Sunday Quote is ready for summer to be over
Read More“You fight a story week after week and day by day and then it arranges itself in your hands.”
~John Steinbeck, Journal of a Novel
Bready or Not: Buttermilk Biscuits
I failed at buttermilk biscuits. For years. This grieved me. This recipe, finally, is the one that has repeatedly produced lofty, flaky, perfect biscuits.
This is an important heritage thing. My dad is from Alabama. He is of the firm belief that every meal should come with a side of bread, and buttermilk biscuits are about as good as it gets.
My husband’s family isn’t much different. Grandpa and Grandma Cato are Arkansas born and bred. We go to visit them, and we are fed an “Arkansas breakfast.” That means enough food to go out into the woods and chop down trees all day and not be hungry until dusk. That breakfast always, always, always includes buttermilk biscuits with sausage gravy.
Biscuits. Serious business.
I found this recipe from Bakergirl and have modified it slightly; she in turn got it from Bobby Flay. I wish I could hug this recipe. You have no idea how pleased I am to have a biscuit recipe that works.
A few notes on this:
– I do homemade sour milk for the buttermilk by mixing a tablespoon of lemon juice in with milk (I’ve also done a mix with half & half) and letting it curdle for 15 minutes before using it.
– the recipe also works just fine if you happen to have buttermilk powder.
– it produces more than a single cookie sheet of biscuits.
– they are fabulous to bake and the freeze. It’s always nice to have some stashed in the freezer!
Bready or Not: Buttermilk Biscuits
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 12 Tablespoons unsalted butter cold, cut into cubes
- 1 1/2 cups cold buttermilk or substitute sour milk
On top:
- 1/4 cup milk brush on tops before baking
- 2 Tablespoons butter melted, to brush on tops after baking
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450-degrees. Prepare baking sheets by lightly greasing them or using parchment or baking mats.
- Combine the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Gradually cut the butter into the flour mix, using a pastry blender or forks until it resembles coarse meal.
- Add the buttermilk and combine until it just comes together. Don't overwork it! The butter needs to stay in small lumps; that creates the flaky layers.
- Lightly flour about a square foot of counter. Press the dough out to mostly fill the space, with the dough still about 3/4-inch thick. Use a 3-inch round biscuit cutter to punch out shapes and place on baking sheets. Brush a little bit of milk on the tops of the biscuits.
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until they turn golden brown. Remove from oven and immediately brush melted butter on the tops.
OM NOM NOM!
Publishers Weekly reviews CLOCKWORK DAGGER! Eep!
This is the week of amazing press. Publishers Weekly, a major book review and trade publication, came out with their review of The Clockwork Dagger. It’s glowing. They don’t say a single bad thing. Octavia is described as possessing “charming Victorian sensibilities, staunch determination, courage, and outspoken independence.” To quote the final line:
“Ample action and a delectably delayed romance propel the story toward a riveting finale, marking Cato as an author to watch.”
An Analysis of Clockwork Dagger’s First Scene
I was surprised and delighted to see The Clockwork Dagger featured on Tor.com today. This time, Michael R. Underwood analyzed the first scene of my book to show how and why it successfully hooked him.
As a reader, I love these sorts of insights into books I’ve already read. I usually find myself nodding as I come to some new understanding about the novel. Now, to have this kind of analysis done to my own book? I kinda geeked out. It’s just so cool.
You can still read the full first chapter over on Tor as well! Maybe it’ll hook you, if it hasn’t already.
