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Michael Smith: The secret ingredient for a perfect biscuit

MICHAEL SMITH

From Wednesday's Globe and Mail

Latest comment posted at 1:40 PM EDT 13/02/08

Difference between a golden treat and a tough cookie: cold, hard butter ...Read the full article

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  1. Tweev D from Canada writes: Maybe your kid doesn't like 'foie gras pâté' because it's effectively diseased duck liver. Regardless of what it tastes like, you might as well throw 'puppy dog eyeballs' on the menu if you're also going to serve foie gras. That's disgusting.
  2. Sleepy Head from Canada writes: Yum. This is exactly how I use butter in my biscuits (or as we call them, scones) too. Kind of a pain to do, but well worth it. And everyone loves the scones. :)
  3. MJ Patchouli from Regina, Canada writes: I just read this article and since we're on the tail end of a blizzard and it's time for late lunch, I went downstairs and made a batch of MY OWN tender lovely biscuits. My mother actually says mine are even better than hers! No butter in mine -- olive oil is my secret, and the way they are mixed.

    When my daughter was a little girl, I would ask her what she'd like for breakfast and on cold winter days, she'd ask for 'bixix' and we'd make them together. Whenever she comes home from her long adventures away, her first breakfast home is biscuits hot from the oven.
  4. Rollo Tomasi from Belgium writes: MJ Patchouli, it's not only flavour, I find that only with butter do the biscuits rise light and fluffy. Olive oil or butter, though, fat is fat.
  5. MJ Patchouli from Regina, Canada writes: Hi, Rollo: I grew up in the Maritimes and we always cut the shortening (butter) in like Michael does but believe me, the biscuits I have made now for about 28 years are easier and they rise higher and lighter. I do understand the chemistry of the teeny tiny cold butter shreds but mine are fine. The butter is slathered onto the biscuit so plenty of buttery flavour. I realize fat is fat -- the past couple of years all we eat in our home is butter and olive oil though. Read an article years ago on how margarine is made....no thanks! Rollo, here's the recipe and give them a try; let me know another day if they work for you. They're also much easier and faster than cutting in the butter: Patchouli's Tea Biscuits 2 cups flour 4 tsp baking powder pinch sugar I know you don't like saltn Rollo but they do need some especially without butter, so about 1/2 tsp... Okay, mix that up and in a separate bowl, whip up: 1 egg 1/3 cup olive oil 3/4 cup of milk, cream if you like, yoghurt, sour cream, buttermilk is good -- if you use yoghurt or sour cream, use a little more or thin with milk. Now pour the wet over the dry and stir up; pat them out on a floured surface -- you'll find them a little wetter than usual ones I think -- and bake them for about 12 minutes at 425. NOW slather on some butter...peanut butter...jam or jelly? Eat them with soup or for breakfast -- Maritimers LOVE their biscuits. Or of course, they form the basis for real strawberry shortcake. So tell me -- did you ever try the Indian Butter Chicken recipe?
  6. Anon -East Coast from Canada writes: I asked my late grandmother for her biscuit recipe, one time years ago.

    Shocked, she told me, 'Who ever heard of a recipe for biscuits?'
  7. Rollo Tomasi from Belgium writes: MJ Patchouli from Regina, I'll let you know on the tea biscuits (wish my recipe was handy). re the Indian butter chicken, mille grazie.
  8. Terry F from Edmonton, Canada writes: 16 pounds down, 10 more to go. Then butter, you're mine. All mine. Moooahahahah. I've got to hand it to Mr. Smith, though. Friendly guy, great food.
  9. Randal Oulton from Canada writes: >> Tweev D from Canada writes: Maybe your kid doesn't like 'foie gras pâté' because it's effectively diseased duck liver. Regardless of what it tastes like, you might as well throw 'puppy dog eyeballs' on the menu if you're also going to serve foie gras. That's disgusting.

    Says you.

    My family's from the Maritimes. Biscuits were made with shortening. Butter was too expensive, and the tax that the Canadian government put on margarine to protect the dairy businesses made that margarine too expensive for ordinary people to use, as well.
  10. alex loss from Canada writes: I love the notion of using olive oil for these delectables. Now does anyone have any recipes that upgrade the white flower with something that my fussy guests would consider healthier? Kamut, spelt, flax etc.?
    Thanks

    Alex
  11. Brad Reddekopp from Hazelton, British Columbia, Canada writes: Alex, experiment a bit. Try replacing the wheat flour with some other type of flour and see what you get.
  12. Brad Reddekopp from Hazelton, British Columbia, Canada writes: Half the fun of cooking is experimenting without knowing whether it will be a success or a failure. Every now and then you'll surprise and delight yourself with something exceptionally delicious.
  13. Kay Ay from Canada writes: My grandma didn't have her biscuit recipe written down either.
    I spent an afternoon with her close to 20 years ago and wrote it all down. (Oatcakes too...made with a bit of lard!)

    I make my biscuits with shortening...and use a pastry blender to cut in.
    And the melting butter and molasses is delicious.
  14. della baird from vancouver, Canada writes: dee vancouver: ah, yes, i can smell and taste my mothers biscuits now. she never measured either nor did my grandmother. ours were always made with a delicious commercial lard or from homemade lard from pork fat that she rendered in the oven and cooled. my da was a coal miner in ab in the 40's and you don't make much money down in the hole but my mother, i am proud to say could make stone soup. at times no matter how poor we were i long for those icy ab nights and the warmth of my mothers home made bread and bicuits. thank you micheal smith for reminding me that you never eat stew without bicuits.
  15. della baird from vancouver, Canada writes: dee vancouver: how could i forget to mention mom's homade butter. since we lived in a rented raiway shack on the edge of a meadow, had no vehicle and took the train to edmonton when able. the road master's wife would sell us cream and milk and then i would have the further joy of watching my mother shake the cream in a jar which would magically turn into butter. this we would slather on warm home made bread. i still do this at times. no flavour like home made. right micheal?
  16. Lemmy Nothor from Rainy Barcelona, Spain writes: Butter....key ingredient.
    Green butter is even better.
    Take 500 grams of butter, 30 grams of the best available weed, 2 liters of water.....and bring to a boil. Bring down to minimum heat, and let it cook for 8 to ten hours, covered.
    Let it cool off, then without separating anything, put in refridgerator for another 12 hours, until butter solidifies. By then, butter should be a nice shade of green. It will rise to the top, and will become very easy to separate from the rest .
    Now you're ready to cook.
  17. Lemmy Nothor from Rainy Barcelona, Spain writes: Tweev D from Canada writes: Maybe your kid doesn't like 'foie gras pâté' because it's effectively diseased duck liver. Regardless of what it tastes like, you might as well throw 'puppy dog eyeballs' on the menu if you're also going to serve foie gras. That's disgusting.

    <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

    So glad to hear you wouldn't eat that. It only means there will be more for us folks who do enjoy it.
    I also suppose you don't eat Roquefort because it is laced with bluish disgusting mold......same applies here too.
  18. Rollo Tomasi from Belgium writes: Sounds like someone overcame those little red spiders...
  19. Lemmy Nothor from Rainy Barcelona, Spain writes: Good morning Mr Tomasi......long time no see. I was out for a while.
  20. Rollo Tomasi from Belgium writes: Hullo, yeah, me too for awhile, get your drivers' license?
  21. Lemmy Nothor from Rainy Barcelona, Spain writes: No, I sold all my vehicules.......thinking of buying a sccoter, 49.9 cc, no licence needed......cheap and perfect for the city.
  22. Raymond Conway from London, United Kingdom writes: Oh man, Michael!! Is your Mom gonna be p*ssed at you! Bad enough you figured out her secret recipe, but you published in a national newspaper!

    Are you nuts????
  23. BC Refugee in AB from Canada writes: Great, just what I needed.....so who else is sitting at their desk eating some boring healthy breakfast (mini-wheats w/ skim milk here) and will now spend the rest of the day craving home made biscuits!!!!

    Thanks Michael :)

    PS: gonna try both him and Patch's this weekend.........
  24. Rollo Tomasi from Belgium writes: BC Refugee in AB from Canada writes: ...gonna try both him and Patch's this weekend.........
    --------------------------

    And miss out on Lemmy's butter?
  25. BC Refugee in AB from Canada writes: Lemmy's butter corporate p*ss test policy = BC Refugee in AB becomes BC refugee back in BC unemployed!!!!!!!
  26. Rollo Tomasi from Belgium writes: Really, I was drinking some Swiss Cannabis, a tea made with hemp bloom syrup (5%) (manufactured by www.thurella.ch). It doesn't get high, but hell if it makes me unemployed!
  27. The Maestro from Canada writes: Tweev D from Canada:

    I think the fois gras comment in the article wasn't about the liver. It was that a 6 year old doesn't care what is "gourmet" and what isn't, but cares what tastes good.

    Michael Smith can cook for me (anything but liver or tripe) anyday. If he's half as nice in real life as he appears on TV, his family is truly fortunate.

    And Chef Smith: Thanks for teaching me about stuffed french toast. It has been a huge hit at brunches.
  28. Tweev D from Canada writes: emmy Nothor from Rainy Barcelona,
    So glad to hear you wouldn't eat that. It only means there will be more for us folks who do enjoy it.

    I also suppose you don't eat Roquefort because it is laced with bluish disgusting mold......same applies here too.
    <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

    Cheese is great. I sure the Japanese feel the same way about eating dolphins that you do about eating tortured diseased duck liver. Enjoy your obvious hypocrisy.
  29. Mrs. Whiggins from Canada writes: Mom's Baking Powder Biscuits Redux

    Thanks all you Canadians who KNOW how to make best use of available ingredients! You use what you have, sometimes sublimely.

    Biscuits and chili and cold Canadian nights are a match made in heaven. Mystery meat stew too. No problem getting frozen butter up this way, eh? If your cows are fed and warm, butter is only some pulling and shaking away ')

    Note: Canadian mystery meat can run the gamut from a doltish moose in rut that blunders onto a highway and becomes roadkill providing the people who survive the wreck, the yearly pig or steer, to the lowly grouse so silly that people often wonder why the bird was created at all, until they encounter a turkey.

    Hunger is life's greatest motivator. Biscuits are an oasis. Frozen cow fat is a sun.
  30. Tweev D from Canada writes: Randal Oulton from Canada writes: >> Says you. >>

    Not just me. The practice of force feeding birds is outlawed in many countries and US states.

    C'mon Canadians, quit being such rednecks.

    Just one isolated example:

    "City of San Diego: On January 8, 2008, the San Diego City Council unanimously passed a resolution that "commends the Animal Protection and Rescue League (APRL) for raising awareness of the cruel practice of force-feeding ducks and geese to produce foie gras, commends the many San Diego restaurants that have stopped selling foie gras before the California statewide ban goes into effect, and encourages San Diegans to avoid supporting this extreme form of animal cruelty." The resolution also cites an independent Zogby poll finding that 85% of San Diegans favor an immediate ban on foie gras."
  31. carol c from Canada writes: Alex Loss, hope I'm not to late for you. These are very good, moist and fluffy, and pretty healthy to boot. For vegans you can use vegan margerine.

    Spelt Sweet Potato Biscuits.

    1 1/2 cups spelt flour (or whole wheat)
    1 tablespoon baking powder
    1/4 teaspoon sea salt
    4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter or coconut oil
    1 cup mashed cooked sweet potato (1 medium)
    1/4 cup milk (dairy or nondairy)

    Preheat oven to 400°F. Sift flour, baking powder, and sea salt together. Cut in butter or coconut oil until mixture resembles coarse meal. Mix in sweet potato and milk until combined. Scoop out 1/4-cup mounds of dough (an ice cream scoop works well) and flatten to biscuit shape on unoiled baking sheet. Bake 25 to 20 minutes, or until bottoms are golden.
  32. gloria garvey from Canada writes: Grating the butter while it's frozen--now why didn't I think of that?
    Biscuits and soup coming up for lunch tomorrow!
    I've got a book on what was fed to cowboys on the old trail drives. The writer tells how hard it was to find the old recipes, because they often weren't written down. Or were written very briefly, like the following one for biscuits:

    bskts
    flr sda wtr
    slt lrd bak t dn

    When the author showed this to an old chuckwagon cook, and said he'd had trouble making biscuits with this recipe, the old cook looked it over, and said "It's got ever'thang in it. Whut's yore trouble?"
  33. Theresa W from east coast, Canada writes: I just made these this morning... amazing. Frozen grated butter will be a new fixture in my cooking... so much more even!

    I have a family recipe but it never works right outside of the east coast... I know humidity and elevation have a lot to do with it. Now I have something that will go well with my baked mac & cheese... nothing says love like food that sticks to your ribs!!
  34. Rollo Tomasi from Belgium writes: MJ Patchouli from Regina, ...So tell me -- did you ever try the Indian Butter Chicken recipe?
    ---------------------

    The truth is, I'm dying to try it, but, I'm not allowed to touch half of her stuff in the kitchen, even to clean it! She is going on a business trip next month during which I look forward to making MJ Patchouli butter chicken. I'll sure let you know.
  35. MJ Patchouli from Regina, Canada writes: Rollo, I've never met a woman who wouldn't love some help in the kitchen! What have you done to deserve banishment?

    Burned the pots?

    Broken the glasses?

    Cutlery in the wrong drawer?

    Peed into a stove element?

    When I ask for help, my partner comes and stands and stares like he's having a soap opera-esque flashback, or has entered some alien universe.

    He would starve next to a loaf of unsliced bread....
  36. Rollo Tomasi from Belgium writes: LOL, I'm innocent, I swear. We have a ceramic stovetop. I replaced the glassware with titanium crystal, not quite as thin as lead but the wine glasses are strong enough to survive a bash against a brick wall. Who can complain about burned pots a million years old when I replaced them with La Creuset? Okay, I did once use a plastic pie lifter to swipe sand while laying paving stones, but I was going to wash it.

    She has higher culinary standards than I can deliver, and the rare night she doesn't feel like cooking she's happy to dine out. I should complain?
  37. Rollo Tomasi from Belgium writes: PS MJ Patchouli: she is intrigued by your recipe for butter chicken and will try it if I promise not to touch her Le Creuset while she is away. I may not try your recipe for tea biscuits because if her grandmother's recipe for 'tea biscuits supreme' are inferior in any way, she doesn't want to know. But your typing the recipe here wasn't in vain for BC refugee in AB at least. And I'm sure flattered that you remembered my disdain for salt. Thank you. Have a great day.
  38. MJ Patchouli from Regina, Canada writes: Rollo, you've got a good life. Well-fed and you can afford le Creuset cookware. Or at least you make it a priority.

    Congratulations and enjoy Patchouli Butter Chicken. If you (are allowed to) make naan to go with it, look up Emeril Lagasse's recipe online -- it's the best I've found to date.
  39. Waning Gibbous from somewhere, Canada writes: The very best biscuits in the world are to be found at The Bell Inn Restaurant in Dorchester, New Brunswick: Golden, fluffy, and a delight to the palate.
  40. Brad Reddekopp from Hazelton, British Columbia, Canada writes: I used this recipe for a large dinner with extended family last week (I doubled the recipe) and the biscuits were a big hit. They were a wonderful complement to my very, very good chili (secret ingredients in my chili: dark beer and coffee). So, thank you to Michael Smith!

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