Monday, March 26, 2012

Cheddar-Chile Biscuits


So it all started with a bowl of chili. It was meant to be vegan and three-bean. It ended up being beef with chipotle. I was going to make cheddar biscuits to go alongside, but I was running late, the husband was on his way home and I had some fingerling potatoes in my grocery bags. You can probably guess how this went.

We had homemade chili cheese fries for dinner. It was awesome.

But you know when something gets in your head and you can't get it out? Or when you have several hours to kill so you decide to make a gigantic mess of your kitchen?

No? You don't do that? Yeah...me neither.

Cheddar-Chile Biscuits
9 ounces (2 scant cups) all-purpose flour + more for rolling out
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon chile powder (optional)
8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold, unsalted butter, cubed
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup buttermilk
2-3 dashes Tabasco (optional)
2 eggs, beaten + one for washing
1/4 pound (4 oz) shredded Mexican cheese blend (or cheddar, or whatever)
4 ounce can of green chiles or jalapenos, drained

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, baking powder, salt and chile powder in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few times to mix together. Add butter and pulse in short bursts until the butter is chopped up and the size of lima beans. Open the top and dump in the wet ingredients: sour cream, buttermilk, Tabasco and 2 eggs. Pulse until it starts to come together and form a wet, shaggy dough.
Looks pretty gnarly at this stage...
Open the top one more time and dump in the cheese and chilies. Pulse a few times more until it is thoroughly combined. Ideally, you'll still have visible lumps of butter in the dough. Remove dough from processor to a floured cutting board and pat the dough into a square about an inch thick. You may need to flour your hands if the dough is particularly sticky. Cut the dough into squares and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Brush the biscuits with the last beaten egg and then put in the oven. Bake until puffed and golden, about 15-18 minutes. Serve with chili, or any other stew dish that needs bread for mopping up.

6 comments:

Erika Kerekes said...

When I get a craving for biscuits, I HAVE TO HAVE THEM. Totally understand. And there might be flour on my flour and in my hair when I'm done. Just maybe. :) See you at Camp Blogaway in a few weeks...maybe we'll get biscuits!

Dorothy at Shockinglydelicious said...

You had me at "biscuits."

Looking forward to meeting you at Camp Blogaway!

Diane Schmidt said...

those biscuits sounds delicious, looking forward to seeing you at campblogaway!

Cookin' Canuck said...

I love the kick in these biscuits. They would be perfect dunked into our favorite chili, or even topped with fried egg. I'm looking forward to meeting you this weekend at Camp Blogaway!

Gerry @Foodness Gracious said...

Hey Chris, it was great to meet you at camp! Hope you arrived home okay :)

Shawn @ I Wash...You Dry said...

These look great! It was awesome meeting you at Camp Blogaway!