Mrs. Gray's Light Biscuits

Biscuits. No table may be complete without them, and since DH has been on me to make some, I tried a new recipe for the little treat. I didn't really feel like pulling from my stack of books & translating anything, so instead I pulled Hearthside Cooking from the shelf and chose one from there.

 "1 quart of sour milk, teas-spoon of saleratus to be beaten well together then worked into as much flour as will make it tolerably stiff.-a small lump of lard." 

Well, that's easy. I am not sure what date this recipe goes to, but seems to be in line with other biscuit recipes and is very similar to the Buttermilk Biscuit I tried before.

Sift 2 cups of flour together with 3/4 tsp of salt and 1 tsp of soda. Then work in about a 1/4 cup of lard. Yes, lard, pig fat, get it in there! You can still get it in grocery stores (or it may just be a southern thing).

Nancy Crump says to mix the lard in by hand. I tried to use my pastry cutter to keep my hands clean ( I was multi-tasking) but that failed. So really, get your hands into the flour to combine the lard until crumbly. Then add the buttermilk- only enough to make the dough soft- I used just a bit more than 2/3 cup. 

Turn your dough out onto a floured surface & knead enough to combine the dough together well. 

Dough ready to be rolled. 

Then roll our to about 1/2" thickness to be cut out. Cut out using a biscuit cutter of rim of a glass or tumbler. 

Cutting the biscuits

The recipe states it will make 10, 2 1/2" biscuits, but I only got 8 our of the batch. I think that has to do with the size of my biscuit cutter, it is a little larger than some. I also think I rolled my dough too thin. 

After the biscuits are cut out, place them in a pan & in a hot oven (450*) for about 12-15 minutes. My oven apparently cooks hot, because after 12 minutes they were brown & ready, maybe a little too brown. But then again, they are supposed to be "golden". 

Biscuits ready to eat!

These did not rise much, I still think I rolled my dough too thin. But they were great!! They even tasted like a biscuit should! (Yes, I am still amazed when I make something that tastes like it should). Even DH was surprised that they turned out well ( I have had a few flops lately....so bad that they didn't make it on here.)

Overall, a great biscuit. I will try these again, roll the dough thicker & cut them smaller. These are simple enough to make at event, and are excellent warm! I think kids could even help make these, mixing & cutting out (just be mindful of fire safety!)  

Buttermilk Biscuit

I have never made biscuits, aside from out of the can. I know, what kind of Southern girl has never made biscuits?!?! Well, I do remember helping my mom do it when I was little, but I have never made them by myself.   I chose "Buttermilk Biscuit" from The Practical Cook Book, 1850. There were other biscuit recipes listed, but this one just looked good.

Rolled and cut

Add one tablespoon of butter to 4 cups of flour, then add about a teaspoon of salt. Mix well. Ton 2 cups of buttermilk add a teaspoon of baking soda and mix it in. Add the liquid to the flour and mix until a nice dough is formed. The dough is a nice thick dough and rolls out well. Roll the dough out to and cut into biscuits, I use the end of a glass since I do not have a biscuit cutter. Place the biscuits in pans and bake at 400 for twelve minutes.
The biscuits are good hot out of the oven with butter. They were a bit heavy, and I am finding a lot of period breads to be. But, they were pretty good for a first try at biscuits!  The recipe made about 15 biscuits.

Biscuits hot out of the Oven

These would keep well for traveling, taking for a weekend event, or for soldiers to keep in a Haversack since they are not a fragile bread.