Southern Biscuits

My kids (well, especially Nathan) LOVE biscuits. I love them with sausage gravy, but we also often have them with soup. This recipe is from Genius Kitchen, but I changed it a little bit.

SOUTHERN BUTTERMILK BISCUITS

Recipe by P48422

Photo by Dine Dish

PREP TIME: 10 mins	TOTAL TIME: 22 mins
YIELD: 10 biscuits

ABOUT THIS RECIPE

"These buttermilk biscuits are authentic. This recipe came from my great-great-grandmother, and was handed down to all the women in my family, and we are all Southern. I am the first one to commit the sin of using a food processor (lol) but I find it works very well. I would put these biscuits up against anyone's - they are perfect in every single way. I hope you all enjoy them."

INGREDIENTS 

• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the board ( if you can get White Lily flour, your biscuits will be even better)
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon baking powder ( use one without aluminum)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt or 1 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, very cold
• 1 cup buttermilk ( approx)
• 1 tsp sugar

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat your oven to 450°F.
2. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, or in the bowl of a food processor.
3. Cut the butter into chunks and cut into the flour until it resembles course meal.
4. If using a food processor, just pulse a few times until this consistency is achieved.
5. Add the buttermilk and mix JUST until combined.

Page 2 of 3Southern Buttermilk Biscuits (cont.)

DIRECTIONS

6. If it appears on the dry side, add a bit more buttermilk. It should be very wet.
7. Turn the dough out onto a floured board.
8. Gently, gently PAT (do NOT roll with a rolling pin) the dough out until it's about 1/2" thick. Fold the dough about 5 times, gently press the dough down to a 1 inch thick.
9. Use a round cutter to cut into rounds.
10. You can gently knead the scraps together and make a few more, but they will not be anywhere near as good as the first ones.
11. Place the biscuits on a cookie sheet- if you like soft sides, put them touching each other.
12. If you like"crusty" sides, put them about 1 inch apart- these will not rise as high as the biscuits put close together.
13. Bake for about 10-12 minutes- the biscuits will be a beautiful light golden brown on top and bottom.
14. Do not overbake.
15. Note: The key to real biscuits is not in the ingredients, but in the handling of the dough.
16. The dough must be handled as little as possible or you will have tough biscuits.
17. I have found that a food processor produces superior biscuits, because the ingredients stay colder and there's less chance of overmixing.
18. You also must pat the dough out with your hands, lightly.
19. Rolling with a rolling pin is a guaranteed way to overstimulate the gluten, resulting in a tougher biscuit.
20. Note 2: You can make these biscuits, cut them, put them on cookie sheets and freeze them for up to a month.
21. When you want fresh biscuits, simply place them frozen on the cookie sheet and bake at 450°F for about 20 minutes.

Mango Shrimp Over Coconut Rice

Coconut Rice
Shake a can of coconut milk
Pour it into a liquid measuring pitcher, add enough water to make 3 cups
Add 1 1/2 cups rice, 1 tsp salt, 1 tbsp sugar in a sauce pan or rice cooker
Cook until soft

Chop:
2 mangos
1/2 a red onion
1 red pepper
1 avocado
1/2 a bunch of cilantro

Squirt the juice of 1/2 a lime over this mixture and toss

Spray a frying pan with oil, add 1-2 lbs of raw shrimp
Pour soy sauce and Thai sweet chili sauce over the shrimp
Stir fry until pink

Pour shrimp AND ALL THE SAUCE IN THE PAN over the veggie mixture, mix.

Serve shrimp salad over hot coconut rice. I die. Simple, easy, fast, fresh, delicious.

Teriyaki Chicken pasta salad

This is a recipe mom got from a sister missionary when they were serving in Trinidad.  It is amazing and one of my very favorites so I thought it was time to add it to the family blog!  I'm sure most of you have tried it because she makes it a lot, but if not, it is a must try.

Recipe credit to Sister Anne Ray

6-8 cups of cooked curly or bow tie pasta (we prefer whole wheat)
3-4 cups of cooked chicken, cubed
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1/2 cup chopped green onions
8 cups of lightly packed torn spinach
2-3 bunches red grapes cut in half
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts (optional)

Dressing:
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup vegetable oil (divided in half)
1/2 cup teriyaki or soy sauce
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup seasoned rice vinegar
3 Tbsp sugar
(I make the dressing first to give it a little time to cure)

Cook chicken and cool.  Cook pasta, drain, and cool.  Toss together.

In a small pan sautée all the sesame seeds in 1/4 cup of the oil until golden brown (this happens fast so keep an eye on them).  Remove from heat and add the rest of the oil, teriyaki sauce, vinegar, salt, pepper, and sugar.  In a large bowl, Pour 1/2 the dressing over the cooled pasta and chicken, toss, cover and chill in fridge over night or for at least a couple of hours.  Add onions, spinach, parsley, grapes, pine nuts and extra dressing.  Toss all together and serve immediately.

Thai Peanut Stir Fry

I used shrimp but you can substitute any meat of choice
1 bag shredded coleslaw
Broccoli small head, chopped
1 lime cut in half
Snap peas
Julienned carrots
Chopped green onions 3-5
Fish sauce
Soy sauce
Peanut butter
Thai sweet chili sauce
Minced garlic 2 tsp, separated
Fresh ginger, peeled and minced
Coconut oil
Chopped fresh cilantro
Chopped roasted peanuts

Rice cooked in chicken broth

Put 2 tbsp coconut oil in frying pan over med-high heat
Sautée 1 tsp garlic and 1 tsp ginger until fragrant. Add broccoli, green onions, carrots.
While veggies are softening, squeeze half a lime over your meat to marinate and squeeze the other half into a small bowl. Add to that, 1/4 soy sauce, 1/4 cup peanut butter, 1 tsp fish sauce, 2 TB Thai sweet chili sauce and other 1 tsp of garlic. Whisk until combined and set aside.

When broccoli looks bright green and is starting to soften, add meat and sautée until cooked, then add  1-3 cups of coleslaw, as your prefer, and snap peas. When they've just softened, pour sauce all over and stir fry until coated. Serve over rice with fresh cilantro and chopped peanuts on top.

Paleo Eggplant Lasagne

The bread crumbs and cheese I added make this not strictly paleo, but definitely yummier and still low carb.
3 eggplants, sliced into thin rounds
1 pound ground italian sausage
1 chopped onion
2 cloves chopped garlic
Breadcrumbs
EVOO
1 bag fresh washed spinach
1-2 jars marinara or your own homemade
Shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 425
Slice eggplants into round. Microwave for 5 minutes.
Brush eggplant on both sides with EVOO and dip in bread crumbs then lay on a cookie sheet. Bake until golden. About 20 min
Sautee onion and garlic in EVOO. When softened add sausage. Cook until browned then remove from heat.
When eggplant looks done, spray a casserole dish then cover the bottom of it with a layer of your eggplant, cover all holes.
Layer with spinach, sausage, sauce, and shredded mozzarella (optional).
Bake at 350 for 30 min.

Paleo Morrocan "Rice"

I made this low-carb rice alternative and was blown away at how much we loved it. We will be doubling this recipe and making it again soon!

1 large head cauliflower
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic
Cinnamon
Cumin
Curry powder
Raisins
Dried apricots, 5-6, chopped
Pine nuts
Butter (or coconut oil if you want to go hardcore paleo)
Chicken broth

Chop the cauliflower into short-stemmed florets. Process them in a cuisinart in small batches at a time, until it reaches the approximate consistency of rice. Melt oil or butter in a frying pan that has a lid, sautée onion and garlic until softened on medium heat, add raisins, apricots, and pine nuts. Once those are fragrant, barely cover the bottom of the pan with chicken broth, should be boiling. Cover the frying pan with "rice" cauliflower. Sprinkle cinnamon, cumin, and curry powder over the top, as desired. Cover with a lid to steam, 5 minutes.  Uncover and stir fry until softened, about two minutes.

We served this with lime cilantro shrimp and it was amazing. I'm sure you could do lots of fun substitutions, playing with the flavors of this. Enjoy!

Chicken, potatoes, and spinach in Parmesan garlic cream sauce

One of our families very favorite dinners! Slightly modified from damdelicious.com

YIELD: 6 SERVINGS

PREP TIME: 10 MINUTES

COOK TIME: 40 MINUTES

TOTAL TIME: 50 MINUTES

Crisp-tender chicken baked to absolute perfection with potatoes and spinach. A complete meal in one!

INGREDIENTS:

• 6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs or breasts
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 3 tablespoons Chef Shamy Garlic butter from Costco or regular butter if you don't have.
• 3 cups baby spinach, roughly chopped
• 16 ounces baby Dutch potatoes, halved*
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

FOR THE GARLIC PARMESAN CREAM SAUCE

• 1/4 cup chef Shamy garlic butter or salted butter
• 4 cloves garlic, minced (only 1 if using chef Shamy butter)
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup chicken broth, or more, as needed
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 cup half and half*
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• Juice of half of a lemon

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly oil a 9×13 baking dish or coat with nonstick spray.
2. Season chicken with Italian seasoning, salt and pepper, to taste.
3. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken, skin-side down, and sear both sides until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes per side; set aside.
4. Melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter in the skillet. Stir in spinach and cook, stirring occasionally, until it begins to wilt, about 2 minutes; set aside.
5. To make the garlic parmesan cream sauce, melt butter in the skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute.
6. Gradually whisk in chicken broth, thyme and basil. Cook, whisking constantly, until incorporated, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in half and half and Parmesan until slightly thickened, about 1-2 minutes. If the mixture is too thick, add more milk as needed; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Squeeze lemon juice over and whisk in until smooth.
7. Place chicken in a single layer into the prepared baking dish. Top with potatoes, spinach and cream sauce.
8. Place into oven and roast until completely cooked through, reaching an internal temperature of 165 degrees F, about 25-30 minutes.
9. Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.