Comfort In A Biscuit

The weather has turned cool and that makes me crave comfort food. Chicken n' Dumplins, Chili and lightly sweetened cornbread, chunky beef stew, the list goes on. But the other night I was craving (and slightly drooling over) chicken and biscuits.

I make a simple chicken pot pie and I used the same filling but served it over freshly-baked-hot-from-the-oven biscuits. They were flaky, and tender, mildly salty from the salted butter I put on top before they went in the oven, and YUM!

We had them for dinner with the chicken/veggie mixture, for breakfast with plum jam and salted butter, and I also made breakfast biscuits with scrambled eggs, cheese, and bacon. These biscuits were simple, basic (as the recipe title implies) and good.

Basic Buttermilk Biscuits from Paula Deen via Food Network

• 1 package yeast
• 1/2 cup lukewarm water
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 3/4 cup solid shortening
• 2 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Dissolve yeast in warm water; set aside.

Mix dry ingredients together. Cut in shortening. Add yeast and buttermilk and mix well.

Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and roll out to desired thickness. Cut with small biscuit cutter and place on greased baking sheet. Bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown.

NOTE: The recipe doesn't say it needs kneading, but I found the dough a little sticky when I turned it out onto the counter. I kneaded about 1/2 a cup extra flour into the dough, just until it was no longer sticky. Don't over-knead or your biscuits will be tough. If your dough isn't sticky after adding all the ingredients together, don't knead it. It may be because it was humid here???

I made jumbo biscuits (about 3 inches wide) so they took about 18 minutes to turn golden. I don't have a biscuit cutter, so I used a flower shaped cookie cutter. You could also use a a glass or a cleaned out tin can.

I made 18 jumbo biscuits instead of 36 smaller biscuits. I kept them in an airtight container and reheated them in the toaster oven for a few minutes til warm. They stayed fresh for a few days, but they can be frozen and kept longer.

The trick to get your biscuits to rise properly is to not twist the cutter in the dough. Press the cutter down into the dough, and lift straight up, don't be tempted to twist.

Warning: The Aroma Emitted From The Oven Is Intoxicating (But Make It Anyway!)

My aunt has a pear tree in her backyard. She also grows tomatoes and peppers. She just gave us a brown paper bag full of pears. We ate a few, but decided to put the rest into this yummy bread.

I'm not sure exactly what kind of pears they were, but they were more like apples. They were crisp and ripe but never softened and weren't very sweet. From what I've been told, these are typical Texas pears. And they begged me to bake them into this wonderfully aromatic bread. I doubled the recipe and made my neighbors very happy.

Cornelia Walker Bailey's Pear Bread from Southern Cakes

• 3 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 c. chopped walnuts
• 3/4 c. softened butter OR or 3/4 c. vegetable oil
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 c. sugar
• 2 c. peeled and finely grated ripe but firm pears
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract

Heat the oven to 350°F and lightly grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan or two 9-by-5-inch loaf pans.

Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl, and stir with a whisk to mix everything well. Stir the nuts into the dry mixture and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the butter or oil, eggs, sugar, grated pear, and vanilla, and stir to mix everything well. Scrape the pear mixture into the flour mixture and stir just until the flour disappears and the batter is evenly moistened.

Pour batter into the prepared pans and bake at 350°F for 60 to 70 minutes, or until the bread is golden brown and firm on top and a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool the bread in the pan on a wire rack or folded kitchen towel for about 10 minutes. Then turn it out onto a plate or a wire rack to cool completely, top side up.

NOTE: I doubled this recipe and made 4 loaves- 2 in glass pans, and 2 in metal pans. They baked for 55-60 minutes. The loaves in the glass pans peaked a little higher and made a rustic chasm down the center, as opposed to the loaves in the metal pans that baked a little more evenly. Both beautiful and totally delicious.

I just wanted to say, I first found this recipe from Bake or Break and saw it again on Leite's Culinaria, which confirmed that I needed to make this bread. And you do too! Go on now...

C is for Chewy Chunky Chocolate Cookies

I'm not quite sure where this recipe came from. I do know it was from a magazine many years ago, but I'm not sure when or from which one. When I saw the recipe I immediately thought of my husband (my then boyfriend) and wrote it down on a post-it note and stashed it away. Baking has been a passion of mine for several years, although I didn't do too much of it when Mr. H and I first started dating. I do it more now that I have the time and this recipe is one of his favorites. I really believe this is the recipe that got him hooked. I make it every holiday season for give-aways and whenever my husband needs a chocolate fix.

I made a batch for a friend who just had a beautiful daughter and a batch for my husband (of course). We ate half of them with milk and the others were made into sandwiches using coffee ice cream- another favorite. Heaven.

Double Chocolate Chewies

• 3/4 c. butter, softened
• 1 1/2 c. sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 c. flour
• 3/4 c. Hershey's cocoa
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1- 12 oz. pkg. semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 c. chopped nuts
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Beat butter and sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs til well combined, then add flour, cocoa and baking powder until well blended. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Drop tablespoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Cool on baking sheets for 1-2 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

NOTE: You can make this by hand in a large bowl with a wooden spoon. I have doubled this recipe and it makes it extremely difficult to mix (by hand and in a stand mixer). If you want to make a double batch, just take the time to make it twice. Believe me, you'll thank me.

Makes about 2-3 dozen depending on size.

For Ice Cream Sandwiches: Lay out cookies on a plate or cookie sheet (one that'll fit in your freezer). Match up cookies by size and turn one cookie upside down and leave the other right side up. Using a small ice cream scoop or melon baller, scoop slightly softened ice cream of your choice and place on upside down cookie. Gently press it's cookie partner on top. Freeze immediately. When they're completely frozen, wrap in waxed paper and refreeze til you're ready to eat them. I'm off to get one now!

Are you drooling yet?