Buttermilk "Thick" Biscuits

Are you a "Fluffy" or a "Flaky"?

What? Too personal?

Um, okay....

What I should have said is, "How do you prefer your biscuits? Fluffy or flaky?"

Better?

Thought so.

I like them either way. My personal favorites are the one that come with your Kentucky Fried Chicken meal. But I would not pass up a Hungry Jack, either. How much fun is it to pull apart those layers, am I right?

These are simple buttermilk biscuits that you can make in one pan. No rolling or cutting needed. I love simplicity like this. They are basically cooked in a pan of butter and come out of the oven....neither fluffy or flaky! These could be coined the "Thick Biscuit" honestly. They are buttery, very dense and very filling. These went great with our New Year's dinner.

Little Lawyer drizzled honey on top of hers. She saved the leftovers so she could have them that way for breakfast the next morning...

Add butter to 8x8 pan and wait for oven to preheat.

When preheating, place pan in oven for about a minute so the butter melts.

Add flour to a mixing bowl.

Add some sugar.

Then some salt.

Then some baking powder.

Buy then, the butter should be melty. I like to make sure there are some browned bits of butter in the pan for more flavor!

Pour some buttermilk.

Slowly add it to your flour mixture while stirring.

Stir together until just combined.

Flour your fingers and pat that bad boy down into the pan.

Use a spatula or scraper to "perforate" into nine biscuits.

All proportioned! Stick 'em in the hot box...

Out comes nine perfect biscuits!

Serve warm as-is, with a drizzle of honey, with butter, or with honey butter.

Buttermilk Thick Biscuits

Makes 9, but can easily be doubled and baked in a 9x13 pan for 20 minutes.

1/2 stick butter

1 1/4 cup flour

2 teaspoons sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon Kosher salt

2/3 cup buttermilk

(If you wanted to make these herbed, you could also add a teaspoon or two of your favorite dried herb to compliment the meal you’re serving this with!)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Slice up butter and place it on the bottom of an 8x8 inch dish. When the oven reaches 450 degrees place dish of butter in oven to melt for one minute.

Meanwhile combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Little by little, slowly pour buttermilk into the mixture until just blended.

Remove melted butter from oven and spread biscuit dough over melted butter. Use your flour-dusted fingers. Using a spatula or dough cutter/scraper, cut the dough into 9 even squares.

Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Creamy Tomato Roasted Mushrooms

Remember that recipe contest that I mentioned I entered?

I created a total of five recipes and forced Papa Bear, Drama Queen, Little Lawyer, and our fantastic friends Steven, Kristina and Vinka to taste test them and rate them so I could decide which one out of the five was the one I should submit.  I ended up submitting Butternut Soup Muffins. These Shrimp Chowder Quesadillas were a close second...

This recipe was rated number three out of five. These were so good...good enough to be eaten as a side dish or add some pasta or rice and be made into a full meal.

Which I believe I shall do in the very near future...

Halve or quarter some button and cremini mushrooms.

Toss them with some capers, garlic, olive  oil, salt, pepper and WP's Creamy Tomato soup.

Drop pats of butter randomly on top of mushrooms in a roasting pan.

Roast for about 20 minutes. Add some freshly squeezed lemon juice and parsley.

Serve 'as-is' with a good crusty loaf of bread, or over with pasta or rice.

Creamy Tomato Roasted Mushrooms

1 pound mushrooms such as cremini or white, halved lengthwise if large
1/2 can Wolfgang Puck Creamy Tomato soup
2 tablespoons capers, rinsed and chopped
3 large garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

Preheat oven to 450°F with rack in middle.

Toss mushrooms with soup, capers, garlic, oil, 1/8 teaspoon salt and several grinds of pepper in a 1 1/2- to 2-qt shallow baking dish. Top with butter and roast, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are tender and golden, 15 to 20 minutes.

Stir in lemon juice and parsley. Serve immediately, with crusty bread on the side for swiping up the sauce.

Wolfgang Puck's Red Carpet Recipe Contest (Vote for me!!) - Butternut Soup Muffins

I usually don't enter contests. The old adage "If it weren't for bad luck, I wouldn't have any luck at all" fits me to a T...


But for some strange, wacky reason I decided to enter this one. Not sure exactly why...maybe I felt the need to be challenged?

I played with five different recipes, made them, had a taste testing and we voted based on the judging criteria:

50% Originality     20% Healthy Ingredients       20% Creativity       10% Photo Appeal

So how does one use a can of soup in an original way with healthy ingredients creatively? Odd how taste wasn't even a factor, eh?

Out of the five different recipes, this one won every category: Butternut Soup Muffins!

  -  It's original. A muffin made from soup? Really?
  -  It's healthy. Butternut Squash is is very low in Saturated Fat, Cholesterol and Sodium. It is also a good source of Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol), Thiamin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Calcium and Magnesium, and a very good source of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Potassium and Manganese. 
  -  It's creative. Muffins make people happy. But a savory muffin? How creative!
  -  The photo is awesome...(see above photo) Papa Bear and Steven spent 20+ minutes taking pictures of these (and all the other finished recipes) and plated/shot like a couple of pros. What would I do without my two heroes???

Here is where you can go vote for me and my muffins if you'd be so kind. I totally appreciate it!  

I will also be posting the other four recipes that, while tasty, didn't score as high for the judging criteria.

Add some flour to a large bowl.

Add some baking powder...

...then salt.

Chop up some fresh parsley - take a whiff - then add it to the bowl.

Ditto with some chives - repeat whiff.

Grate in some fresh nutmeg (double whiff!)

Mmmmmelted butter! Combine with an egg...

Add soup to egg and butter.

Add some buttermilk to the soup/egg mixture.

Combine wet into dry...

...and you get this lovely concoction!

Line a muffin tin with paper liners (if you want to be lazy like me!) and fill.

After 25 minutes of a 425 degree oven, you will have savory muffin goodness!

Butternut Soup Muffins (with Honey Cinnamon Butter, which is optional)

Makes 12 muffins

1-3/4 cup flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
1 teaspoon fresh nutmeg
1 egg
1/2 cup melted butter
1/4 cup buttermilk (or regular milk works fine too)
1 can (10 oz.) Wolfgang Puck Butternut Squash Soup
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons cinnamon

In a large bowl mix flour, baking powder, salt, parsley, chives and nutmeg. In separate large bowl, beat egg. Add melted butter, milk, and soup. Stir to combine. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry mixture and stir just to combine. Fill greased or paper lined muffin cups with batter, and bake at 425 degrees F. for 25 minutes.

Combine softened butter, honey and cinnamon in medium bowl with mixer and whip at high speed until fluffy (approximately 2-3 minutes).

Serve muffins warm with room temperature butter.