The Greezy Wop

For the past few months, I've experimented with the profound culinary majesty that is the American Biscuit. Primarily, since I live in Oklahoma, I've been working toward my favorite Southern biscuit recipe, and I think I've finally gotten it down. I worked from a base recipe in that old-school tome, the Betty Crocker cookbook. Although, every culture has a biscuit recipe, it's the regional eccentricities that make each one of them genuine.

This one is a basic baking powder-leavened, non-buttermilk recipe that is built on 6 ingredients (seven, if you count butter and shortening separately) that everyone should have in bulk in their pantry. I haven't added anything special to this yet (gasp!) but this is very easily made quick bread with the possibilities of any addition or substitution you find necessary for your particular tastes.

• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp salt
• 3½ tsp baking powder
• 1 T sugar
• ¾ c milk
• ¼ c cold shortening
• ¼ c cold butter

Preheat the oven to 450˚. Start by sifting the flour, salt, sugar and baking powder into a bowl. Measure the butter and shortening together, using the water-displacement method (the only really accurate way). I found that if you add a piece or two of ice after getting the measurement and let it sit for a few minutes, the final product is more flaky and has a much better mouth-feel. Add the shortening and butter to the dry mixture and cut in with a pastry cutter or a couple of knives. The idea is not to heat the mixture at all and the final product should be fairly colloidal with chunks of shortening and butter throughout.

Add the milk and mix carefully together with a fork until blended. You don't want to beat this to death, just bring it together until it's workable. Transfer it to a heavily floured board and knead it only three or four times before forming it into a ball. Again, you do not want to overwork this dough, gluten development is not what you're looking for here. Pat or roll this out to around ¾" thick and cut into rounds with a biscuit cutter or some round cookie cutters. I use the 3" diameter rounds. The cut should be pressed down completely straight and then slightly twisted to bring it up. Don't twist on the downstroke or the dough won't rise correctly and you'll have a very flat and tough final product. The yield for this is about 5 or 6 biscuits.

Place these close in a baking pan or on a sheet pan and bake until golden brown and delicious. This should be around 12-15 minutes. You'll notice a significant rise after about 3 minutes in the oven. Brush with butter and serve hot. The high heat will create a thicker, crispier crust on the outside and a soft and tender inside. If you prefer a little more give to the outside of the biscuit, then lower the oven temp to 400 and bake for a few minutes longer.

I hope you give these a try. From conception to oven, the process takes only about 5 minutes. If you really want to do it right, fry up some country sausage and make a gut-busting sawmill gravy to ooze over a plate of these fine-tasting biscuits.