I served these tender biscuits with the lightly curry flavoured soup from Magazine Monday. I had also bookmarked this recipe from the November issue of Food & Wine magazine as one of those recipes I had to try. I decided upon the Gruyere Herb version. For exquisitely flaky biscuits make sure to do 2 things: Use lots of cold butter and chill the dough before baking it. These biscuits were the flakiest I personally have ever made!**Basic Buttery Buttermilk Biscuits**
Makes about 15 biscuits
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1-1/2 sticks ( that would be 3/4 cup)unsalted butter - 10 T cut into 1/2-inch cubes and chilled, 2 T melted
1 cup buttermilk, chilled
Flaky salt, such as Maldon, for sprinkling
*********************
Preheat the oven to 425F and position a rack in the lower third of the oven. In a large shallow bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and fine salt. Add the chilled butter and use a pastry blender or 2 knives to cut the butter into the flour until it is the size of peas.(On the Food Network I learned to grate the butter. This works excellently!!!) Stir in the buttermilk just until the dough is moistened. Lightly dust work surface and knead 2 or 3 times, just until it comes together. Pat the dough into a 1/2-inch thick disk.
Preheat the oven to 425F and position a rack in the lower third of the oven. In a large shallow bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and fine salt. Add the chilled butter and use a pastry blender or 2 knives to cut the butter into the flour until it is the size of peas.(On the Food Network I learned to grate the butter. This works excellently!!!) Stir in the buttermilk just until the dough is moistened. Lightly dust work surface and knead 2 or 3 times, just until it comes together. Pat the dough into a 1/2-inch thick disk.
Using a floured 2-1/4-inch round cookie cutter, stamp out biscuit rounds as closely together as possible. Gather the scraps and knead them together 2 or 3 times, then flatten the dough and stamp out more biscuit rounds. Pat the remaining scraps together and gently press them into a biscuit.
Transfer the biscuits to a large baking sheet and brush the tops with the melted butter. Lightly sprinkle the biscuits with a few grains of flaky salt and chill until firm, about 10 minutes.
Bake the biscuits for 20 minutes, or until golden. Let the biscuits cool slightly on the baking sheet before serving.
Make Ahead: The unbaked biscuits can be frozen. Freeze biscuits in a single layer and transfer to a resealable plastic bag for up to one month. Bake straight from the freezer, adding a few minutes to the cooking time.
BISCUIT VARIATIONS
Sweet Lemon Poppy : Whisk 1/4 cup sugar with the dry ingredients. Stir in the grated zest of 1 lemon and 1 T poppy seeds just before adding the buttermilk. Sprinkle with sugar.
Herb Gruyere: Stir in 1 tsp chopped thyme leaves, 1/2 tsp finely chopped sage leaves and 1 cup shredded Gruyere cheese just before adding the cold buttermilk.
Cheddar Chive: Stir in 1 tsp chopped chives and 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese just before adding the cold buttermilk.
Parmesan Rosemary: Stir in 1/2 tsp rosemary and 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese just before adding the cold buttermilk.
Savory Cranberry Walnut: Stir in 1 minced sauteed shallot along with 1/2 cup each chopped dried cranberries and chopped toasted walnuts and a pinch of pepper just before adding the cold buttermilk.
