I had made a roast chicken for Sunday dinner and had chicken leftover (always a bonus, don't you think?) I decided to make a chicken in cream sauce with peas and carrots. And I wanted to serve it over biscuits so I went searching for a suitable recipe. I thought this one was interesting because you use a box grater to grate the butter before cutting into the flour. Supposedly my great-grandmother made the best biscuits in the world. Unfortunately that was before my time and there was no written recipe. Apparently my great-uncle George repeatedly tried to duplicate them but relatives agreed hers were still superior. I don't know if these would hold a candle to hers but I thought they were very good--light and flaky. I found the recipe at sugarspunrun.com.
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, very cold
¾ cup milk or buttermilk
Chill butter for 20 minutes in freezer.
Heat oven to 425 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt and mix well.
Use a box grater to shred the chilled butter.
Add butter to flour mixture and stir.
Add milk and stir just until combined.
Place dough on a lightly floured surface. Use your hands to gently work the dough together. Add more flour as necessary.
Fold dough over on itself and with your hands, gently flatten it. Rotate 90 degrees and fold in half again. Repeat 5 or 6 times.
Using your hands (do not roll) flatten dough into a rectangle 1 inch thick.
Flour a biscuit cutter or small juice glass and cut out as many biscuits as possible. Flatten scraps into a rectangle and cut out as many more biscuits as possible.
Place on cookie sheet less than ½ inch apart. Bake for 12 minutes or until tops are golden brown.
Serve as is with butter or use as a base for creamed chicken.
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