Wonderful Wednesday: Guinness Cheddar Biscuits

Guinness Cheddar Biscuits

St. Patrick’s day is coming and in a few days, everybody will be wearing green or wanting to be kissed because they’re Irish! Even my Japanese friends wear buttons declaring, “Kiss Me! I’m Irish!”. I’m not much for beer, domestic or imported. But…I do love Guinness Stout and I like it draft, room temperature. I also enjoy Black and Tans – one half each of Harp and Guinness Stout.

And…here is the best of both worlds – Southern US and Ireland. You don’t have to wait until St. Patrick’s Day to serve and enjoy these. Kiss These Biscuits! They’re Good!

Ingredients
2 cups flour
1 ½ teaspoons salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar
4 tablespoons butter
2 tbs. minced chives (optional)
¾ cup Guinness (or stout or dark beer)
1 tablespoon milk

Directions: Preheat the oven to 450 degrees, and prepare a sheet pan with a silpat or a sheet of parchment paper or other non-stick liner. In a bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking powder. Add cheddar cheese and mix together until well blended or, pulse in food processor. Cut in the butter until you have a coarse crumb. Mix in optional chives. Add beer and mix (or pulse) until you have a uniform dough. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and pat into a rectangle. Cut the dough into 8 pieces. Place the dough on the baking sheet and lightly brush with a a little milk. Bake for 10 minutes. I like to brush with some melted butter before serving. NOTE: Any margarine with a high water content or heart smart spread will not work for this recipe. I do suggest using real butter. And because these are for St. Patrick’s day, I will be using imported Irish Butter!

vintage poster

 

Throwback Thursday – Retro Recipe 1910

I am the proud possessor of a first edition Boston Cooking School cookbook, written by Fannie Farmer. Fannie Farmer was the leading lady of kitchen and home efficiency. Thanks to her, recipes no longer state, “one teacup of sugar”, “butter lump the size of a walnut”, “one wineglass of sour milk”, etc.

In addition to their famous cookbooks, the Boston Cooking School also published a magazine six times a year. The August-September 1910 edition gives hints for “Prompting a Delicate Child to Eat”, “Automobile Luncheons” (quite a novelty and cutting edge!) with such dishes as Bishop’s Deviled Tongue Spread (Bishop’s was a brand of canned meats, not the actual tongue of a Bishop), Pickled Egg Salad, Hearts of Lettuce, celery hearts filled with cream cheese, Rusks, Rum Omelet, Blackberry Muffins, etc. The list of foods gives a nice snapshot into the food of America for that time. In the magazine were also advertisements for products still in use or long gone:  Junket, Huyler’s Metropolitan Cocoa, Fleischmann’s Yeast, Sno-white Blueing, Sauer’s Vanilla Extract (still made in Richmond, VA).  Short stories, poems, and household hints were scattered though out the magazine.

The Blackberry Muffins, from that edition of the magazine, has been made in our family since my great grandmother’s mother, as a young bride, was given a subscription to that magazine as a bridal gift. A rather extravagant gift at a dollar for a year’s subscription. The recipe still stands after over a hundred years. When blackberry season arrives, put on your sunbonnet and go pick a few buckets of blackberries. Save some out for these muffins. The recipe is copied from its page in the magazine.  The recipe says the Blackberry Muffins are very delicious – they are!  Slather with butter ad enjoy with a glass of cold milk or cup of coffee.

Blackberry Muffins
1 cup blackberries (blueberries are an excellent substitute)
1 cup warm milk
1 cake Fleischmann’s Yeast (modern – 1 pkg)
2 cups sifted flour
2 – 4 tablespoonfuls granulated sugar
1 tablespoonful butter, melted
¼ teaspoonful salt
1 well-beaten egg

Have milk lukewarm, dissolve yeast into it; then add sugar, butter, salt, egg well beaten; add flour gradually and beat thoroughly; cover; set aside to rise for one and one-half hours. Then stir in very lightly the cup of berries and put in well-greased muffin tins (modern change – use muffin liners). Let rise for twenty minutes. Bake twenty minutes in a moderate oven (350F). This makes one dozen. Takes about two and one-half hours. Should be eaten hot and are very delicious.