What's happened to biscuits?

I was in Georgia and Tennessee over an extended Memorial Day weekend and had some great food.   A variety of fried foods and barbecue were exceptionally good.   (I am craving more fried okra).  My biggest disappointment?   the biscuits.   My mom grew up in Mississippi Delta country and her mother made great biscuits.   They were flaky, crusty and had a small amount of fluffy center for contrast.   She used lard in the biscuits and baked them on a preheated cast iron skillet, then served them slathered them with butter and cane sugar syrup.  It was my favorite breakfast.  I make my biscuits similarly, but substitute butter for the lard and bake them on a preheated "pizza" stone.  I also substitute cake flour for about 1/8th of the all purpose flour, since all purpose flour in most areas has higher gluten content than Southern all purpose flour.  I too love them slathered with butter, but don't usually do it, because I know how much fat is already in them!

Somehow biscuits keep getting taller and fluffier.   (Sort of like bagels, which are much bigger and fluffier than the smaller, chewier ones of my youth.)  They are barely browned and are soft and doughy (yuck) or soft and fluffy (better, but not the best)  rather than crusty and flaky.   I thought in the South, they would have retained more of the original biscuit ideals, but apparently not.   I had biscuits at three places and was disappointed with all.   One place wasn't bad, with browned but somehow flavorless biscuits (The Smokehouse, Monteagle, Tn), another place just made them way too tall and fluffy (The Flying Biscuit, Atlanta, GA), and in another place, they seemed more like big soft buns than biscuits (The Barbecue Kitchen of College Park, GA.)     Do go to those places anyway-the Smokehouse had good salty country ham, the Flying Biscuit made a yummy Fried Green Tomato BLT (with turkey bacon), and the brisket at the Barbecue Kitchen was great!   But not for the biscuits- get cornbread instead.

Sakoon

Tried a relatively new Indian restaurant in Mountain View last night; Sakoon (http://www.sakoonrestaurant.com/).  It has traditional items, but also many that could be considered a fusion of Indian and California cuisine.  There were only two of us, and we decided not to go for the tasting menus, so we didn't try a large variety of menu items.  But most of what we had was very good to excellent.   First, the excellent:  a very tender tandoori rack of lamb.  Perfectly seasoned.   So good, I nibbled the remains directly off the bones. Also had some very good samosas and enjoyed their special chicken curry.   I didn't particularly care for the "nouveau" samosas but the more traditional one with potatoes and peas was probably one of the best samosas I ever had.  The coconut rice was very good, but a bit disconcerting that it had chiles in it- I often use rice to temper the hotness of the curries, but couldn't do that last night.  Had to use the garlic naan for that purpose.   Even though we were full , we decided to try a dessert sampler of "Indian Sweets".   Not very good.  The flavors were muddled to the point of not being able to recognize exactly what we were eating.  One dessert had a very off-putting, almost moldy taste to it. Our waiter was unable to tell us what each dessert  item was, and gave us the wrong bill at the end, but otherwise the service was very fast and good.   Definitely want to go back, but will have dessert elsewhere!

Vegan Chinese vs Hamburger Joint

I had dinner at Garden Fresh Restaurant, http://gardenfresh.us/,  last night for dinner (and leftovers for dinner tonight because the portions are huge!)   For some reason, I hadn't been there in several years.  Everything on their menu is vegan.  The so-called "meat" is made with wheat gluten or soy protein.  We started with scallion pancakes that were very good, but not very healthy because they had been deep fried.  They were crispy and reminiscent of onion rings; not a bad thing!  The minced veggies and "ham" in lettuce cups was OK, but needed something more.   I added hoisin sauce with the leftovers and it improved them.   The "chicken" and vegetable chow fun was very good with the flavor I think you only get from a well-seasoned wok.  We certainly didn't miss having real chicken.  They also gave us a large serving of steamed brown rice which had a better texture than the usual brown rice.  A great place to go to make sure you get all your veggie servings and if you have vegan or vegetarian guests, but also just a good neighborhood Chinese place.

About a week ago, I shared a hamburger at Clarks in Mountain View, http://www.clarkes.com/.  A lot of people think the hamburgers there are great, but I think they are just OK, a little dry and oddly seasoned.  This time I noticed they had sweet potato fries; don't know if they are a regular or seasonal.   They were wonderful.  Those fries and a chocolate milk shake would make a great splurge lunch!  Who needs the hamburger?

Bagels this morning

Last night, on a whim, like I didn't have a million other things to do, I decided to make bagels.  I had made them several times over the years, was never particularly satisfied with the results, yet never worked on perfecting them.  But I had lox, cream cheese and no bagels.  So I decided to give them a try using Peter Reinhart's method from The Breadmaker's Apprentice.  (Peter was my "Breads" instructor at the California Culinary Academy.)

Bottom line:   the bagels were wonderful; chewy, flavorful and surprisingly easy to make.  I mixed and kneaded the stiff dough in the breadmaker.  After giving the dough a brief rest, rather than using the traditional rope method,  I formed bagel shapes using an easy method of making rounds, punching a hole in the center, and stretching,  After resting at warm temperature for 20 minutes, they were "retarded" in the refrigerator overnight.   This morning, they had a 2 minute dip in boiling water and were baked 10 minutes.    I had fresh, warm bagels this morning in less than an hour after I woke up.   I would never have gotten dressed and over to the bagel shop that early.  

Sfratti: Honey and Nut Sticks or Evictions!

Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, starts this coming Friday night.  Honey is traditionally eaten on Rosh Hashanah as a symbol for a sweet new year, and  I was looking for something different to make that included it.  According to Eddi Servi Machlin, sfratti are a traditional Rosh Hashanah sweet of Italian Jews.   "Sfratti" means "evictions" in Italian and the long sticks of dough from which sfratti are made are supposed to resemble the sticks with which tenants, or Jews, were forcibly ejected from places they were no longer wanted.  Like the Hamentashen (Haman's Ears) made for Purim, these treats make fun of historical enemies.

 

Regardless of the history, these sfratti are really good.   The dough texture resembles that of Fig Newtons and the filling is reminiscent of a chewy pecan pie.  A photo will be forthcoming.

Sfratti
(adapted from Eddi Servi Machlin’s The Classic Dolci of the Italian Jews)

Dough


3 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour


1 1/4 cups sugar


¼ teaspoon salt

1/3 cup olive oil

2/3 cup chilled, dry white wine



Filling


1 cup honey

15 oz. chopped walnuts
(about 3 ¾ cups)

zest from a medium orange, finely chopped or grated

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon


1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

dash of ground nutmeg


1/4 teaspoon freshly grated black pepper



Make dough first: Mix flour, sugar, and salt together in a large bowl. Stir in the oil and wine and mix with a rubber spatula just until dough holds together. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate while making filling.




Make the filling: In a large skillet over high heat, bring the honey to a boil, then reduce heat to medium high and cook for 3 minutes. If it starts to foam over, lower heat slightly. Add remaining ingredients and cook, stirring constantly for another 5 minutes, reducing heat if mixture threatens to burn (the nuts should brown slightly)

Let the mixture stand, stirring occasionally, for about five minutes, then pour mixture onto a silicone mat or floured surface and let rest until cool enough to handle.  Divide into 6 equal portions, and shape the portions into 14-inch-long sticks.  Set aside to cool completely (refrigerate if your kitchen is warm

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat. 
 Divide thoroughly chilled dough into 2 equal pieces and put one back in the refrigerator (it is easier to roll chilled dough; it will soften quickly in a warm kitchen).  On a floured surface, roll a piece of dough into a 14-by-12-inch rectangle, then cut each rectangle lengthwise into three long rectangles. Place one of the strips of filling near a long side of each rectangle, then wrap the dough around the filling, pinching the ends, and making sure the filling is covered completely. Repeat with the second piece of dough.  You will have six long sticks of dough with filling in each.  Place sticks seam side down on the prepared baking sheet, leaving at least 1 inch between the sticks.  Bake sticks until lightly browned, about 20 minutes. Let cool slightly and wrap each stick with aluminum foil while still warm.  They will stay fresh for several weeks.   When ready to serve the sfratti, cut slantwise into about 1 ½”  pieces.  (The sfratti may be sliced ahead, but keep longer whole.)   Makes about 48  pieces. 

Preserving Plums

I picked almost all the remaining plums on my trees this week.   I made more plum butter, plum jam flavored with orange liqueur, and plum pie filling.  The plum pie filling is new to me.  Won't publish a recipe until I make a test pie with a jar sometime this fall.  But I did use some leftover filling in a plum "crumble" and liked the cardamom and almond flavors I used.   Regular cornstarch, tapioca, flour, and other usual thickeners for fruit pies don't stand up to canning.  The USDA recommends a modified cornstarch which home canners can buy online under the brand name "Clear Jel."

"Julie & Julia"

Saw Julie & Julia last week and really enjoyed it, partly for the the nostalgia value.   I literally learned to cook from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, volumes I and II, and remember making many of the recipes "Julie" prepared in the movie.  Some, such as the Boeuf Bourguignon and Coq au Vin have become staples in my repertoire .  The Lobster Thermidor from the recipe in first volume is fantastic and remains one of my all time favorite eating experiences.  And I even learned how to bone a duck from Julia Child, though I made a galantine rather than the pastry-covered duck shown in the movie.   My favorite duck recipe of all time is from a later Julia Child book, The Way to Cook."  Her Designer Duck features duck that is briefly roasted, then carved and cooked three ways:  the rare breast sliced and warmed in Port, the legs and thighs coated in mustardy crumbs and roasted, and the skin turned into cracklings.  Time consuming, but definitely worth it.

Can you tell how "beloved" (aka, tattered and dirty) my volumes are from the photo above?