A Biscuit in a Basket

Last night, I made Bacon and Chive biscuits. They were delicious, and I wanted to share with all of you! The original recipe is from the Stonewall Kitchen Favorites cookbook.  I made them to go with a corn and sweet potato chowder, as well as an arugula and asparagus salad (both of those recipes are also in this cookbook). This combo was great together, but these biscuits are so versatile. They can be served with a breakfast meal, and if you make larger ones, you could even use them to make breakfast sandwiches. They also go well with soups, salads, and I can totally see serving them to dip in a delicious bouillabaisse broth as well!

I adapted the recipe a bit. I prefer the thick-cut bacon to regular strips, so rather than 8 regular slices of bacon, I used 6 slices of the thick-cut. (If you are vegetarian, try making these with the Smart Bacon instead.) You'll need 1 1/2 cups of flour, 1 Tablespoon of baking powder, 1 Tablespoon of sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt (use Kosher), 1/4 cup of unsalted butter, 1/4 cup of shortening, 1/2 cup chopped fresh chives, and 1/2 cup of skim milk. (The original recipe calls for whole milk, but I lightened it up a bit...and I think you could probably use soy milk as well, should you have a dairy allergy.)

Set the oven to preheat on 375 degrees F. Cook the bacon until nice and crispy, drain on paper towels, and then finely chop. In a large bowl, sift the flour using a fine sieve, and then add the baking powder, sugar and salt. Stir well and then begin to add the butter and shortening. With both, you want to add small pieces at a time and use your hands to work the fats into the flour mixture gently. You can also use a pastry blender or two knives, but hands really do work best! Don't be afraid to get a little messy! Once the mixture has the appearance of cornmeal, add the chopped bacon and chives. Add the milk, and with a fork, stir the mixture until it just comes together. Don't overwork it! Now, the recipe calls for rolling out this dough and then using a circular cutter to make the shapes...but, again, don't be afraid to use your hands! I made small patties with my hands instead of doing all that rolling. Put the biscuits on an ungreased cooking sheet. I put a sheet of parchment paper down to assure that there'd be no sticking. You want the biscuits to be about 1/2 an inch thick...any thicker and they won't cook correctly, any thinner and they'll dry out. Put them in the oven for about 15 minutes, or until the tops turn to a golden color. The recipe says you'll get 12 biscuits ... I think I made mine a little on the larger side, since I got 11 out of the batch of dough.



These biscuits are a quick and delicious addition to many meals. Give them a shot and let me know what you think!