strawberry shortcake

It will come as no surprise to you that at one point I was obsessed with learning about biscuits. I took my favorite Southern cookbook to bed with me: Shuck Beans, Stack Cakes and Honest Fried Chicken, and read the chapters about flour and fats used in these innocuous little kitchen terrors. I say this because they remain the bane of many people's existences. People who are great bakers are broken by biscuit recipes. With just a few ingredients, how hard can they be?

The first SF restaurant I worked for was Susie Kate's, a Southern restaurant no longer in existence. (It was here that I learned what an "all day" was.) It was on a block in North Beach that was sardine packed - seven restaurants all in a row. The back courtyard was filled with milk-crate "chairs" and different whites clad workers sat on them at various points of the day kvetching, dishing, smoking, eating, resting and trying to get some sunlight. I spent about three weeks on the line and after trying to comprehend the expediting of a chef I later learned was on too many symptom-conflicting drugs, I moved to garde manger/pastry.

I made my first biscuits there with 50/50 duck and bacon fat. O yeah. Whirled honey into butter for the garnish and baked pies and cornbread all day. The best was when I walked into the sunny dining room to place hot pies in the pie rack on the bar. People ooohed and ahhhed and made googly eyes at me.

Being too naive and stupid to be afraid of biscuits I began on the right foot with them. 

And with that said, the recipe I am about to give is the Shuna Version. It's kind of a crazy biscuit. Meaning that I have created the texture and taste that I like. Because I am baking powder sensitive I tend to decrease it, when I can safely. Baking powder is a chemical leavener, a darkener, and a by product of its existence is that baked goods made with a predominance of it stale faster. {Think of all the things that taste better fresh out of the oven, but not the next day.}

Those fanatical about biscuit history will tell you that there is only ONE flour that can be used. White Lily. Us pathetic Northerners with our dreadful hard wheat can sometimes finagle a poor substitute. Cake flour and all purpose flour. At least we can get heirloom okra here. Sigh.

Onwards Ho.

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CORNMEAL BISCUITS FOR STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE

6 oz  ALL PURPOSE FLOUR (I use King Arthur)

7 oz  CAKE FLOUR

5 oz  ORGANIC CORNMEAL (I use Anson Mills)

1 teaspoon  KOSHER SALT

2 teaspoons  BAKING POWDER, sift

2 teaspoons  BAKING SODA, sift

2 oz  SUGAR

6 oz  UNSALTED BUTTER, cubed & chilled

6 oz  HEAVY CREAM (not ultra-pasteurized. Stabilizer free.)

6 oz  BUTTERMILK

Preheat oven to 375° F.
Put all dry ingredients into a large, shallow bowl. Mix with fingers to incorporate evenly.  Pour all wet ingredients into one measuring cup.

When butter is chilled, drop cubes into drys and move through mixture with hands, pressing drys into butter, (being very careful not to overwork butter and melt it.}  When there are still English pea sized chunks of butter, create “well” in center.

Pour all wets in and extend your fingers out, widely spaced like a spider, and very gently incorporate wet into dry. Stop when mixture has JUST come together!
Lightly dust a table with flour and corn meal and dump dough out on it. Get hands dry with flour and very gently pat dough into circle no more than 1 1/2 inches tall. You may use a rolling pin briefly on the surface, but it is not necessary.

Have a bowl of flour on the side and dunk your biscuit cutter into it each time before cutting dough. The scraps may be put together and a few more biscuits can be gotten from this, but their 'crumb' will be slightly different. Gently place biscuits on to parchment lined cookie sheet. You may wish to brush biscuits with cream, buttermilk and sprinkle with raw sugar, or none of the above. Because my own oven is slow but hot on the bottom I double pan mine. Half-sheet pans work best for this.

Bake for at least 15 minutes before opening the oven to check in on them. Turn the pan around 180° for more even baking. {Sometimes biscuits that are too tall will fall to one side.} Biscuits are done when there is a bit of color on the top and more on the bottom. Or when bottoms are tapped they sound hollow. When you can smell their wafting perfume they are ready too...

Biscuits are best eaten straight from the oven with butter and honey, or soon after with whipped cream and berries!

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This dough does extremely well frozen. Biscuits that I baked the next day straight from the freezer actually did better in keeping their shape, height, and colored more evenly.

I made this recipe three times in a seven day span and my favorite way to eat it was by slicing the biscuit/shortcake in half longways, placing the bottom in a bowl, spooned a generous amount of recently, briefly and ever-so-slightly macerated strawberry quarters on top, chantilly and then the biscuit top. I use Clover Organic cream for the [vanilla scented] whipped cream because I want to be able to taste the inherent ephemeral sweetness of the dairy in conjunction with fresh, lightly sweetened berries and have the exquisite surprise in flavour and texture of the cornmeal.

I also served it at my mother's book party and because I was uninterested in plating it for 100 people I put each component in three straight lines in a big bowl with another bowl of ice under it. I thought this was genius if I did say so myself.

Strawberries arrive in May but love June and July. It is the dessert of Independence day and goes with everything pretty.

Delicious. Simple. Summer.

Comments

[Dr. Biggles]

Biscuits? Oh dearie me, you should have seen my attempt a few years ago.
I wore my Eggbeater T-shirt the other day. I felt as though I was wearing black leather jacket, as though I was doing something so naughty. I loved it. It's tough getting used to seeing that band of orange under my chin.
I think if I wore my biker jacket and your shirt I'd keel over.
Thanks!

[Kudzu]

Hold on a minute! You were at Susie Kate's? I was there only one time but loved the idea and some of the things were spot on.....The whole biscuit mystique continues to fascinate me. I am willing to try your recipe when I have a moment to breathe, even though in the photo they look slimmer than my personal favorite. I was brought up on big fat ones -- even those of monumental proportions ("cat heads") from one aunt.....Thin ones are best for special occasions when you can fill them with slivers of country ham or a bit of peppery shrimp salad, served with drinks. But breakfast? Gimme those fat rascals......BTW: You can get White Lily flour at Mill Valley Market.

[Kudzu]

P.S. It's good to remember that when you use your biscuit cutter -- whether it's a real one or a can or a glass -- you push down smartly and release, never twist as you cut them out.

[Kudzu]

You're probably thinking, "Will she never shut up?" -- but now I realize it was my own wishful thinking that put White Lily flour in Mill Valley. They do have King Arthur.
You can order White Lily online, though -- and boy, is it worth it. You probably wouldn't cotton to the self-rising
flours but they are so fine for those of us who are not sensitive to the baking powder.

[shuna]

Biggles,

I was just thinking the other day which 22 people will have a hold of those T shirts and how disparate they all are. It's like a mystery club, all of us. I come from the motorcycle jacket wearing tribe so I know from which you speak. And thos Luddites were a little scary too.

Kudzu,

you know there's whole writings about How To Use The Biscuit Cutter for lighter, taller, more evenly rising bicuits. In fact I have used particular methods with puff pastry, attempted comparative tests, and there are some intense particulars that DO make a difference. It's an odd world out there if you uncover a few stones.

[Jeanne]

This is odd but odd in a good sorta way. There have been times in the last few years when I have craved Susie Kate's biscuits. And now, here you are telling me this news and sharing this recipe. It's odd. But like good. I'd call it kismet!

[Kudzu]

Intense particulars? Sounds romantic to me.

Do tell us about your own favorite biscuit-cutting method.

Did you ever take the odd-shaped scraps and cook them in a skillet on top of the stove? That's one of my
favorite childhood memories from my grandmama's kitchen.

[shuna]

Jeanne--- A funny thing about Susie Kate's is that I walked into Fork about a year ago and the old owner greeted me at the door! We had a warm chat and reminisced! I think for us it's just more proof that good eggs like good food. Really nothing compares to the tenderizing properties of bacon fat melded with duck fat!!

Kudzu--- I have never tried baking the scraps in a skillet. But this is why I have e g g b e a t e r so that myself and others can learn from eachother. Interactive baking, so to speak.

[paul]

Shuna....
There is a mill in North Carolina where my parents have another house that has flour that I believe my mother is a new lover of.
Are you here?
I will make you biscuits. My recipe is much, much simpler.

love
katrina (or the name above)

[tejal]

mmm, duck fat biscuits!

I'm trying to figure out what to with this bag of strawberries I've been given, happened to come upon this recipe--sounds great.

[Mack]

They sound good, corn meal hummm. I will have to give them a try. I saw a interesting twist on the Strawberry shortcake, on kathyireland.com. Strawberry Martini Shortcake. Not difficult, more presentational, which was prefect for the dinner party I was planning. I love mixing traditional with clever. I also enjoyed the kathyireland.com site. Lots on home, family, gardening and yes food.
thanks for the recipe, I will let you know how they turn out.

[firza]

i love CORNMEAL BISCUITS FOR STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE