Homemade Biscuits

When I was growing up I don't ever remember having a breakfast without hot biscuits. My favorite way of eating them was with a slice of ham in the middle. Of course we also had them with fried chicken and chicken gravy. The biscuits made a great carry out snack with a slightly salted slice of onion placed in the middle. I don't think any of them were ever wasted, but if there were enough left, Mama made a fine lemon bread pudding out of them. You could slice off a slice and run outside to eat it while playing.

Mama always insisted on soft wheat self rising flour and I do too.  She used a dough cloth which was a piece of canvas with flour rubbed into it. She used this when she made biscuits, pie crusts or kneaded yeast dough.  I use a dough cloth also and fold it up to store in a ziploc type bag.

Biscuits

2 cups White Lily (or Martha White) self rising flour

1/4- 1/3cup Crisco shortening

3/4-1 cup buttermilk

Heat oven to 450 degrees.

Put flour into mixing bowl and add shortening. Chop up shortening up into small pieces (pea size or so). Add buttermilk. Stir until flour is incorporated into the buttermilk.

Turn mixture onto a dough cloth, kneading it 4 or 5 times until it is smooth.

Pat it out to approximately 3/4 inch thick. Cut with biscuit cutter and place on a baking sheet.

Place in oven and cook for 10-15 minutes or until brown on top. Remove from oven. Enjoy!

Makes approximately 17 biscuits. I usually put a small amount more of buttermilk into my mixture, maybe 2-3 tablespoons more because I like the flavor better. More buttermilk causes the biscuits to be heavier and not rise as high but the flavor is very good.

I always serve biscuits when I make fried chicken. In the winter I make homemade applesauce with this meal and in the summertime I make creamed corn.

It's ok to make bunny biscuits too!

Chicken Pilaf

This is a recipe I tried several years ago and we've enjoyed it ever since. It's a good dish to take to a pot luck and can be served hot or at room temperature.

Chicken Pilaf

 Chicken:                                    

 2  whole chicken breasts with bone

 1   rib celery, chopped

 1   carrot, pared and chopped

 ½  small onion, chopped

 1   stick cinnamon

 4 cups water

 ½ tsp salt

Marinade:

3   cloves garlic, crushed with 1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup olive oil

1 ½ lemons, juiced

Rice:

1½ cups rice

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup toasted pine nuts

chopped parsley

 Add first 7 ingredients to a pot and bring to a boil. Cover, turn to low heat and cook until chicken is falling off the bones. Remove the chicken from the pot and set it aside to cool. Reserve the broth and refrigerate until you prepare the rice.

Combine the marinade ingredients. Once cooled strip the chicken from the bones and toss with marinade. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

About 45 minutes before serving, skim fat off broth and measure reserved broth, adding water or chicken broth to make 3 cups then place in a pot and heat. Heat olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add rice and salt. Stir rice until all grains are well coated with oil. Pour in hot broth and bring to a boil. Cook until the broth  level is just above that of the rice. Cover and reduce heat to low. Cook for 15 minutes and then turn off heat. Uncover and place paper towel across top of skillet and replace lid for 5 minutes.

Heat chicken and its marinade in the microwave or on the stove. Mix rice and chicken together, taste for seasoning. Heap mixture on a platter or in a bowl and garnish with toasted pine nuts and chopped parsley. Serves at least 6-10. I serve it with my salad and some good french bread. Enjoy!


(sorry for the BAD pic but I took it without my photographer!)