Surprise, Biscuits from KFC and Popeye's have arrived. Which do you like?

I was out in the backyard with Rack, the McNab SuperDog (TM) when I heard a THUMP!.  I was making dog food at the time and paused because Rack was acting really "needy".

Someone was coming to the door, so we went inside and said hello.

"Hi, you brought things?"

"I brought you a blog article!"

"That's kind of outside of the realm of normal. What are we doing?"

"I went to KFC and Popeye's and bought biscuits.  You will try them and see what you think!".

That was kind of open ended but anything that gets me biscuits I am all for.

Now, these are American Biscuits.  A small savoury or salty shortbread that is designed to be eaten as a roll.  Any time of day will do but I typically have them at breakfast smothered in Sausage Gravy.

Not at all what you would serve as a dessert with your tea or coffee.

Unless you are weird.  You aren't weird are you?

No I don't have a recipe for the gravy, I'm originally from New Jersey and it wasn't in the family recipe box.   The biscuits can be found right here, and I make them frequently.

I was presented with a paper plate with two rather abstract drawings that were too abstract to decipher.  On the plate were two pieces of biscuit, sliced in half. 

No, trust me, I asked what they were supposed to mean and I got a human dial tone.

"So yeah, the one closest to me is Popeye's, the further one is KFC right?"

"RIGHT in one!"

I won't tell you that one was "better" than the other, but what I will say is that I am famous for having opinions.  I have 15 years of them on this blog.  But the two recipes do have their own charm, each.

I would use the KFC where I want a sandwich.  Warm it up, slice it in half and stuff a chicken pattie or sausage in the middle, maybe with egg and cheese.

Popeye's is a "butter bomb" of flavor.  While KFC has a buttery flavor, Popeye's has a blast of salty butter. 

I personally think both are good.  In their place.  I'd use Popeye's when I want a bold flavor.  KFC is for a more mild side dish for a main course.

Yes, I am letting you decide.  I can't really imitate the two recipes because that much butter would "break training" for me and I have been on a training diet since the Disco Era.

No, really, that long.   I just had a discussion about Protein Levels and Medicine Side Effects in a hospital and came to the conclusion that the solution to my diet is to exercise MORE and burn up the protein that I am taking in.  I already count cycling sessions in multiples of hours and in marathons completed.

But that isn't in the cards for the diet is it.  Too much fat in your diet gives you runner's trots and you don't want that.  Biscuits are a bit high in fat for every meal.

As for the biscuits, get what you like.  I enjoy both.  They have to be served hot so if you have leftovers, microwave them and serve with a good gravy.

Tender Oat Flour Cream Biscuits

I'm writing this as the biscuits are baking.  

350F Medium Oven.

Check at 27 minutes.
Check at 5 minutes later.
Check again at 5 minutes later.

Finally pulled them at 15 minutes extra.  42 minutes.  Next time use higher temp.

Fret about the timing but enjoy the smell.  Good food takes time.

There has been a fair amount of publicity in the blogosphere about making traditional (Southern) biscuits with mostly oat flour and a wee bit of conventional all purpose flour to add back gluten.  Then their recipe adds back all the bits to make the entire mess "Self Rising".

Fair enough but why?

Simply put it is because there is no gluten in oat flour.  The expected result is that the biscuits will be extra light and fluffy.  These were extremely tender, literally broke apart when I started slicing them with a very sharp knife.

If you have oats for oatmeal, to make oat flour is easy - put the cup of oats in a high powered blender and turn it on until you get the desired result.

So yours truly got the bright idea to substitute ingredients.  I used my cream biscuit recipe which works incredibly well.  Since it is a known quantity, why not play with my food?

My new recipe is as follows:

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup Oat Flour
• 1 Cup Self Rising Flour
• 1/4 Teaspoon Baking Powder (probably needs more)
  
• 1 1/2 Cup Whipping Cream (or Heavy Cream).

Process:

• Mix until you have a dough.
• Spoon out 2 ounces or 1/4 cup of dough onto parchment
• Bake at 350F in preheated oven
• Check for done at 27 minutes. 
• Add more time as needed - I added 15 minutes total
  

Results?

My batch needed more time. 
First was 5 minutes because the tops were not even tan let alone golden.

Add another 5 minutes and recheck.

And finally pull them 5 minutes later for a total of 42 minutes.

They were incredibly tender.  Very buttery taste with a bit of an oat bread undertone.  These biscuits will be awesome in a bath of sausage gravy.

When I say tender, they did fall apart on the plate.

So Success but I will definitely need to tweak the temperature and add in more Baking Powder - about 1 Teaspoon next time.

Cream Biscuits With Magic Buttery Flavor

This recipe is weird.

No, I mean it, this is a recipe with a mystery.

Every recipe evolves over time.  

Three simple ingredients that make a reproduce-ably good "Southern Style" Biscuit, but I can do some intriguing things by just changing conditions.

Like making them taste like butter when NO butter is used.

And no, British folks, these are a savoury shortbread roll usually served soaked in butter and jelly or covered in a Sausage Gravy or Red Eye Gravy.

Proper Southern cooks will look at this recipe and roll their eyes. 

There is ZERO butter in the recipe.  You don't have to fret over little chunks of frozen butter designed to add rise and lift to the result.  You can paint the outsides with melted butter before cooking but I prefer mine without.  You don't have to overheat the kitchen with a blazing oven because that chases the buttery flavor away!

I'm not a Southern Cook.  I am originally from, Gasp!, New Jersey!

(Queue the dramatic fanfare!)


This is simple, mix, chop into portions, bake, serve.  No Fuss!


Ingredients are straightforward.

2 cups or 286g of Self Rising Flour
1 1/2 cups of Whipping Cream.  Mine says 36% on it and there are heavier creams.
1 teaspoon of sugar.

Process:

Mix thoroughly dry ingredients.
Add cream and mix until it makes a sticky dough.
Cut dough into 7 pieces, about 90g or about 3 ounces per.

Baking:

For conventional flavor, bake at 450-500F for 12 minutes and check at 10 minutes for doneness.

OR

If you want that Butter Flavor, bake these at 350F (Moderate Oven) for 25 minutes and check for doneness.  You will probably close the oven for another three.

Here is the mystery.  Regular Biscuits tend to have a strong butter flavor as SERVED because they are painted in salted melted butter.  These biscuits as baked at high temperature without butter painted on them are a somewhat salty shortbread biscuit.

HOWEVER, if you LOWER the temperature in the oven to 350F Magic happens!

Yes, the house will begin to smell markedly of butter.  Fresh butter smell wafts along with the smell of baking bread/biscuits, and you will wonder why?

I still am, but this is the thing.  That butter flavor stays with the biscuits.  If you bake them at 350F, you get a buttery biscuit without all that extra salt and added calories.

Like I said Magic!

You can add butter to this if you like, but I fail to see the reason!

This is what happens when a baker has too much time on their hands and is locked in the house for too long!