Cheddar & Chive Biscuits
Since the world has been turned on its head thanks to COVID-19 (coronavirus), I’ve been trying to think of ways to continue having guests on the show - and more importantly - keeping our local chefs (most of whom are friends) in the public eye, along with the names of their restaurants! I want you all to think of them when we’re able to go out again, when we’re able to celebrate together again, I want to meet in their amazing restaurants and eat their food and bring their businesses back to life! And it’s not lost on me that, while this channel and website are small, I can help!
I started with my good friend/sister from another mister/employer Chef Risa Boyer. And we shot the video using Zoom - hence it’s not the quality you’re used to seeing. But it works! And we had a lot of fun doing it! It’s nice to see the people you love, even if it’s only through a screen. And we were still able to create the dish together, AND showcase a couple of different variations!
Chef shows how to make homemade biscuit dough by hand, while I use the food processor. We each made our own flavor of biscuits, depending on what was in the house! While the recipe below is for cheddar and chive biscuits, which is what I made - you can swap in any shredded cheese you would like, add in any fresh herbs or spices, it’s really the kind of recipe that allows for swapping flavors in and out! Chef made hers with shredded mozzarella and everything bagel seasoning! She also shares a quick secret for making buttermilk at home if you don’t have any! Finally she explains the secret to extra flaky biscuits - stack the dough!
I will say that using the food processor is a slightly different process. I actually made the biscuits AGAIN and tried a few different things. Mainly I wound up using about an extra 1/4 cup of buttermilk, and I let the machine run until the dough completely came together. I found this much easier to work with when I rolled out the dough, AND the biscuits had better flavor and rose even higher! But like Chef says, you’re either going to spend an extra few minutes with your hands in the dough, or with your hands doing dishes!
These are the biscuits you would normally find in the brunch baskets at Vanillamore in Montclair. The restaurant Risa owns and I work at! But now that you have the recipe, you can make yourself a nice little brunch at home until we can all get together again! AND don’t forget that you can still support Chef and Vanillamore by shopping their website for things like marshmallows, candied nuts, shortbreads and more!
Buon Appetito!
~Cara
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Vanillamore’s Cheddar & Chive Biscuits
Makes about 15 2x2 biscuits
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. kosher salt
2 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. baking soda
3 1/2 C. AP flour
1 stick (1/4 lb.) cold butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 C. buttermilk, cold
1/4 C. chives, chopped
1/4 C. shredded cheddar cheese
Preheat oven to 425°.
Pulse baking powder, salt, sugar, baking soda, and 3½ cups flour in a food processor to combine.
Add chilled butter and pulse until largest pieces of butter are the size of a pea. Mix in cheddar and chives.
Gradually drizzle buttermilk into the machine while running until a shaggy dough forms.
Turn out onto a clean surface and pat into a 1"-thick square. Using a knife or bench scraper, cut dough into 4 pieces. Stack pieces on top of one another, sandwiching any loose dry bits of dough between layers, and press to flatten. Lift up dough with bench scraper and dust surface with flour.
Roll dough into a 1"-thick rectangle and trim a thin border around sides of dough to create clean edges. Cut into 1 1/2" squares.
Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing 2" apart; freeze 10 minutes. Brush tops of biscuits with melted butter and place in oven.
Bake biscuits until deep golden on bottom and golden on top, 15-20 min.