By CHEF TRACY DARUE for the Flathead Beacon
Fall is in the air, and we are entering what I call, “cooking season.” Being a professional chef requires long hours on your feet in hot kitchens. After completing a work week, it may strike you as odd that I would choose to relax on my days off by spending the entire day in my home kitchen. I do indeed, because it allows me to get out of my daily work cooking routine and gives me a chance to cook what sounds good to me that day. Whether they are coming from stock, soup or marinara simmering on the stove or a fresh loaf of bread baking in the oven, I love all the aromas wafting throughout the house. Plus, I always like to have home-cooked food ready for a quick meal during the week. Biscuits are especially good to have around because they can accompany so many meals.
This recipe for southern style buttermilk biscuits was shared with me from a chef while I was in culinary school, (though I have since modified it a bit). The key to these light, flakey biscuits is the cake flour. You can use all-purpose flour with great results as well.
Ingredients
- 4 cups cake flour
- 1 Tbsp. sugar
- 1 Tbsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. salt
- 6 oz. unsalted butter, cold, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 3/4 cups buttermilk
- 1 egg (for egg wash)
Instructions
Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees
In a large bowl, stir together dry ingredients. Cut butter into flour mixture with a pastry cutter or two knives to coarse meal stage (butter should be about the size of peas). Stir in buttermilk to form a soft dough.
Turn out onto a floured surface. Gently knead dough 10 to 14 times, or until smooth. Pat dough into a round about 3/4- to 1-inch thick. Cut with a floured biscuit cutter. Place about one inch apart on a sheet pan lined with parchment.
To make egg wash, crack egg into a bowl and whisk. Using a pastry brush, brush tops of biscuits with egg wash. Bake 15-25 minutes (depending on your oven) until the biscuits are golden brown.
Chef Tracy Darue is the Instructional Coordinator of Baking and Pastry at The Culinary Institute of Montana at Flathead Valley Community College. She is a graduate of California Culinary Academy, former chef/owner of a bakery and restaurant, and former school district Food Service Director. For more information about the Culinary Institute of Montana at FVCC, visit www.culinaryinstituteofmt.com.