Perfect Buttermilk Biscuits

If you’ve read my post on Blueberry-Peach Pie, then you know my feelings about lard, and that I consider vegetable shortening the enemy. Before I even begin to expound on the importance of the right ingredients for buttermilk biscuits, I need to reiterate this: in pie crust and biscuits, use lard, and make sure it’s organic or close to it (lard from antibiotic- and hormone-free pork is best – if you can’t find it in the grocery store, check with a local butcher or a farmer who raises grassfed pork). Also, make sure the lard is rendered, and not hydrogenated. Only use shortening if you absolutely can’t get lard.

Why lard? Lard is saturated fat, right? Right. But hands-down, partially hydrogenated vegetable oil (shortening) is far worse. While you shouldn’t overconsume fat, research has proven that hydrogenated oils are what cause heart disease and high cholesterol, and that animal fats from grass-pastured animals contain various beneficial enzymes and fatty acids. Research has also shown that rendered animal fats have been used for centuries among cultures with long, healthy lifespans. If you need to know more, look to Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon or Real Food by Nina Planck.

Why not butter, you ask? Butter doesn’t work nearly as well, and your biscuits will be flat. I don’t know the exact science behind it, but I’ve tried butter, and was hugely disappointed. In fact, I’d use shortening before I’d use butter in a lard emergency – that should tell you enough. As for pie crust, I only use butter in pie crusts where the recipe calls for it specifically, as in pate sucree.

And now: biscuits. For some reason, biscuits are perceived as a lofty culinary feat, like homemade bread. If you’ve never learned the truth, I am about to make you see that biscuits are fast and easy – you won’t even need a rolling pin. No Pillsbury biscuits in a cardboard tube here. Not to mention that once you’ve had homemade biscuits, you will never again want biscuits-in-a-tube. And no, I have absolutely no humility about this. Biscuits-in-a-tube are sorry substitutes for the real thing.

The recipe for these biscuits originated with my friend Harriet, who uses shortening in hers. I changed the recipe to incorporate lard instead, with perfect results. These biscuits take a mere five minutes to mix up and cut out, and rise up light and flaky in the oven, with visible layers that split easily with a fork. They are perfect topped with spicy sausage gravy for breakfast, chicken and gravy for dinner, or as a base for strawberry shortcake. They are perfect on their own, too, hot from the oven and slathered with butter and jam or honey.

Perfect Buttermilk Biscuits

2 cups unbleached flour (I use King Arthur White Whole Wheat flour)
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
5 tablespoons chilled lard (or vegetable shortening)
1 cup buttermilk (can be low-fat)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Cut the lard or shortening into the dry mixture using a pastry blender until it resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center, and pour in the buttermilk. Using a fork, mix together until dough forms. It will be wet and sticky. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface. Sprinkle with flour. Flour your hands as well, to prevent sticking, and knead the dough by gathering it into a ball, then patting it into a flat round, then folding it in half and patting into a flat round again a few times. Add a sprinkling of flour here and there as needed to prevent sticking. Pat the dough into a large circle about 1/2 inch thick. Using a biscuit cutter, round cookie cutter, or the rim of a drinking glass dipped in flour, cut out biscuits. Gather remnants of dough, work gently into a ball, pat into a flat round again, and cut out more biscuits. Continue until all the dough has been used. Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes, until fluffy and golden.

Makes about (12) 3-inch biscuits.