SEATTLE — Chef Lisa Samuel has a new cookbook called "Room at the Table" full of classic recipes made gluten free.
She joined the show to share a recipe for flaky southern-style biscuits.
Flaky Southern-Style Biscuits
One of my earliest memories is of my great-grandmother Granny Dixon baking biscuits. I can still picture her, hair tied in a bun at the nape of her neck, wearing a housedress, with a pink printed apron tied at her waist. The kitchen table is covered with a blue and white tablecloth and the table is set, including the small green juice glasses that now sit in my own cupboard. She didn't need a recipe. Her hands sifted, stirred, and cut cold butter by the memory of a thousand biscuits. Think she would be proud of these. | MAKES 8 BISCUITS
INGREDIENTS:
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick/115 grams) unsalted butter
- ½ cup millet flour (63 grams), plus more for dusting
- ½ cup (68 grams) tapioca starch
- ⅓ cup (56 grams) potato starch
- ⅓ cup (46 grams) sorghum flour
- 2¼ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum
- ½ cup (115 grams) whole milk Greek yogurt
- Up to ½ cup (120 grams) whole milk, plus more for brushing
- Flaky salt, for sprinkling
DIRECTIONS:
- Place the butter in the freezer for at least 30 minutes, until frozen. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the rice flour, tapioca starch, potato starch, sorghum flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and xanthan gum.
- Remove the butter from the freezer and grate it on the largest holes of a box grater directly into the dry ingredients. Toss everything together lightly with your hands. Stir the yogurt into the flour-butter mixture. Add half of the milk and stir together until the milk is absorbed. Slowly drizzle in the rest of the milk while stirring, adding just enough to bring the dough together without it being dry. You might not need all the milk.
- Turn out the dough onto a flour-dusted surface and form it into a rectangle about ½ inch thick. Lift one end of the dough using a bench scraper and fold it over to the middle of the dough. Lift the other end of the dough and fold it over the dough, just like folding a letter in thirds. Using your hands, flatten the dough back down to ½ inch thick. Repeat this folding and flattening two more times.
- Using the sharp edge of the bench scraper, cut the dough in half lengthwise, being sure to press straight down and straight back up (instead of dragging the scraper sideways through the dough). Then cut the dough crosswise, making 8 biscuits of equal size. (Lifting the bench scraper straight up when you cut will ensure that the biscuits will rise evenly in the oven.)
- Transfer the biscuits to an ungreased baking sheet and brush the tops with whole milk. Sprinkle with flaky salt.
- Place the baking sheet in the oven and immediately reduce the temperature to 450 degrees F. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until the biscuits are deeply golden brown. Let them cool slightly before transferring from the pan to a serving bowl lined with a clean kitchen towel or napkin. Serve warm.
A COUPLE OF TIPS
This recipe was inspired by the one in Aran Goyoaga's beautiful book Cannelle et Vanille, adapted to be reminiscent of the best laminated biscuits from my childhood.
1. The frozen butter method for making biscuits is one I learned years ago, before I became gluten-free, in my quest to make a perfect biscuit.
Grating in frozen butter easily distributes the fat and keeps the flour and butter very cold — the key to flaky biscuits. Use the largest holes of the box grater, because you don't want the butter pieces to be too small.
As the butter melts, it creates steam that helps the biscuits rise.
- I have always used a combination of Greek yogurt and milk in my biscuits. The yogurt replaces traditional buttermilk, providing acidity and also extra fat. I find that combination makes for a flaky, tender biscuit.
- I learned the folding method from my friend, Mataio. Folding the biscuit dough creates those distinct, pull-apart layers that make biscuits so irresistible. It might take you a few tries to get the technique down, but don't be afraid! You'll get it.
Recipe by Lisa Samuel
Segment Producer Joseph Suttner. Watch New Day Northwest 11 a.m. weekdays on KING 5 and streaming live on KING5.com. Contact New Day.