Monday, November 15, 2004
Include biscuits in your Thanksgiving menu
With all the food on the Thanksgiving table, it would seem like there would be no room for biscuits and rolls. Yet for many people, biscuits and rolls are as important to the meal as the turkey. Whether you start from scratch or from a can, serve your guests special biscuits fresh out of the oven.
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Homemade Biscuits
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening
1 egg
2/3 cup milk
1 tablespoon honey
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Cut in shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In a separate bowl, combine the egg, milk and honey; stir into flour mixture until just combined. Turn onto a floured surface; knead 8 to 10 times. Roll out to 1/2-inch thickness. Cut with a floured 2-1/2-inch biscuit cutter. Place 1 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake until golden brown, about 10 to 12 minutes. Makes 10 biscuits.
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If you don’t have time to make biscuits from scratch, make refrigerated biscuits your own by adding seasonings.
Poppy Seed Biscuit Ring
1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 teaspoon dried minced onion
1 teaspoon poppy seeds
1/2 teaspoon dried minced garlic
2 12-ounce tubes refrigerated buttermilk biscuits
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a 10-inch fluted tube pan. In a bowl, combine butter, onion, poppy seeds and garlic. Separate each tube of biscuits into 10 biscuits; dip in butter mixture and stand up on end in prepared pan. Bake until golden brown, about 14 to 16 minutes. Immediate invert onto a serving plate. Makes 10 to 15 servings.
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Serve this spread with biscuits, breads or muffins.
Pumpkin Apple Butter
1 15-ounce can pure pumpkin
1 medium apple, peeled and grated
1 cup apple juice
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Combine pumpkin, apple, apple juice, sugar and pumpkin pie spice in medium, heavy-duty saucepan. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 1-1/2 hours. Store in airtight container in refrigerator for up to 2 months. Makes 24 servings.
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Pantry Pointers
When making biscuits, be sure to knead the dough only as much as the recipe requires. Over handling the dough can result in tough biscuits.
If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, substitute 3/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice and 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg.
The Practical Pantry ©2004 Tammy P. Olson
http://www.practicalpantry.com