Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits – La Buona Cucina Americana

You may remember last month when Judith, of Think on It! organized a rally of American-food-lovin’ expats to start a new campaign. This endeavor, called La Buona Cucina Americana, brings the blogosphere an array of homemade American goodies created by expats living in the Bel Paese.

Yes, we still love you, pasta. We still crave you, pizza. But, sometimes we want OUR food. And, we want to share it with you! Yes, even you, Italian speakers! So, each recipe in posted in both English and Italian … fun!

I grew up in rural southeast Texas, and one of my favorite childhood memories is going to Grandma’s house. Maw Maw is, as are many of the women in my family, a master chef. No, she may not work in Hell’s Kitchen, but she keeps things pretty hot in her place, and my all time favorite thing she makes is homemade buttermilk biscuits!

She has been making these babies since she was eight years old, and while, NO, I won’t tell you how many years that has been, let it suffice to say, she’s got it down. Biscuits are to my family what pasta is to southern Italians, polenta is to the north, and, well, what beans are to Boston. We eat them in the morning with butter and jam, we eat them at lunch with turnip greens (I kid you not), and they are great at dinner with a little fried chicken.

When we first began planning our bed and breakfast, Maw Maw invited me out to her place for a few cooking lessons. She didn’t know the measurements, because she didn’t need to measure. So, we played in the kitchen all day long, for two or three days to work up a recipe.

My greatest compliment came when my uncle, accustomed to entering his mother’s house at will and eating whatever was on the stove, said, “These are good biscuits, Mamma!”

Yea … I was proud.

And, so, without further ado …

Maw Maw’s Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits

Ingredients:

>> 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus flour for dusting
>> 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
>> 1/2 teaspoon salt
>> 2 tablespoons peanut oil
>> 3/4 cup buttermilk
– The buttermilk in the US is thicker, and therefore if baking in the US, use one cup of buttermilk. You can find buttermilk in Italy at you local cheese shop.
>> A few dabs of butter

1. Preheat your oven to 420 degrees.

2. In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt, and stir with a large spoon.

3. Add oil and buttermilk.

4. Use your hands to fold ingredients together, paying attention not to press hard on the dough.

5. Sprinkle a small amount of flour on a flat, clean surface.

6. Remove the ball of the dough from your bowl, and place on top of the lightly floured surface.

7. You are now ready to begin forming your biscuits. Pinch a small amount from the roll of dough and work it lightly with the flour you had on the table.

8. Your biscuits should be very soft, and it might be difficult to move them. (That is ok! That is how you want them!)

9. Place the biscuits on an un-greased baking pan.

10. Dab a bit of oil on the tops of each biscuit before you put them into the oven.

11. Bake on the bottom shelf for 14 minutes, or until biscuits are brown.

12. Remove from the oven and place inside a bowl. Toss in a few dabs of butter and cover with a clean dish towel. (Or, if you are impatient like me, go ahead and eat them immediately!)

Hmmm … delish!

Pagnotte Caserecce al Siero di Latte

Ingredienti:

>> 450 gr di farina OO
>> 2 ½ cucchiani di lievito in polvere
>> ½ cucchiaino di sale
>> 2 cucchiai, abbondanti, di olio di arachidi
>> 175 ml siero di latte
– Il siero di latte in Usa è più denso, é per questo motivo che ce ne sarà bisogno di 235ml. In Italia il siero lo si può trovare solo nei caseifici.
>> Un po’ di burro

1. Preriscaldare il forno a 220 gradi.

2. In una larga ciotola unire la farina, il lievito, ed il sale con un cucchiaio.

3. Aggiungere l’olio ed il siero.

4. Lavorare il tutto gentilmente, facendo attenzione a non pressarlo troppo.

5. Spargere un po’ di farina sul tavolo.

6. Togliere l’impasto dalla ciotola e metterlo sulla superficie infarinata.

7. Adesso si possono formare Le Pagnotte. Prendere una piccola quantità e lavorarla con dolcezza.

8. Le pagnotte devono essere soffici.

9. Metterle su una casseruola.

10. Strofinare un pò di olio su ciascuna pagnotta prima di metterle in forno.

11. Infornarle, nel fondo del forno, per 14 minuti fin quando saranno dorate.

12. Toglierle dal forno e metterle dentro una ciotola, aggiungendo un pò di burro per ogni pagnotta , e coprirle con un canovaccio. Se siete impazienti, come me, mangiatele immediatamente.