INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

~----------BISCUIT BONANZA------------------------------------- In
France, dessert is often constructed from towers of flaky puff  pastry,
and in the Middle East, paper-thin phyllo dough is either  left crispy
or made soggy with syrup. But the U.S. has biscuits to  call its own.
Biscuits--moist, tender and rich--are used as an  alternative to a
yeast-leavened bread. Biscuits are closer in  technique to making pie
crust than to making bread. The steps follow  the same order: Cut the
shortening into the flour mixture, add some  liquid and roll it out.
Once you've mastered the technique, you can  not only delight in the
aroma of biscuits browning for breakfast, you  can also bake scones for
a proper English tea. (The difference is  there are eggs in scones and
not in biscuits). Biscuits are similar  to real shortcakes, rather than
the hockey pucks made from cellulose  sponges found next to the red
glop in the produce department. And you  can crown fresh fruit with a
biscuit dough topping and call it a  cobbler. Start by sifting the dry
ingredients ~-flour, baking powder  or soda, salt, sugar and so forth.
Then cut in the butter or  shortening until the mixture resembles a
fine meal, like breadcrumbs.  While a wire-blade pastry blender is
useful, you can use two knives,  pulse a food processor fitted with the
steel blade on and off a few  times, or use your fingertips. The third
step is adding the liquid.  The trick is to accomplish this quickly, so
that the ingredients are  just blended enough to hold together. It's
tempting to do more, but  that's what makes biscuits or their first
cousins tough. Once liquid  is added to flour the gluten formation
begins, and any agitation  intensifies this process. Turn the dough out
onto a well-floured  surface, such as a counter or a pastry board, and
use the same  restraint that went into adding the liquid. Don't knead
it more than  10 times, just enough to give it a push in the oven, but
not enough  to make it chewy. Now either roll or pat the dough into the
proper  thickness. The dough should be less than 1 in thick. Cut it
into  desired shapes. No fancy cutters? Use juice cans (a 2 in
diameter) or  an upside down glass.  From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster
collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini

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