I was inspired to create this post after reading the latest Gourmet magazine. It had an awesome feature on southern cuisine and the late Edna Lewis, who was essentially the Julia Child of southern cooking. There were some great recipes indeed: dumplings, deviled crab, tomatoes and toast and ham. But for me, there was one main dish that put a smile on my face… the queen of southern cuisine… the thing that makes hound dogs yelp more than hush puppies… puts kids in a tail spin and makes them beg for more. Yes, this is of course, biscuits! Fluffy, buttery (lardy) biscuits. I say ‘baguette of the south’ because when we were growing up, THIS was our artisan bread. Baguette was a foot in length and usually only served as garlic bread with spaghetti (I suspect as was the case for a large part of the country). So, biscuits were the bread of choice eaten with pretty much every meal. And, if you were lucky, you’d have some hot hush puppies to boot.

Below is Edna’s recipe. On New Years Day, we ate some with jam and clotted cream and others with grilled ham with stone ground mustard. Since grilling ham is a no-brainer, I thought I’d share the biscuit recipe along with some fun and easy jam. The clotted cream simply added to the decadence factor (and waistline). Oh heck, that’s what resolutions are made for. (Clotted cream can now be found at most specialty grocery stores or check with a cheese shop.)

Before I get the book thrown at me for using blueberries and blackberries in winter, I have to tell you that I was in Florida when I made the biscuits. The berries were from South America, the figs were from California and Florida tomatoes were in season. And no, I don’t like marmalade! nuff said..

Edna’s Biscuits with Fig Berry Jam and Clotted Cream
Makes 20-25 biscuits

For the biscuits
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 generous tablespoon single-acting baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup lard, cut in pieces
1 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons melted butter for brushing tops

For the jam
1 basket of fresh figs, tops removed and cut in half
1 pint blueberries*taste the berries to make sure that they are sweet
1 pint blackberries *taste the berries to make sure that they are not too tart
Juice of one lemon
½ cup sugar
¼ cup water
½ pound clotted cream To schmear on biscuit

Instructions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees

For the jam
Simply add all the ingredients to a heavy stainless sauce pot and cook over medium low heat until thick and jammy. *Make sure you stir the pot frequently as the sugars can easily burn.

For the biscuits
Measure flour and sift with the baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large mixing bowl. Add the lard pieces and work gently into the flour with your fingertips or a pastry cutter, until all is mixed together and the texture is fine and crumbly. Stir in the buttermilk with a spoon until well-mixed. (Do not overbeat or you’ll toughen the dough.) On a lightly floured board, turn out the dough and knead gently with your hands for about 2 minutes. Roll out with a rolling pin to about 1/2-inch thickness.
Using a 2-inch cutter, cut out the biscuits. Do not twist as you bring the cutter through the dough. Place about 1/2 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Poke through each biscuit several times with the tines of a fork. Brush the tops of the biscuits with the melted butter. Bake for 8 to 12 minutes, until risen and golden. Serve immediately with butter or preserves.

To Serve
Slather jam on the bottom and clotted cream on the top

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 15th, 2008 at 3:46 pm and is filed under Sides & Snacks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.