Buttermilk Biscuits with Chives and Black Pepper

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Buttermilk Biscuits with Chives and Black Pepper

Homemade biscuits take a somewhat humble bowl of soup, and turn it into a meal that the whole family is thrilled about. At least that's the way it is here in the Boonies. Maybe it's that way at your house, too. These particular biscuits  are a savory biscuit, light and fluffy, tangy and flavorful, and they'd go great as an easy-to-make accompaniment to a pot of your favorite soup.


(And I have four scrumptious soups that would pair nicely with these delicious darlings, so click on the links, and check them out, too! They are: Slow Cooker Tortilla Soup, Lentil Soup with Kielbasa, Baked Potato Soup, and Chloe's Virus Killing Soup. )

 I was trying to think if I had a story to go with biscuits, and the only one I can remember is from my childhood summer vacations to Kentucky, where my grandparents on my Mom's side lived. My grandmother and my aunt, who lived next door to each other, both made biscuits for breakfast whenever we visited, which were made all the more memorable because my Mom almost never  made biscuits. My aunt made plain biscuits (no pepper, no chives) that we slathered with butter and either honey, Bob White syrup,  or best of all, chocolate gravy. Chocolate Gravy is a chocolate sauce thickened with flour and butter, and it's devastatingly delicious. I haven't had it since I was a kid.

But enough about biscuits as dessert. Let's get back to biscuits as a savory. These biscuits are super easy to make. The buttermilk gives them a tang (and makes them tender)  and the cornmeal in them gives them a great crunch. This recipe has more sugar than most biscuit recipes, which aids in browning, and balances the slight tang from the buttermilk. The chives add a little "green" which is slightly sweet, slightly savory, and the heat from the pepper adds a little zing. Taken altogether, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. These biscuits have a nice balance of flavors and textures.

TIPS:

Tip #1: If you have no buttermilk, you can do what I do and sour some milk in a cup by adding a scant tablespoon of white vinegar to the 3/4 c. of milk.

Tip #2: If you have no chives, you could certainly substitute green onions.

Tip #3: If you have no self-rising flour, you can make your own, by adding 2 t. of baking powder, and 1 t. of salt to 2 c. of all-purpose flour.

Tip #4: White Lily is the very best flour for making biscuits because it is flour that has been milled from soft wheat, which is lower in protein, so if you are lucky enough to have a grocery store that carries it, buy it, and use it only for biscuits. Honestly, it's worth keeping around just for that purpose. (It does react slightly differently in recipes that call for regular all purpose flour - things tend to fall apart more easily - so, you have been warned. I use my White Lily almost exclusively for biscuits.)

Tip #5: If you happen to have your own mill, and can grind your own popcorn, cornmeal that is fresh ground tastes the very best, and is slightly more coarse, which is a desirable quality in this recipe. That's what I use. I store my freshly ground cornmeal in a ziplock in the freezer.

Makes a humble pot of soup a special meal

Buttermilk Biscuits with Chives, and Black Pepper

Ingredients:

3/4 c. chilled buttermilk
1/4 c. finely chopped chives
2 c. self-rising flour
1/2 c. yellow cornmeal
3 T. sugar
1/2 t. coarsely ground black pepper, plus additional for sprinkling
1/2 c. (1 stick) chilled butter, cut into 1/2"cubes, plus 1 T. melted butter

Preparation:

 Pre-heat oven to 425º, with rack positioned in center. If using a baking sheet, line with parchment paper, or grease. (I cook my biscuits on a cast iron griddle pan, so, no parchment paper or greasing necessary.) Combine buttermilk and chives in medium bowl. Whisk flour, cornmeal, sugar, and 1/2 t. ground black pepper in large bowl to blend. Add butter cubes, and rub in with fingertips or cut in with pastry blender, until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add buttermilk mixture and stir until moist clumps form.

Gather dough together. Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead gently just to combine, about three to four turns. Roll out to 3/4" thickness. Using floured 2"cookie or biscuit cutter, cut out rounds. Reroll scraps and cut out additional rounds. Place 2" apart on prepared baking sheet or griddle. Brush tops of biscuits with melted butter, and sprinkle lightly with pepper.

Bake until golden, about 20 minutes. Spread tops with melted butter.

Spread a little melted butter on them when they come out of the oven.

Be sure to pin this one, or print it out, so you'll remember to make it later.

And don't forget to check out the links to the soup recipes that are already on this site, that I mentioned at the top of this post.

Are you a biscuit lover?