What constitutes as a Man Meal, you ask? Biscuits, of course, with some type of meat. None of that fruit and muffin business. This Man needs something hearty! Something that will get him through his long day of hunting and foraging (read: producing and editing commercials in a studio). Good thing I had just the recipe on-file.
To satisfy his biscuit tooth (the Man-version of a sweet tooth), I chose Baking Delights's Cheese and Bacon Biscuit Sandwiches.
The biscuits were so simple to make but, as you can see, mine didn't rise quite like those pictured on Baking Delights. I wonder if it has something to do with my buttermilk mix-up.
Oh, I didn't mention that I messed up the buttermilk? Yes, it's possible to "mess up" buttermilk. I recently purchased the powdered kind, after reading recommendations on several blogs. I love that I know I'll always have some in the pantry and don't have to worry about buying it fresh every time I need it. Now to my issue- Being the slow, methodical, detail-oriented person I am, I skimmed the directions and must have overlooked the instructions to add the powdered buttermilk to my dry ingredients, and then the correct equivalent of milk to the wet. I just mixed them up and added the "buttermilk" to my wet ingredients. Could that be what caused my rising issues? I'm not sure. If anyone knows, I'd love to hear.
At any rate, the biscuits were NOT ruined, still rose (albeit about half as much as the ones they were modeled after) and had a great, butter, light texture.
Here's the recipe, with my italicized modifications:
Baking Delights's Cheese and Bacon Biscuit Sandwiches
(aka Chris's Morning Man Meal)
Ingredients:
2 c flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 c grated cheddar cheese (I used pre-grated sharp cheddar)
1/2 c cold unsalted butter
3/4 c buttermilk (I used powdered)
Set oven to 500 degrees. Mix dry ingredients.
Grate 1/2 cup butter into the dry ingredients (this was fun!) and mix quickly.
Add the cheese.
Add buttermilk (or, in my case, improperly re-hydrated powdered buttermilk) all at once, stirring until a soft dough is formed. Knead dough lightly on a floured board about 5-10 gentle (i.e. don't push all the way down) strokes.
Pat out 3/4 inch thick and cut straight down with a smooth sided biscuit cutter or mason jar (Chris fashioned a biscuit cutter for me out of a tin can). Do not twist as you are cutting. Place just touching on a silpat covered baking sheet.
Place in oven until golden. This will only take about 6-8 minutes, depending on the size of the biscuits.
Yield: 1 to 2 dozen (I got 11)
To complete the Man Meal, I cooked up some bacon and faux omelets. For each faux omelet, one per biscuit, beat one or two eggs with a splash of milk and some freshly-ground black pepper. Spray your smallest skillet with cooking spray and heat to medium. Add the egg mixture and let it cook without stirring/scrambling until almost set.
Then, flip half of the egg round on top of itself and add a slice of cheese (I used colby jack, sliced in a square that would fit in the biscuit circumference and about 1/6 inch thick) to one side of the now half-moon shaped eggs. Turn the un-cheesed corner over the top of the cheese (you've now folded your egg into quarters on top of itself and should have a rough looking triangle). Let it cook a bit longer to allow the cheese to melt.
Slice open a warm biscuit, add egg/cheese faux omelet and top with bacon.
Give the Man Meal to your hungry and grateful Man. Listen to him grunt his approval while he devours it.
Voila!
More cheese porn:
Chris ate two, and I had my one, and we froze the rest for future weekday morning quick Man Meals. I plan on making biscuits and gravy for him next week, which will be fast and easy, since I'll have these frozen on-hand to re-heat in the oven.
Verdict: Despite the rising issue, this meal was great. Very hearty and filling. I will say, however, that when eating a biscuit on its own, I still couldn't really taste the cheese. I even used sharp cheddar just because I was afraid of that happening... Next time I'll try the recipe without cheese and with proper powdered buttermilk implementation. :)
Try 'em and make a Man out there happy today!
TTFN,
Claire
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