Chris Scott Biscuit Recipes

SCOTT PEACOCK'S BUTTERMILK BISCUITS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 500 degrees with rack in upper third. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Add lard and coat well with flour mixture. Working quickly, rub the lard between your fingertips until roughly half is coarsely blended and half remains in large flat pieces, about 3/4 inch in size.
• Make a well in the center of the flour-lard mixture, and add buttermilk all at once. Stir quickly with a wooden spoon, just until mixture is blended and begins to come together into a sticky dough. (The dough will not form a ball at this stage and will, in fact, look unpromising.)
• Immediately turn out dough onto a generously floured surface. With well-floured hands, knead briskly 8 to 10 times, just until a cohesive ball of dough forms. With your palms, gently flatten dough to an even thickness; then roll out to a 3/4-inch thickness, working from center of dough outward with a floured rolling pin. (Flour rolling pin as needed, but avoid flouring top of dough unless you want dusty biscuits.)
• Dip a dinner fork in flour, and pierce dough completely through at 1/2-inch intervals. Flour a 3-inch biscuit cutter, and stamp out rounds as close together as possible, taking care not to twist cutter. Place rounds 1/2 inch apart on a parchment-lined heavy baking sheet. Place dough pieces that remain after cutting on baking sheet, too. Bake biscuits until crusty and rich golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove biscuits from oven and brush with melted butter. Serve hot.

SCOTT PEACOCK'S CLASSIC BUTTERMILK BISCUITS

Steps:

• Set a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 500 degrees. Sift together the cream of tartar and baking soda to make baking powder. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the lard or butter. Working quickly, rub it between your fingertips until half is coarsely blended and the remaining pieces are 3/4-inch thick.
• Make a well in center of the flour. Add all the buttermilk and stir the mixture quickly, just until it has blended and a sticky dough forms. (If the dough appears dry, add 1 to 2 tablespoons buttermilk.)
• Immediately turn the dough onto a generously floured surface. Using floured hands, briskly knead about 10 times until a ball forms. Gently flatten the dough and, using a floured rolling pin, roll to 3/4-inch thick.
• Using a fork dipped in flour, pierce the dough through at 1/2-inch intervals. Flour a 2 1/2- or 3-inch biscuit cutter. Stamp out rounds and arrange on a heavy, parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake until golden, about 12 minutes. Remove and brush with melted butter. Serve hot.