LESLIE: Always a delight to welcome a new guest to the Kitchen, especially one with a new series! Today's guest, Nora Page, writes the Bookmobile Mysteries, set in Catalpa Springs, Georgia. And she takes her biscuits as seriously as her protagonist, librarian Cleo Watkins, takes a due date.
I have such fond memories of my childhood bookmobile that I'd read this for the nostalgia alone -- but I suspect the humor and the food would keep me coming back!
She is also the author of the Santa Fe Cafe Mysteries, written as Ann Myers.
One luck reader will win a signed hardcover of Better Off Read. Leave a comment below for a chance to win!
Pimento-Cheese Biscuits by Nora Page
Many thanks to Leslie and the Mystery Lovers Kitchen crew for inviting me to guest post! I love recipes and include one
in each of my mysteries, so this was a fun post to think about (and to
taste
test).
The Bookmobile Mysteries star septuagenarian
librarian Cleo Watkins. Cleo has a lot on her plate in the first book, Better Off Read. A toppled tree takes
her main library out of circulation, and the mayor threatens to shelve the
damaged building permanently. Then a patron is killed, and Cleo steps in to
help catalog clues.
Cleo’s busy, but that doesn’t stop her from enjoying
some good southern food. She’s a skilled cook and a master of biscuits. I,
however, have long searched for the perfect biscuit recipe. My mother makes
raised biscuits with yeast. They’re fabulous, don’t get me wrong! I also have a
go-to drop-biscuit recipe. They’re easy and good, but not “the one.”
The pimento-cheese biscuits I’m sharing today have
the elements I crave. They rise high and pull apart in buttery layers. That’s a
key: a good helping of butter. I acknowledge this after years of searching for the
unicorn that is the health-food biscuit.
Cleo would argue these biscuits do qualify as a healthy
treat. Pimento is a vegetable… She’d
slather on extra butter or pimento cheese or smother them in sausage gravy.
Do you have a recipe quest? Any favorite food you
wish you could perfect at home or already have? I’d love to hear about it!
Nora will choose one lucky reader to win for a signed hardcover of
Better Off Read. (US addresses only.) Leave a comment below for a chance -- the winner will be chosen on Wednesday, June 20.)
Pimento-Cheese
Biscuits
Makes about a dozen small biscuits, using a 2½ inch
round biscuit cutter.
Biscuit
tips: Keep everything cold. If your kitchen is warm,
stash ingredients and even mixing bowls in the fridge until you’re ready to use
them.
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour plus more for dusting
1 tablespoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon table salt
½ teaspoon paprika or mild red-chile powder (optional)
8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced into ¼
inch cubes, plus 1½ tablespoon melted butter
¾ cup buttermilk
¼ cup pimento, drained and diced
¾ cup grated cheddar cheese
Directions
Preheat your oven to 425°F with a rack positioned in
the middle.
Whisk together all the dry ingredients in a large
bowl. Add the cold butter cubes and work them in using a pastry cutter or,
better yet, your fingers. You’re aiming for a mostly sandy texture but also
leave some pea-sized buttery lumps and flakes, which will help make layers. Reserve
the cheese for a later folding step.
Get your fingers floury. Work the butter in by hand.
Make a well in your dry ingredients. Add the
buttermilk and pimentos and gently mix and knead until you have a shaggy dough.
As in all stages, try not to overwork the dough. Turn it onto a floured counter
and roll into an approximately 12-inch square.
Now to the folding, which also makes layers. Fold
the lower third of the square to the middle, like folding a business letter.
Fold the dough like a letter.
Next, fold the upper third up the middle too. You’ll have a rectangle. Fold this the same way: up from the bottom (of the long end) and down from the top, creating a stubby square with layers.
The folded square. It doesn’t have to be pretty or perfect.
Reroll the dough out to another 12-inch square. Sprinkle on the cheese and lightly press it into the dough. Repeat the folding steps above (make a letter, then a square). Roll out to another 12-inch square.
Don’t forget the cheese (as I have done, although those were good biscuits too).
You’re ready to cut! Before you do, some tips on preserving your layers: Use a sharp biscuit cutter or knife. The rim of a glass or a dull cutter could squish the sides and stop your layers from rising. Cut straight down and up. Don’t turn and twist the cutter. If you have scraps, gently gather them together and knead, roll, and cut. For fewer scraps, cut your biscuits into squares.
Transfer your biscuits to a parchment-lined or oil-sprayed baking sheet, spaced about an inch apart. Brush with the melted butter.
Bake until golden, about 15 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. Let cool for a few minutes if you can stand to wait and then serve.
Take time to breathe in the cheesy, buttery aroma.
Nora
Page enjoys rainy weather, the perfect biscuit, and quiet evenings in with her
husband and cat. You can often find her in the company of books. Stop by and
visit at her website . You can follow Nora on Facebook or Instagram.
As Ann Myers, she is also the author of the Santa Fe Cafe Mysteries.
As Ann Myers, she is also the author of the Santa Fe Cafe Mysteries.
Barnes& Noble, or Indiebound.
Anything with cheese is worth trying. I have never met a cheesy recipe I didn't like.
ReplyDeleteseffichinchilla@outlook.com
Hi, Sue. I agree! And if the recipe doesn't have cheese, I always consider adding it. Thanks for commenting!
DeleteSounds yummy. Hoping to bake soon! Thanks
DeleteI never thought to put pimento in biscuits! I will need to try this.
ReplyDeletedebprice60@gmail.com
Hi, Deb. I hope you enjoy them if you give the recipe a try. Roasted green chiles are also good.
DeleteThat sounds like such a delicious biscuit. I have been trying to perfect Thai Green Curry. My problem is that I don't think that the curry pastes that are sold taste quite right and so I am still playing around with how to make my own paste for the dish. I have enjoyed all of my attempts but just not quite gotten it right.
ReplyDeletelittle lamb lst at yahoo dot com
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteHi Lil, Oops, please ignore my deleted reply above. I should have had biscuits this morning and maybe I'd be typing better. I was intending to say, I agree with you about curries. I've tried them too and there's always something not quite right or a key ingredient I can't find. I had better luck with a Thai salad recently. It is fun to try, though, and I bet your recipes were tasty.
DeleteI can't make a decent biscuit to save my soul - just don't have that touch. Makes me crazy!
ReplyDeletepjcoldren[at]tm.net
This is how I was feeling forever too! Using recipes with a lot of butter helped me, with biscuits and pie crusts (I can still never trust that my pie crusts will come out right, though).
DeleteThanks for the chance to win. This series looks great. ckmbeg@gmail(dot)com
ReplyDeleteThanks, Riley!
DeleteBiscuits are so soothing. With tea perfect and delectable. I cannot bake worth anything. elliotbencan(at)hotmail(dot)com
ReplyDeleteSoothing is a great way to describe biscuits!
DeleteYour book is a delight as are your yummy biscuits. Thanks. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com
ReplyDeleteThank you!!
DeleteSounds wonderful. cheers (at) MarjimManor (dot) com
ReplyDeleteThanks, Margo!
DeleteLove the recipe...most importantly I am looking forward to reading your new mystery Better Off Read! Thanks for the tasty recipe & I love pimento's!
ReplyDeletecmeier2001@live.com
Thanks, I hope you enjoy the book and the biscuits if you get a chance to try them!
DeleteI love, love, love pimiento cheese, and I will definitely be making these biscuits! Thanks so much for visiting Mystery Lovers' Kitchen and sharing your recipe, and I'm looking forward to reading Better Off Read ~ bobandcelia@sbcglobal.net
ReplyDeleteThanks, Celia! It's a thrill to visit Mystery Lovers' Kitchen! There are so many recipes here I want to make.
DeleteThose biscuits look yummy! I’d love to read that book especially since the pug on the cover looks like my Pugsly!! njcar22(at)aol(dot)com
ReplyDeleteAw, Pugsly--what a cute name! Thanks for commenting!
DeleteI can't claim to be a cheese biscuit fan, but I love the sound of your book. Thank you for the chance! mbradeen@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteThanks, Marla! I did accidentally make these without cheese on a test run and they were still tasty. I'm a huge cheese fan so I couldn't believe I'd done that.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThese look divine. I love biscuits.
ReplyDeleteI would like to make perfect gravy every time.
Sjgolding@sbcglobal.net
Thanks, Shelia! Perfect gravy can be tricky, I agree.
DeleteYumm. Must try. And must read the book. :). pammbr2003@yahoo.com.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Patricia! I hope you enjoy the recipe and book if you get a chance to try them.
DeleteAlways looking for a new series to read. And great recipes too.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lynn!
DeleteThe book and biscuits both look great. I'm on the quest for the perfect vindaloo. Thanks for the chance to win. Dmskrug3 at hotmail dot com
ReplyDeleteThanks, Daniele! Vindaloo would be wonderful to perfect. Yum!
DeleteMy father would have loved these! He loved everything that had pimentos in it. I'd probably go without. They look yummy.
ReplyDeletelkish77123 at gmail dot com
Interesting receipe. cheetahthecat1986ATgmailDOTcom
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kim!
DeleteI had never heard of these and being from the South I can't believe I haven't. Sooo...I will be making these real soon and love the title and hope to read soon. Thanks for the chance to win.
ReplyDelete