Friday, May 23, 2008

Biscuit Adventure

OK, I had some chicken salad in the refrigerator, and wanted something to eat it with that wasn't store bought bread. Here is the recipe that I found in The New Basic cookbook by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins.

Roasted Red Pepper Biscuits
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
pinch of sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cold
1/4 cup half-and-half
1 red pepper, roasted and cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Cut the butter into 1/2-inch cubes, and using two knives, a pastry blender, or your fingertips, work the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
3. Add the half-and-half, and stir to blend well. Then incorporate the roasted pepper.
4. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead it for about 30 seconds. Pat it out until it is 1 inch thick, and cut out rounds with a 2-inch cookie cutter.
5. Arrange the biscuits on a baking sheet about 1 inch apart. Bake until puffed and golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer the biscuits to a wire rack and allow them to cool.
Yield: 6 biscuits

That is the base recipe, but of course, I had to play with it. Here are my changes to the recipe:
  • cut the recipe down so that I was only making 1/4 of the dough. I ended up with 2 biscuits
  • used whole wheat flour
  • used skim milk instead of half-and-half
  • used jarred roasted red pepper- next time I will cut it into smaller pieces then recommended
  • used a hamburger patty shaper to make large, flat biscuits
  • baked for 10 minutes

Once the biscuits had cooled, I topped one with chicken salad. Yum!

Yours humbly, Butterbur

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