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Saturday, September 16, 2006

Buttermilk Biscuits

The Altitude Adjustment Section
Today I have a recipe from Susan Purdy’s high altitude book Pie in the Sky, which should be in everybody’s repertoire. Trying to make buttermilk biscuits when I first moved to 7000 feet made me nuts. They were like little hockey pucks. But while helping Susan test the recipes for this cookbook we figured it out, so you don’t have to!

Ingredients
2 cups AP flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter cut into small pieces
1 cup buttermilk
3 tablespoons buttermilk for glaze

Procedure
Preheat oven to 450. Measure the flour, baking powder, and salt into a food processor. Add the butter and pulse a few times till small, pea-like pieces form. Dump crumbs into a large bowl and stir in the buttermilk until the dough stays together. Do not overmix. It's better for the dough to seem too soft than too hard — that will make tough biscuits. Lightly flour the counter and knead dough 2 or 3 times to bring it together. Pat into a 6x8 rectangle, 3/4 inch thick. Cut dough into 9 even squares. Place biscuits onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment. Brush tops of biscuits with buttermilk. Bake for15-17 minutes, or until well-risen and golden brown. Eat them while they're hot, with butter. Sounds pretty good doesn’t it?