Buttermilk Biscuits & Pittsburgh Storm Pt. 1

This is the first part to my Pittsburgh Snow Storm series. You can read the second part here.

After growing up in northern Michigan, then living in Chicago for over five years and even in my current residence of Pittsburgh; I’m very accustomed to the glories of snow. But this weekend was ridiculous!

Starting mid-Friday afternoon reports of an impending snow storm rocked the airwaves as offices around Pittsburgh, including mine, began to send their employees home early. I decided to stop by my local market during my slow commute home to pick up some bare necessities. My grocery list included important stuff like buffalo chicken wings, macaroni salad, chips, dip, carrot cake roll and vodka. I figured if I was going to be snowed in for the weekend, I should be comfortable.

I awoke the next morning to see my car and everything else covered in just over 20” of snow. It was an eerie experience to see the snow reach higher than my front door. Even Sophie was surprised by the sudden emergence of the white powder as she bounced through the yard like a deer looking for carrots.

Weather like this screams comfort as I settled in to watch a couple of movies while wrapped in a several blankets on the couch. Ironically, I had been saving the idea of making buttermilk biscuits and sausage gravy for a rainy day. A snowy day certainly was a close enough substitute don’t you think?

The biscuits were incredibly easy to prepare and my decision to roughly cut them into squares added to the rustic charm to my snowy day. I’m looking forward to including these biscuits into my regular mix of recipes. Imagine them with balsamic strawberries and sweet cream in the spring. Or as a flaky side to a hearty bowl beef stew. But for this morning, it was all about creating a base for my sausage gravy.

Buttermilk Biscuits
Adapted from Carmen Cooks

1 ½ cup flour
1 ½ Tbl. sugar
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. baking soda
¼ cup cold butter, small cubed
¾ cup buttermilk, shaken
1 Tbl. milk for the biscuit tops

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a food processor. Pulse 3 – 4 times until well combined. Add the cold butter cubes and pulse for an additional 5 – 8 times, or until the butter is the size of peas.

While pulsing the food processor, slowly pour the buttermilk into the flour mixture. Continue to pulse until the dough forms into a ball. Carefully  turn the dough onto a floured board. Gently knead 5 – 6 turns while adding flour until the dough is smooth and not overly sticky. It’s important to not over handle the dough. Otherwise the butter will start to melt and the biscuits will become tough.

Pat the dough to a 10” square and about ½” thick. Cut into 6 evenly divided squares. Place the biscuit squares onto a baking sheet at about ½” apart. Brush the tops with milk. Bake the biscuits at 425 degrees for 12 – 15 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown.

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