Biscuits

How many biscuits can you eat this morning?
How many biscuits can you eat this evening?
How many biscuits can you eat?
Forty-nine more and a ham of meat.
This morning, this evening, right now!

Make my coffee good and strong this morning,
Make my coffee good and strong this evening,
Make my coffee good and strong,
Keep on bringing those biscuits on,
This morning, this evening, right now!

-- Two verses from the traditional mountain tune “How Many Biscuits Can You Eat?”

In June 1939 President Franklin Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor entertained King George VI and Queen Elizabeth of England at the White House. A command performance had been arranged to feature the best American talent. Among the opera singers and classical musicians were the Coon Creek Girls, a string band from the Ohio Valley. The four women were scheduled to play old-time music and accompany Bascom Lamar Lunsford’s dance group from Western North Carolina.

The Coon Creek Girls opened with the traditional mountain tune “How Many Biscuits Can You Eat?” and stole the show. Proof positive that Appalachians take both their music and their food seriously!

Like many old-time songs, “How Many Biscuits Can You Eat?” mentions delicious mountain foods and pays particular homage to one of the foods most revered in Appalachian culture: biscuits. Whether eaten at breakfast, lunch (dinner to you old-timers) or supper, biscuits fit the bill. They can be paired with butter, honey or jam just as they can accompany ham or gravy. Any way they are served, biscuits have been a delicious part of mountain meals for generations.

Widely regarded as unhealthy, biscuits have earned a bad reputation. There is something deeply satisfying and inherently nourishing about foods created from scratch. The “biscuits” popped out of store-bought tubes can never compare to hot, homemade biscuits. Treat yourself to some “this morning, this evening, right now!”

Biscuits

My husband says, “yours are the best damn biscuits I’ve ever eaten.” He might be a little biased, but I did spend months perfecting this recipe, which is based on a more traditional version. These biscuits have that great old-fashion taste but incorporate new, more healthful ingredients.

2 cups unbleached flour
3 teaspoons non-aluminum baking powder
½ teaspoon sea salt
6 tablespoons organic butter or Spectrum Spread
¾ cup soymilk
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Grease baking sheet and set aside.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together soymilk and vinegar. Set aside to clabber.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
4. Using a pastry cutter or two knives, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
5. Add soymilk mixture and stir just until firm dough forms.
6. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Dust lightly with flour and knead 20-30 times.
7. Pat out dough ½-inch thick.
8. Cut with a 3-inch biscuit cutter. Place on prepared baking sheet.
9. Repeat with remaining dough.
10. Bake for 14-16 minutes or until slightly golden on tops.
11. Serve immediately.