107. Cream Biscuits with Cheddar Cheese

Date Cooked: September 30, 2009
Page: 712
Rating: B+

I’m not sure why I have been fixated on biscuits but it probably has something to do with the fact that they are not terribly hard to make, just terribly hard for me to make well. I figured after the biscuit topping for the Peach Cobbler and Chicken Pot Pie I was starting to understand how these things were supposed to be made.

This time around I was a little more prepared and had a good understanding of the steps involved. That is one thing that this project has helped me with. While many of the recipes I am tackling are not really that complex or unique they are introducing me to basic skills I didn’t have. As I learn these skills, things are getting easier and I am beginning to realize how common the process is amongst recipes.

So I started by whisking together the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, salt) and the cheese cubes. Then I slowly added heavy cream while folding the ingredients together. When the dough had roughly formed I turned it out onto my counter and then added a little more cream to the mixing bowl to get the remainder of the little dough pieces. I kneaded the dough until it formed a reasonably cohesive mass before rolling it out into a ¾ inch thick round.

I don’t have pastry cutters so I opted to cut these into wedges. This actually turned out really well as the sharp knife cut through the dough cleanly and I didn’t have and left over scraps to reform into a ball to cut further. I baked them for about 18 minutes and as soon as they were out of the oven I cut into one, loaded it with butter and devoured it.

 

Rating: B+. These turned out really good and I was very happy with the texture and form of the biscuit. That being said the flavor left me wanting… not sure whether sweeter or saltier though. They tasted like they didn’t want to be sweet or salty and therefore decided that the bland and boring middle would be fine. I will make these again but I will try to experiment with the flavor a little to give them something more. So I can now strike biscuits off my list of simple things I should be able to make without horrendously screwing up. It’s a long list.