Instructions: As a Southerner (born & bred), I can tell you that the actual recipe has very
little to do with light, fluffy biscuits. Just buy a bag of self-rising flour and follow the basic recipe on the side of the bag. Most are pretty much the same - flour, solid shortening (Crisco) and buttermilk - its all in
the technique.

The best biscuits I ever ate were made by an older woman I knew from work.

She was a widow, children grown & gone, so she used to invite my (ex)

husband and I to Sunday dinner. She had been making biscuits since she was a
little girl, her mother insisted that if she never learned to cook anything
else in her life, no decent Southern man would ever marry a woman who couldnt make biscuits (grin). Not having a Southern mother myself, I watched
her intently, hoping to learn the secret. I remember watching Mrs. Honeycutt
pour flour in a bowl, blend in Crisco with a pastry blender, then make a well
in the center and add buttermilk - all without any measuring utensils!

She
always mixed with her hands instead of a spoon, then turned out the dough onto a floured surface, kneaded lightly and used a biscuit cutter to shape the dough. The biscuits then went onto a pan heavily greased with more solid
shortening (she said she wanted the bottoms to "fry" in the oven to give them
a crispy crust) and more shortening brushed on the tops. Bake them in a very
hot oven and there you have it - Manna From Heaven.

Even though Ive tried and tried over the years, my biscuits have never come
close to hers. However, the tips she gave me are consistent with all of the
great Southern cooks Ive known. First, DO NOT USE Bisquick or other such mixes. They wont give you the results youre looking for and no self-respecting Southerner would even have them in her kitchen (grin).

Buy a
good quality brand of self-rising flour and follow the recipe for biscuits on
the side of the bag. Keep the flour refrigerated between usage. (White Lily
brand is the most popular in this area, followed by Red Band, but they may be
regional brands). Second, thoroughly blend in the shortening before adding
the buttermilk. You should barely be able to tell youve added any fat to the flour unless you run a little bit between your fingers. There should be
little or no "crumbles" or lumps. Use a pastry blender. Third, mix in the
liquid lightly - only until moistened. Then knead very gently - the less you
handle the dough the more tender the biscuits will be. Lastly, invest in a
biscuit cutter or use a clean, empty can which has had both ends removed - push down firmly and dont twist. The air trapped inside a drinking glass will push the dough down and result in a lower "rise".

I can guarantee that if you follow the standard recipe and make use of these
tips, youll be utterly disappointed on your first few attempts. Dont give
up! Biscuit making is as much an art as a science but keep at it, the results are well worth the effort. Sorry this has been so long-winded, I guess you can see how seriously we Southerners take our biscuits!

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