The Journey to Perfect Biscuits

I have eaten a lot of biscuits in my travels. Good, bad, delectable, and downright gross all come to mind when I think about it. I have a biscuit recipe of my own that I have been tinkering with for about 10 years now, and I am still not completely satisfied with it. I have done much research, thrown many batches out (or used them for hockey pucks), and smothered even more with sausage gravy (for that lovely tidbit, search the archives). So what is it that drives me to adapt and change my biscuit recipe? The fact that a perfect biscuit is one of the most pure, simple, and delicious breads known. It has a long history and a lot more variations than I care to count.

Almost every component of biscuits, as well as the method they are made, can drastically effect the taste and texture of biscuits. So let me break it down the best I can. First off, the flour. Regular, unbleached all-purpose flour seems to work the best because of its fine consistency. I have found that sifting it works the best. Bread flour contains a lot of protein, which can make the biscuits dead weights.

Next is the baking powder/baking soda and buttermilk mix. This is quite possibly the most important part of the biscuit recipe (that and the butter). Let us go off on a tangent for a moment and talk some science. Buttermilk is an acid, baking soda is a base, and baking powder is a combination of cream of tartar and baking soda, the tarter making it a bit of an acid. The rising of your biscuits completely depends on the acid/base balance in your dough. Too much acid and the baking soda is neutralized. Too much soda can make the biscuits too basic, again causing a bad rise. Normally the amount of baking powder is kept constant in the recipe. If using regular milk (which lacks the large amount of acid and the tang of buttermilk) you can use about 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda and get a good balance (the rest of the dough contains enough base to counter it). But for every cup of buttermilk you add, you need to add about 1/2 teaspoon of soda to bring the balance back. And for anyone out there who does not use buttermilk in their biscuits, you might as well buy the prepackaged ones. Buttermilk adds a lot of flavor and should never be skimped on. Don't have any? Not an excuse. You can make a substitute by adding 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to enough milk to make a cup. Let sit for 5 minutes. Tasty.

Ok, now that we have the acid/base stuff out of the way, lets move on to seasoning and the butter. I like a little bit of sugar in my biscuits in addition to salt, but its completely optional. But the butter, not so much. Some recipes call for 1/2 butter and 1/2 lard or shortening. Butter brings flavor and shortening brings flakiness. I have switched from all butter to this.

So that brings us to the recipe. It's not complete, as I seem to love to change it about once every few months. Don't worry, I will update it. But suffice it to say that even picky Boston eaters and Hawaiians love them.

Buttermilk Biscuits

2 C all-purpose flour
4 t baking powder

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

1 t sugar

2 T cold butter, cut into pieces

2 T shortening

1 C buttermilk

Preheat oven to 425. Sift dry ingredients into bowl. Add the butter to the dry ingredients and using a fork or fingers mash the butter up until it is in small pieces and pretty much evenly distributed among the flour. The pieces do not need to be uniform (over mixing here can make tough and leaden biscuits). Slowly add the buttermilk and mix as little as possible. You might need to add a bit more, in fact, I do not even measure it, I just know there is enough when the dough is nice and sticky. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, sprinkle with a little flour, and knead them lightly about 3 or 4 times. The less you knead, the lighter the biscuits. Flatten the dough gently to about 1/2 inch and using a biscuit cutter or down turned glass cut out the dough. When you run out of room reshape the dough and cut again. You should get about 12-15 for a batch. Place on an ungreased sheet pan so the biscuits are all slightly touching (its ok if they are all on one side of the pan). Letting them touch prevents them from spreading (like cookies do) and helps give a better rise. Place in oven and cook for 12-15 minutes or until the tops are golden brown. If your oven has a tendency to rapidly heat from the bottom (which will burn the bottom of your biscuits), place another sheet pan on the rack below to prevent this. Neat!

So thats it. I am certain I will continue playing with my recipe over the years and incorporate other ratios to make the perfect one. But until then......biscuits. Tasty.

EDIT: See, already changed it! I have been converted to the shortening/butter combo instead of all butter. Flaky and tasty!

Read more...

Contact

After getting any kind of response via word of mouth or in person, I figured something a bit easier might work. I set up an email account at boilermakerkitchen(at)gmail.com for people to send me ideas for posts, recipes, and feedback. Hopefully anyone who reads this blog will pass on the link and expand the demographic of readers. Always like to hear what people think and the food they love.

Posts coming soon including biscuits, my argument for seasoning salt, and the beginning of the pasta extravaganza.

Read more...

The IFB- Indian Fry Bread

Many of you know it as elephant ears, or as fried dough, depending on your location in the country. Being from the southwest, I know it as Indian Fry Bread, a delectable dough that has both sweet and savory applications. At fairs and events you can forget the pizza and bratwurst, the long line is the one extending from the small booth where dough is being rolled out and dropped gently into a shallow pan of hot oil. What emerges is both crisp and chewy, only to be topped with wonderful ingredients and devoured.

Now that I have myself salivating, I guess I should expand more on the cooking application of this bread, as it has become a staple in my household. I make this on average once every two weeks, either planning it or when I have nothing else to make for dinner. Yes, it's that easy.

Fry bread is remarkably healthy (don't scoff, I mean it). Yes, its fried in shallow oil, but it has no fat in the dough and is patted free of oil after cooking. Oily fry bread is NOT good stuff. It might take some getting used to, as the dough cooks quickly and the thickness can mess with your head. But enough talking, Skylar, give me the recipe!

Indian Fry Bread

2 C flour
4 t baking powder
1 t salt
Warm Water
Extra flour for rolling
Vegetable oil for frying

In a medium pan or cast iron skillet, heat about 1-1 1/2 inches vegetable oil to about 325. This is the optimum temperature for frying this bread, higher can make it too crispy, and lower can make it oily. Make sure to watch your temperature when you add the dough

Combine dry ingredients. Add enough warm water until the dough becomes a nice sticky mess. Lightly flour your work surface and turn the dough out. Knead a few times, not too much, then set the dough aside. Break off about a golf ball size bit of dough (or slightly larger) and roll out until about 1/4 inch thick. With your finger, make a small hole in the middle of the dough about the size of a nickel. This allows for a better shape and prevents the dough from becoming a bubble (we are not making sopapias). Lightly place the dough in oil and fry on each side until it becomes slightly golden brown, about 2-3 minutes each side. You should be able to fry two at a time, and you can roll out all of your dough ahead of time.

A lot of this recipe is eyeballing, from the thickness to the cooking time. As it goes for me, the first fry bread is usually a wash and a great way to see any adjustments you need to make, as well as a nice snack.

When the dough has finished frying, place on a plate lined with paper towels and blot dry. Fry the rest up and get ready to eat. You can hold the already completed ones in an oven set at the lowest setting.

So, now you have dough, what to do with it? Well, I for one like the more Mexican application. So spread some refried beans (recipe found here), mix in a few dollops of sour cream, top with lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, guacamole, salsa, or any combination. I have had them with shredded beef as well. If you want sweet, drizzle with honey and sprinkle with powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar. There are endless applications with these (though I do not approve of putting marinara sauce on these, blech) and they are very versatile.

This recipe makes about 5-6 fry bread depending on how thick you roll them. It easily doubles or triples without adjustment. It remains one of my favorite recipes, takes not time to make, and is true crowd pleaser.

Read more...

The Funky Chicken

Well, I do not claim to be southern nor the original maker of this recipe, but I was asked to put this up on this blog since it is hands down the best fried chicken I have ever made. Crispy on the outside and oh-so-delicious on the inside, this chicken is requested at least once a month by my girlfriend. When she reads this she will probably ask for it again.

Before I spit out a recipe, I need to bring a few things to light that will make this process go easier. Lets take it step by step, shall we?

Chicken- You will need a whole chicken (preferably a frier or broiler) cut into eight pieces. Though you can buy a pre-cut chicken, they tend to taste slightly funky. I recommend cutting it yourself. Well, I did until I found out my butcher does it for free. So go that route unless you love knife work.

Pan- Cast Iron. Yep, I am going right back to that pan. Greatest fifteen bucks I have spent since I paid that much to take a semester long wine tasting class. The cast iron holds in heat, brings flavor to the party, and takes chicken placement very well. If you insist on not listening to the thousands of screaming people who love their cast iron, you can use an electric skillet or a deep pan that is at least 10 inches wide.

Fat- Crisco, or vegetable shortening, is the real winner here. The chicken is not deep fried, it is pan fried, and this fat with neutral flavor and a high smoke point is perfect. Most people do their pan frying in vegetable shortening simply because of ease of use (not to mention disposal)

Thermometer- See previous post.

Ok, now that we have the basics out of the way, lets move on to the recipe. The original is credit to Alton Brown (from the Good Eats episode Fry Hard II: The Chicken)

Fried Chicken

1 broiler/fryer chicken, cut into 8 pieces
2 cups low fat buttermilk
2 tablespoons kosher salt (4 teaspoons table salt)
2 tablespoons paprika
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (more or less depending on your like of spicy foods)
Flour, for dredging
Vegetable shortening, for frying

Place chicken pieces into a plastic container and cover with buttermilk. Cover and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours.

Melt enough shortening (over low heat) to come just 1/8-inch up the side of a 12-inch cast iron skillet or heavy fry pan. Once shortening liquefies raise heat to 325-350 degrees F. Do not allow oil to go over 350 degrees F. (Actually, you can let it go to 400 before it begins to break down, but stay below just to be safe)

Drain chicken in a colander. Combine salt, paprika, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper. Liberally season chicken with this mixture. Dredge chicken in flour and shake off excess.

Place chicken skin side down into the pan. Put thighs in the center, and breast and legs around the edge of the pan. The oil should come half way up the pan. Cook chicken until golden brown on each side, approximately 10 to 12 minutes per side. When the chicken enters the shortening the temperature will drop. Increase the heat slightly, but not enough to scorch the chicken. More importantly, the internal temperature should be right around 165-175 degrees when the chicken is done. (Be careful to monitor shortening temperature every few minutes, I use my probe thermometer since I am using a shallow dish.)

Drain chicken on a rack over a sheet pan. Don't drain by setting chicken directly on paper towels or brown paper bags. If you need to hold the chicken before serving, cover loosely with foil but avoid holding in a warm oven.

If you noticed there was no room for the wings. Well, a lot of chefs do not use the wings in fried chicken. Blasphemy if you ask me. So if you have a big pan that will fit them, use it. If not, fry the wings right after the other pieces, it will only take a few minutes.

Serve and watch it be devoured.

Read more...

Taking Your Temperature

I had a post about fried chicken ready to go that someone requested, and then I realized a fundamental flaw in what I was writing. I explained my love for cast iron (see below), but one other component that has become instrumental in my cooking is the use of a thermometer. That's right; I rarely trust myself to test the doneness of my meat and dishes. Maybe if I worked in a restaurant for twenty years or had spent countless hours in a kitchen poking and prodding meat. At this moment in time, I tend to let things cook a wee bit long.

Meat temperatures are usually listed as a recommendation for not killing yourself or making your loved ones sick. Good idea if you ask me, but by that time your dish is overdone. This is more apparent with meats such as chicken and pork. Chicken cooked to 165 is wonderful, moist, and tender. You are afforded a few degrees of fudge room with a whole chicken, but something like a boneless breast is a whole other story. If you hit about 180 with the conventional roasting method, you might as well go outside and eat a tire off of your car. Seriously.

Which brings me back to monitoring the temperature. I use a thermometer. In fact, I use three. Three? Excessive? Heck no. They all have different purposes and are useful in certain situations. I heartedly recommend purchasing one, they are relatively inexpensive, last a very long time, and take a lot of the opening the oven or pan and prodding your poor dish out of cooking.

Good Old Fashion Instant Read Thermometer
I like these for testing temperatures of meat I grill, pan fry, or anything small. Its fast and mostly accurate. I had an analog one (big long spear with the head on the end), but unless you want to spend a lot of money for a good one, these are relatively useless after about a month. So I bought a digital one, which is calibrated by some cool method and stays that way for a long time. Most them are compact and have different options. Stay away from the big grill fork thermometers though, unless you strictly grill at all times. Spearing a small piece of fish with one of these will give you nothing but trouble.

Probe Cooking Thermometers
This is quite possibly the most used item in my kitchen other than my spoons (I don't know why, but I never have enough spoons). Most of these are under $20 unless you opt for the wireless model. Being that I live in an apartment and I can hear mine beeping, I do not find it necessary to purchase a model which allows me to clip a huge pager-like device to my hip just so I can walk into the next room and look cool. But that's off topic. These little beauties have a thin wire attached to a metal probe (hence the name) that fits into a section of a roast, whole chicken, etc ... that you want to monitor while it is in the oven or on the grill. The reader sits nicely outside the oven and tells you the temperature without opening the oven and losing all of the residual heat. Generally, it will have an alarm letting you know when your food has reached a specific temperature. This little bugger has single-handedly saved Thanksgiving for me.

Fry Thermometer
My latest addition to the party, this analog thermometer sits vertical and clasps itself to the side of whatever I happen to be frying in. Great for deep frying (duh) and candy making, this is not a huge necessity, but they are pretty cheap and allow me to make French fries relatively painlessly.

One last note is carry over temperature. People preach it on TV all the time. For bigger pieces of meat such as whole chickens, turkeys, and legs o' beast, you will see a 5-10 degree increase after you remove said food from the heat source. For smaller bits you will only see about a 2-3 degree increase, but it is important nonetheless. Just remember if you pull your chicken at 168, it might be getting close to tire quality, so just be mindful.

Okay, now that my techno babble is done, I can move on to fried chicken.....later this week. Enjoy.

Read more...

Playing with Pasta

I ordered a pasta maker with my tax refund this year. The type that hooks up to my Kitchen-Aid mixer (no way am I cranking that stuff out by hand). I hopefully will get to try it out over spring break, though I have been warned the first batch will taste like metal. Good thing, since the first batch will probably go horribly wrong and have to be fed to the garbage. Stay tuned, and if works out, pasta party at my place.

Read more...

Beans!

I have to say, beans are not usually followed in any recipe with an exclamation point. In fact, the foods that have a "!" on the end are usually processed bags of blah. Next time you peruse through the grocery store, watch out for them.

But I'm getting off topic. This is about beans, or rather, beans! More specifically refried beans. A staple to many Mexican dishes but probably only found in your diet as a side at a Mexican restaurant or in a Taco Bell burrito. Not the way they were originally intended. Taking a page from my pseudo Hispanic heritage (I grew up near Mexico) I like to put beans in lots of foods. More importantly, my girlfriend loves them. Why? Because they are simply delicious!

Refried beans come from re-cooking pinto beans and mashing them into a kind of paste. While this sounds mildly displeasing, they are actually quite tasty. I have made my own before, and while they are quite good, they take a bit of time with the soaking, the cooking, the cooling, the mashing, and anything else I can think of to get a smooth texture. In my opinion its much better to go with the canned variety. I like Rosarita Fat-Free. Yes, I said fat free, so deal with it. I promise you will not be disappointed.

A small tangent I would like to go for is the wonderful health benefits of beans. Full of fiber, vitamins, and protein while being devoid of fat, cholesterol, and loads of calories, pretty much every other country in the world eats more beans than we do. And most of them live longer. Get it? The refried variety show up in a lot of my dishes, so before I go off on those I have to explain how I make beans. So here we go.

Refried Beans

1 can Rosarita Fat-Free Beans
1-2 T bacon fat
1-2 oz shredded cheese (Cheddar and Colby-Jack work best)
2ish T of milk

Whoa, whoa, I know, I said buy fat free, and now I want you to add bacon fat? Yes, I do. First of all, 1-2 tablespoons of the stuff split between four people is much healthier than anything you shamelessly ate the last time you walked into a fast food joint. And more importantly, pork fat rules! It lends a smoky flavor that cannot be matched by any other fat put into beans. And if you do not have bacon fat, save some the next time you make bacon. I keep a small container in my fridge at all times. If you think about it, many great dishes would taste better with bacon fat than butter.

So back to our beans. Heat a small pot over medium-low heat, add the bacon fat until it melts, and add the beans, stirring to incorporate the two. Add the milk and cheese and stir. Vary the amount of each to accommodate your desired consistency. Heat until the cheese melts, and serve.

Yep, no seasoning. If you want some spice, you can add whatever you like. No need for salt thanks to the cheese. You can serve these on the side or use them for burritos, tacos, and many other goodies. They are the base for my Indian Fry Bread, which I will post in the near future.

Read more...

Rabbit Food Cake

Maybe the title of this post is a bit misleading. But you know what I mean. Carrot cake. The delicious, oft misunderstood and mis-made cake that graces diners and chain restaurants around the country. It is served very cold, very dense, and always has a carrot made of icing on the top. This, contrary to what the boxed restaurants of America want you believe, is NOT carrot cake. Carrot cake is super moist, covered in delicious icing, and super awesome.

I refuse to order carrot cake at a restaurant anymore because unfortunately I know what I will receive. Not in anyone's best interest. Instead, I turn to the faithful recipe that has served my family well since, well, I don't know. The background and introduction to this cake is rather short, mostly because this cake is simply put, freakin sweet.

A note to mention. To grate carrots, you have to options. First, put the grating attachment on a food processor and grate accordingly (this is truly the easiest). If you do not own a food processor (which have many good uses) you can simply peel your carrots and grate them on a normal grater. This might take a little bit longer, but you need them shredded.

Carrot Cake

2 C. sugar
1 C. vegetable oil (or Canola)
2 eggs
2 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
1 T. cinnamon
2 t. baking powder
2 C. flour
1 C. chopped walnuts
1 C. raisins
3 C. grated carrots

Preheat oven to 350.

Blend sugar and eggs in a stand mixer until fluffy. Add oil and mix. Add dry ingredients and blend them in. Make sure to wipe down the sides of the bowl if using a stand mixer, some parts tend to stick to the sides. Add the nuts and raisins next. Add the carrots last and mix slowly, being careful not to over mix. Pour into a greased bundt pan (yes, again with the bundt pan, it allows the center to be done at the same time as the edges. If you use a square pan you might burn the edges) and bake for about 40 minutes or until the center of the cake springs back and does not feel sticky. Let cool slightly, turn out on a rack and cool, then ice.

Cream Cheese Frosting
1/4 C butter
1 8oz. package cream cheese
2 tsp vanilla (or 1 tsp each vanilla and almond extract)
1/2 package of powdered sugar.

Let butter and cream cheese come to room temperature and soften. Beat in mixer until creamy. Add vanilla and powdered sugar. If it's too thick, add milk, if too thin, add more powdered sugar. If you don't think you have enough, add some milk and powdered sugar to increase the volume slightly.

Enjoy.

Read more...

Slight Hiatus

Due to a bit of a busy stretch, I will not post as much as I would like this week. But never fear, I have some lined up for carrot cake, Indian fry bread, a book I read (no, you cannot eat that), chicken with almonds, and why avocados might be perfect.

Read more...

What's White About Chili?

I like chili. Hearty, flavorful, spicy chili. But its always red. Why? We think of tomatoes, beans, ground beef and chili powder. This is the classic and common method to making chili, and what I was pondering while working out a recipe for turkey chili. Yes, you could probably swap out beef for turkey, but the beef has more flavor that stands up to the tomatoes and spice you put in traditional chili. In fact, I was pretty sure the chili I make most of the time is not "traditional" because, first off, it has beans. But that is not why we are here. This is about turkey chili.

Why can't turkey chili be a different focus all together? For this, I turned to one of my all-time favorite varieties, chili verde. I have fond memories of this (it is mainly a pork based chili braised in chicken stock and green chiles) from Albuquerque where it is sold at a balloon festival with a shot of Jack Daniels. At four in the morning. No lie. Well, turkey goes well with green chiles, and it likes mild, subtle flavors. So I went about looking for a recipe for a green or white chili.

I was severely disappointed. I do not want thyme, basil, and cocoa powder(?!) in my chili. That's not what I was after. I wanted smokey, spicy, and earthy flavors. Uh oh, this was turning out to be one of those hit or miss moments my girlfriend hates. She gives me this look of despair and hopes we don't have to order out.

Lucky for her (and me), this chili turned out awesome. It has everything I wanted, the flavor, the texture, and the turkey was not washed away in a bed of tomatoes. This is a slightly spicy dish, if you want more or less, adjust the amount of chipotles you add. Barley gives some texture to the dish (not to mention it's healthy). Thanks to the 6 inches of snow we just received here, this dish will give you some serious comfort.

White(ish) Turkey Chili

Olive Oil
1 pound ground turkey (at least 90/10, I like 95/5)
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, diced
2 chipotle peppers in their adobo sauce, diced
2 4 oz. cans diced green chiles
1 10oz can green enchilada sauce
1 12-15 oz can tomatillos (I don't remember the exact size - you can find these in the Mexican isle at the grocery store), drained and chopped
1 cup dry pearled barley
2 15oz . cans chicken stock
1 15oz. can cannellini bean beans, rinsed
1 T Cumin
1 T Chili Powder (go for the Ancho kind, its smokey)
Salt
Pepper
1 T cornmeal
1 T tomato paste
Sour cream

Heat about 2-3T of olive oil over medium heat in a good sized pot. Add onion and cook until slightly wilted, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook one minute longer. Add turkey, breaking it apart and cooking until it has lost its pink color. Add the chipotles, cumin, chili powder, and some salt and pepper. Stir and cook for about 1 minute. Add green chiles, tomatillos, enchilada sauce, and pearled barley, followed by chicken stock. Stir, bring to a boil and lower heat to a simmer. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes. Add beans and cook 10 more minutes, or until barley becomes only slightly chewy. Remove lid, stir in cornmeal and tomato paste, and cook for about 5 more minutes. The chili will thicken nicely. Serve topped with a bit of sour cream.

Is it white? Kind of. Is it green? Kind of. Is it awesome? You betcha

Read more...