is NOT an objective category, but I have a flavor/texture/look combination that I’m going for here, and I won’t stop until I find it.See other attempts with Flying Biscuits here and Sister Shubert ones here.) The people in my family aren’t really buttermilk biscuit people, but it’s definitely a southern food group all on it’s own, PLUS the photo in BA just looked SO GOOD and pretty close to my vision of perfection so I needed to try it.

What I learned: In terms of what I’m personally shooting for, these biscuits were a little too buttery, but the texture was divine. When I try this recipe again, I could probably use shortening and solve the buttery issue pretty quickly… FYI, Bon Appetit DID NOT LIE when they said they’d found the secret to tender, fluffy biscuits… and the secret is this: don’t over-mix. Want more that just a secret? Keep reading.

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The Perfect Biscuit Search… #1. Angel Biscuits

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So, I’m ashamed to say that although Mess of Greens is about 2.5 years old I’ve only shared one SINGLE biscuit recipe. Biscuits and cornbread are two southern table staples PLUS they’re two of my most favorite foods in the whole world, so it’s pretty weird that biscuits have only made ONE appearance…although considering that most of my biscuit making attempts end in failure, it’s not that weird.

True story… I love biscuits so, so much, but haven’t been able to replicate my own idea of flaky, fluffy,  crispy on the bottom, chewy on the top, just-salty-and-sweet enough  perfection. Obviously there are different TYPES of biscuits for different meals… the cover in gravy biscuit, the Hardee’s sausage biscuit, the biscuit for the top of a casserole… but I’m looking for the perfect eat-on-its-own-with-just-a-little-butter biscuit.  My grandmother had a fantastic recipe…but I think her own hands and all the love and care for us that she put in them made hers truly delicious. When I try to use her recipe they taste fine, but they just aren’t the same. A few months back I shared the Flying Biscuit’s recipe, (which are so good) but they’re still not what I’m craving most Saturday mornings when it’s biscuit making time.

I’ve tried Sister Shubert’s Angel Biscuit recipe twice recently, and I liked the texture and think they’re perfect to smother in creamed chicken or some sort of gravy. So, think of these as a dinner-time biscuit. It’s a yeast dough, so they’re smoother than regular biscuits, but that also means they weren’t bad with butter and dewberry jam, either, but still not just what I’m personally looking for when it comes to flaky, breakfast or brunch goodness. I’m sharing that recipe here so you can see for yourself.
Now, I know I’m starting to sound like Goldilocks and the Three bears here, but I’m still on the hunt for the biscuit recipe that’s just right and won’t stop until I find it. In the meantime, here’s a recipe to see if it’s YOUR biscuit ideal.

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Fluffy Sour Cream Cornbread

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I have a cornbread addiction.

I love it in ALL of it’s forms… muffins, hot water cracker cornbread, jalepeno, crispy cornpones, cornbread sticks… I just can’t get enough.
Therefore, it made perfect sense that for my first Cookbook club a few months ago I’d pick out the recipe for Sour Cream Cornbread to make for the group. It also may have had something to do with the fact that we were moving the next week and had packed up almost all of our cookware and didn’t have a ton of groceries…but, no matter.

What resulted was a cornbread recipe that was PERFECT to bake ahead and serve to a large group…one with a soft, fluffy texture, a little crispness around the edges, and one that didn’t dry out (even two days later!) If you’ve got to make something for a party, or are having people over for chili (superbowl party, maybe?) but need to make a few things in advance, this is your cornbread recipe. You can thank the Junior League of Birmingham, Alabama from their Tables of Content, Service, Settings, and Supper cookbook AND my fun Delta Cookbook club for the find. (What’s cookbook club, you ask? A fun group of gals who choose a cookbook to make things from for a year, and then have a monthly potluck as we cook our way through! That way, we know what recipes are delicious and which ones are just so-so. Plus, we get to have a girls’ night once a month.) Read on for this cornbread recipe you DEFINITELY need in your repertoire…

Sour Cream Cornbread
Makes about 16 squares

What you Need:
1 Cup All purpose Flour
3/4 Cup Yellow Cornmeal
1/4 Cup Sugar
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
3/4 teaspoon Salt
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil

What to do:
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees, and get out a 9×9 baking dish. Grease it well, then start on the dry ingredients!

Combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a bowl and mix well.

Mix the sour cream, milk, egg and oil in a bowl and stir in the flour mixture slowly.
Once everything is mixed well, put the batter into your baking pan and bake for 30-40 minutes or until the corn bread tests done.(stick a toothpick or fork into the center of it… if it comes out clean like a cake, it’s done. Also, it’ll be a light golden brown…)

Voila! Once it’s cooled a bit, you can slice it up and serve it (or seal it in an airtight container until you’re ready. If you don’t over-bake it, my experience tells me it’ll stay moist for at least a day and a half!) with your favorite soup or chili!

 

 

Pumpkin Cornbread Muffins

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Folks in the Delta really love a potluck. Friendsgiving is next weekend in our little town, and I’m traveling an hour or so on Wednesday to get together with some teachers in another county… and on Saturday night, our friends Jess and Boyce (those of bourbon pecan ice cream fame) hosted a fun pumpkin-themed potluck party. They figure that canned pumpkin is sold seasonally, PLUS all the recipes for pumpkin are pretty delish, so why not just throw out all the stops and eat ALL of said recipes one fun, semi-chilly weekend in November? It doesn’t hurt they live on a huge beautiful farm in an old farmhouse with horses and lots of space for a bonfire. Last year I tried my hand at pumpkin gooey butter cake (huge, big time, epic fail), so this year I thought I’d go with something more in my wheelhouse AND something that would go with the signature main dish, spicy pumpkin chili:  pumpkin corn muffins. If I may say so, they were a pretty solid addition to the fare of cheesecakes, dips, and pumpkin eggnog. What’s your favorite pumpkin recipe?
 
Pumpkin Cornbread Muffins
Makes 24
  
What you need:
2 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 cup cornmeal

1 1/2 cup light brown sugar

2 tablespoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 can canned pumpkin puree

1 1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, melted

2 eggs 

What to do:
Sift or mix the dry ingredients together well (sugar, flour, cornmeal, spices, baking powder) and then stir the wet ingredients (pumpkin, milk, melted butter, and eggs) lightly using a spoon or fork… I made a huge (HUGE) mess because my bowl wasn’t very deep and I thought the pumpkin and milk would blend easily… turns out pumpkin is THICK. anyway, tread lightly.

 

Mix it all together, spoon into about 24 muffin tins, and bake at 350 for about 10-15 minutes. They won’t be golden brown, but a toothpick will come out clean when they’re ready.

 

they were a big hit with the spicy pumpkin chili. Be warned, this makes for one filling meal as the pumpkin makes the muffins a little more dense than your typical cornbread. 🙂

chicken on flying biscuits

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boone and i have a road-trip tradition (if you can call it that). if it’s 10:31am OR if we’ve just passed an exit it’s a given that i’ll turn to him and say, “hey, we should get a chicken biscuit.” which sets off a crazy craving for one AND is at that moment, totally impossible.
i have the worst timing.
just thursday we watched adam richman’s (of man vs food) new travel channel show as he searches for the best sandwich in america and he highlighted a chicken cheddar biscuit from time out, some chapel hill, nc establishment and ever since we’ve been dying for this perfect southern breakfast combo. since we were having folks over for brunch this weekend to watch the olympics we decided to try to make one ourselves. we used a chicken recipe from some show on CMT that promises to help folks recreate fast food staples (BTW, whoever thought “country music and fast food, that’s the PERFECT combo” is definitely encouraging obesity AND making hank williams senior and johnny cash turn over in their graves). to top it off, we pulled out my favorite atlanta cookbook (the flying biscuit) for their world-famous biscuit recipe. no lie, it was a giant mouthful, but pret-ty delish.
What you need for the chicken:
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
3 cups peanut oil
1 egg
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
2 1/2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons salt
What you need for flying biscuits:
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon double-acting baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons granulated sugar (3 tablespoons for the recipe, 1 for the topping)
6 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/2 cups light cream (or 1 1/2 cups half and half if you can’t get light cream)
1/3 half-and-half
What to do:
for the biscuits, mix the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar together. cut the butter into small chunks. work the butter into the dry ingredients until its all about the size of small peas. smushing the flour and butter together feels wonderful, so just relax and enjoy it.
 

 

make a hole in the center of the dry ingredients and butter and pour in the light cream (or half and half) and stir it using a circular fashion until all the ingredients are wet and sticking together, “until the dough comes together in a sort of sticky ball.” don’t over handle it, but put it on a floured surface and knead it lightly until into a ball, then roll it out using a lightly floured rolling pin to about a 1 inch thickness. use a 2″-3″ cookie cutter to cut the dough.  (turns out i don’t have a cookie cutter, BUT a wine glass or plastic cup works just the same)

 

brush the tops of the biscuits with half and half and sprinkle the sugar on the top. (now, i didn’t do this last part since I wasn’t sure about the sugar and chicken, but if you’re making authentic flying biscuits, then it’s a must.) once this is done, bake the dough at 350 degrees for 20-23 minutes until golden brown.
For the chicken, i’m turning things over to boone, since i had no hand whatsoever (which is why there isn’t one single prep photo. oops.) anyway, here goes.
Boone: heat the peanut oil in a deep skillet to 400 degrees, this takes a long time, so it’s best to start here. then, cut the breasts in half and (if you’re smart, pound them to be a bit flat and make it easier to eat). to make the batter, mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl. beat the egg and stir in the milk in a separate bowl.  submerge the chicken in the egg mixture, then drop it into the dry batter and coat the entire breast. fry in the oil and cook for about 8-10 minutes until golden brown. perfect.

 

ok, i’m back. once the chicken is done and the biscuits are baked, cut them in half and make your sandwich…the time-out version calls for cheddar cheese melted on top, so if you’re feeling decadent, you can go that route. serve with fruit or roasted potatoes and ta-da!
   
 doesn’t looking at this make you feel as fit as our olympic swimmers or divers?  i know… me too. 😉

 

mame’s creamed corn muffins.

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what is more southern than cornbread, i ask you? ok, maybe grits, but you’ll notice that although mess of greens has only been around for a little while, the recipe page is overwhelmed with thingsmadefromcornmeal. oops.
not my photo, sorry folks. but you get the general idea.

i probably have at least 5 favorite cornbread recipes (and counting)…one is a crispy, semi-bitter hot water cornbread, one is a fluffy and crispy-brown egg-bread, and 3 are different kinds of corn muffins on the list, one of which i have NO idea how to recreate, but know that i can get from any meat-and-three soul food restaurant in the delta.  in fact, i love cornbread so much, that recently, when someone (ahem!) mentioned that i had gotten a little soft around the middle they also suggested i stop eating so much of that very thing. ouch.

irrelevant, I say! since corn muffins go perfectly with chili, and we made chunky chili last night, HOW could we pass up the chance to do a little baking? exactly. we ended up making my aunt mame’s creamed corn muffins and they were the perfect bread to soak up the red, spicy liquid from the stew. perfect, i tell you.
the photos really don’t do the muffins justice, but i still want to share the recipe with you and as you to PROMISE  you’ll try them. you’ll never, ever, ever go back to jiffy if you do. promise? ok. here goes!

Mame’s creamed corn muffins
Makes 12 muffins

A note: Now, this recipe MAY have come from someone else, but as far as i’m concerned, my aunt is the brilliant baker who made this perfect cornbread specimen. also, fyi, i’m typing this from the back of an envelope that i keep tucked into my favorite cookbook. my mom used the envelope to jot the recipe down when she called mame to get this, so it may not be exact, but it’s what i use and it works like a charm.

What you need:
1 Cup self rising cornmeal mix
1/2 Cup vegetable oil (specified “wesson” but veg will do)
1 cup sour cream (I’ve also tried greek yogurt and heavy cream, but sour cream is the best)
2 eggs
1 small can creamed corn or 1/2 large can

What to do:
ok, here’s the best part, folks. this is easy. you grease your muffin tins, preheat the oven to 400 degrees, and dump all of these ingredients into a mixing bowl and stir.

once everything is all mixed up and blended, pour it into your muffin tins and bake it for about 18 minutes.

Once they’re all puffy and golden brown, take those babies out and devour them.

my aunt said that you can freeze them in a plastic bag and reheat them for later if you can’t eat all 12 muffins…but if you can’t eat all 12 muffins, shame on you. (ooooooohhhhh.  maybe that’s why my middle is so soft. erg.)