An Introduction to: The Biscuit Chronicles

So it's Friday, and in addition to doing laundry, cleaning house, and loafing around watching MTV True Life or Teen Mom episodes I've seen a million times, I try to use my Fridays off for something productive. Something good and never evil.  Today my good and not evil deed has to do with biscuits and my search for the perfect biscuit recipe. In order to progress this search to a new level, I've decided to start a biscuit project of sorts. To give a little background, below is an exert from one of my columns called "The Legacy of Biscuits."

The South is a region that is built upon a strong foundation of family and food, and the royalty of the Southern food family is the biscuit. All my life I’ve heard stories of biscuits. From the dainty soda biscuits my Daddy’s Gram would prepare with nearly every meal to the piles of lard biscuits that my Mama’s Grandma Tuggle would fix for her legendary Sunday dinners, I grew up with a respect for the Southern biscuit and its place on the Southern table.

The problem is that I haven't yet found my own biscuit identity. I love to cook, especially Southern cuisine, and if I can't establish a good recipe for one of the foundations of Southern cuisine, then I might as well throw in the towel and surrender myself to the fact that I'll probably never rise above simple things like chicken noodle gravy. So, I've decided to begin a search for my "biscuit identity," the biscuit recipe that will secure my place in the family's biscuit legacy. 

A past and poorly photographed attempt.

Beginning this Sunday, I plan to embark on what I'm going to call "The Biscuit Chronicles." *Cue dramatic music here. Please, folks, try not to get too excited...it's exhausting. Each Sunday morning, I will try a new biscuit recipe. I will document the ins and outs of each recipe, the ups and downs, the successes and failures. I'll hope like crazy that they don't turn out flat and hard as rocks, but I'll know that some batches will, and I just have to be okay with that. 

I will record The Biscuit Chronicles until I have found the perfect recipe. The biscuit of all biscuits. The one that works with bacon, gravy, sausage, and honey. The one that makes my husband react in a sincere and honest way (instead of the usual "Oh, I love anything you cook, honey" response).

Between now and this Sunday, aka Day 1 of The Biscuit Chronicles, I'll be searching for my first trial recipe. If anyone knows of a great recipe, or would like to share their own, please let me know. Really, you could be a part of history here.

By the way, it's Fab Friends Friday over at For the Love of Blogs, and in the spirit of the day, I'd like to recommend that in addition to reading my posts, you hop on over to the "Blogs I'm Reading" list to the right or my Link <3 tab at the top of the page. These are some awesome blogs that exemplify the kind of blogger I want to be some day :)

Key Lime (Minus the Key) Pie

It's hard to believe that only a few months ago I was wishing for Fall/Winter weather. It's true that you always want what you don't have. That's why it's also a cliche. Gotta love a cliche. Yep, here I sit wishing for Spring/Summer weather and wallowing in my cliche.

Last night, Jeremy and I attempted to bring a little Spring/Summer to the Ross household. Jeremy had been dying to use the new grill my parents got us for Christmas, and despite the fact that it was 30 degrees outside, he decided that last night - January 21, 2011 - would be the night he officially christened it. He'd already cured and seasoned the grill last week. That part had felt like an ancient manly ritual: "I am man! I make fire!" He carefully rubbed the entire inside of the grill with vegetable oil, then heated it to 250 degrees for 2 hours and 400 degrees for an additional hour. Why that combination I have no idea, but this process will supposedly keep the metal from rusting as quickly. I'm skeptical.

In addition to this curing process, Jeremy had to season the cast iron grates. Of course. For this, he used nearly an entire can of my Crisco (Yes, I'm very possessive of my cans of shortening; Mama's little baby loves shortenin' shortenin'!). The grill got heated again. This time to 350 degrees. The entire ritual used a huge bag of charcoal, which makes very little sense to me. Why waste charcoal when you're not even going to cook something? But whatever. I'm female and lack the natural compulsion to make fire and burn things.

Regardless, I was glad that Jeremy had already completed this complicated curing and seasoning business, because this meant he could use the grill to make some yummy steaks last night. And boy, were they yummy!

Steaks, baked potatoes, salad, and wine = the perfect meal

Why I Could Never be a Housewife

Why could I never be a housewife? That's easy: 1) I'm lazy. 2) I get bored EASILY. Having spent the last three days iced/snowed in, I have been SO completely and utterly lazy and bored it's not even funny. Don't get me wrong, I've done housework and cooked meals. I've been on top of all that like never before, and I've enjoyed being on top of it. But I don't want to do that every day for the rest of my life. And when left with no other options but doing housework and sitting around, I do the housework, and then I sit around. Not being able to go outside (or anywhere for that matter) has left me feeling stir crazy and bored out of my mind. Perhaps if I could get out and actually accomplish things, I wouldn't feel this way, but I'm pretty sure I'm just not cut out to be a housewife.

Now, I could definitely be a stay at home writer. The problem this week has been a complete lack of inspiration. Yeah, it turns out that LIVING and EXPERIENCES provide the fodder and motivation for my tales, and without being able to get out and live and experience anything (aside from the snow which got boring after the second trip out in it), I haven't been able to write. Call it writer's block or what you will, but I am most definitely at a complete loss for words and that makes me mad. Really, really mad.

The source of my frustration.

So, as bad as I can hate going to work day after day, I'm realizing that work actually inspires me in a lot of ways. If nothing else, it provides me with the motivation to fulfill my dream of becoming a professional writer. Every day that I spend working towards that goal (even if it is working in a field that I don't always want to be in) brings me one step closer to reaching it. So, I can honestly say I'm looking forward to going back to work tomorrow and, hopefully, putting a stop to this writer's block.

In the meantime, as a housewife this week, I cooked at least one good (and simple) meal.

Spicy Chicken Tenders (modified by Jeremy Ross)

1 lb chicken strips/tenderloin
2 tablespoons peanut oil (enough to cover the bottom of a large fryer)
1/2 cup milk
a few dashes of hot sauce
1/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon cajun seasoning
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
salt to taste

Soak chicken strips in milk and hot sauce in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes prior to cooking. Combine flour and spices on plate or in bowl. Dredge each soaked chicken strip in flour mixture, coat well. Heat peanut oil (which doesn't burn as easily as vegetable oil) over medium-high heat. Place dredged chicken strips in oil. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes on each side or until crispy and brown. Serve with wing sauce.

Oven-Roasted Potatoes

5 to 6 medium potatoes (I used russet, I've seen a lot of recipes that use red potatoes)
1/2 to 1 envelope onion soup mix (you can over-do this depending on the size of our potatoes)
1/3 cup olive oil

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cut potatoes into small, uniformed cubes. Combine potatoes in bowl with onion soup mix and olive oil. Mix to coat well. Place in greased medium-sized casserole. Bake 40 minutes.

chicken noodle gravy

It's another hot afternoon in September. It should be Fall already, but it's really not...despite my best efforts to make it true. My Halloween decorations are out three weeks too early according to my husband, but I am so tired of the Southern heat I could scream. I've always prided myself on the fact that I am a Southerner through and through, but I'll be the first to admit that this summer has nearly done me in. Bring me Fall!

Along with the Halloween decorations, I've also pulled out my repertoire of Fall-ish/Winter recipes, hoping to conjure up some Autumn breezes and color-changing leaves. Because we're saving for a trip to Disney World in a few weeks, the first of these magical recipes also happens to be the cheapest. World, I introduce to you: Chicken Noodle Gravy.

Those three words make my heart sing! They bring back memories of my childhood, of my mama or daddy in the kitchen cooking that warm and hearty dish that's loved by millions the world through. Chicken Noodle Gravy? Okay, maybe it's not loved by millions. In fact, I seriously doubt that it's even loved by hundreds. But if you know what it is, chances are you love it.

Chicken Noodle Gravy is a relatively simple dish, but like a lot of things, it's beautiful in its simplicity. Okay, maybe I'm getting a little too deep there. After all, it is a gravy dish; how complex and symbolic can it be? Well, let me tell you: Chicken Noodle Gravy is a lot like me. It's simple, old-fashioned, and cheers you up when you're feeling low. It's the food version of me, and that's why I've named my blog after it, just in case you were wondering.

But seriously, Chicken Noodle Gravy is very simple to make. You'll just need a few ingredients, most of which you probably already have in your cabinets:

1 can of condensed chicken noodle soup (duh!)
1 cup (more or less) of milk
2 tablespoons of butter or margarine
1/4 cup to 1/3 cup of flour
salt and pepper to taste (careful with the salt though, the soup already has tons!)
4 to 5 slices of bread

You start Chicken Noodle Gravy as you would any other gravy, by making a rue. Put your 2 tablespoons of butter or margarine (make that butter, in the South butter's where it's at!) in a medium sized frying pan and over medium heat. Once it's boiling, add your flour. This is where it gets tricky. If you add too much flour, you'll have an excellent adhesive to use for various craft projects or household repairs. If you add too little, you're going to end up with runny gravy, and nobody likes runny gravy. On this note, my husband claims to like runny gravy, but this is probably due to the fact that I've made him runny gravy on numerous occasions. He probably thinks that I mean to, but I really don't. There's just a really fine balance in making gravy, and I'll admit I don't always hit it.

So when you have your perfect amount of flour, (I always try to add enough to absorb the liquid of the butter fully) stir and be sure to get all of your flour mixed well with the butter, then add your can of chicken noodle soup followed close by your cup of milk. The milk's usually a little tricky as well, again it's all about balance. Can you tell that I'm the type of cook who likes to color outside the lines? I rarely listen to a recipe myself, so it's kind of hard to write one without lots of qualifiers. If you're like me, you're going to tweak it a little yourself anyway, so just go with it. Make cooking an experience. There will be successes and failures, but that's what it's all about: fun, experimentation, and the stunning thrill you get when you get a dish just right.

Continue to heat over medium, stirring often. Gravy will thicken within a few minutes. Remove from heat, serve over toast, and enjoy this unique and cheap meal.

Maybe if a lot of us prepare it, we'll conjure up a little Fall weather.