The Best Buttermilk Biscuits You'll Ever Make!

Dinners this week have all been pretty laid back.  Not much cooking has been going on.  Sunday I baked some chicken thighs and made mashed potatoes and gravy, served with corn.  Monday we had leftovers of that for dinner.  And last night we had leftover sausage gravy with these homemade buttermilk biscuits.  

I don't cook much when my husband isn't home, which is okay with me!

A few years ago I was at our local library and I stumbled upon this cookbook.  

Cooking Up a Storm

It has lots of old fashioned recipes and fun stories to go along with it.  I liked it so much, that I bought it and have made a few recipes from it.  But let me tell you, I found one recipe in it that is the BEST recipe I've ever stumbled upon for Buttermilk Biscuits.  Look no further if you've been on the hunt for a good biscuit recipe!  It's in this book!  

I didn't have any fresh buttermilk on hand, but I did have a can of dry buttermilk, so I mixed some of that up and used it in place of the fresh.  The biscuits still turned out just as good as ever!  If you decide to use reconstituted buttermilk or even regular milk with vinegar or lemon juice in it, to sour it, you will have to use less.  Real buttermilk has a thick consistency, and the other two options are thinner, so you have to gauge by feel how much liquid to put in.  If you use real buttermilk, then just put the amount in the recipe and they will come out perfect!

Buttermilk Biscuits

As seen in the cookbook Cooking Up a Storm (Good Old Days)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Sift together:

1 3/4 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Cut in:

5 tablespoons butter or 1/4 cup lard (I always use lard)

Add and lightly mix (25 strokes only):

3/4 cup buttermilk or regular milk mixed with 1 tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice

Turn dough onto floured board and knead gently for about 30 seconds.  Pat dough to a thickness of 1/2 inch.  Cut with biscuit cutter or a glass.  Bake on greased cookie sheet for 10-12 minutes.  

    Note: It is best to stack to cookie sheets, one on top of the other, to prevent over-browning the biscuit bottoms.

Breakfast for dinner was a quick and easy meal to put on the table with leftover sausage gravy over hot biscuits and scrambled eggs with cheese on top.

Total cost for this dinner: about $2

Humburger Steaks with Creamy Mushroom Gravy

I tend to notice that my kids will eat dinner a whole lot better if it's something with a gravy or sauce. Are your kids like that? Maybe they just like to dip their foods into things, I don't know. But, my kids loved this dinner. It's down home cookin' at it's best! I served these hamburger steaks with gravy over my mashed potatoes, but you could serve this over egg noodles or rice with great results. Just pick what your family likes best!! I really liked making these hamburger steaks, which ended up being kind of like a mini meatloaf that was cooked on the stove-top instead of in the oven. They were easy and tasty and my family gobbled them up! I used extra lean hamburger when making them, so if you use fattier burger, just be sure to drain any excess fat.

Hamburger Steaks with Mushroom Gravy

2 pounds lean hamburger, divided
½ onion, minced
1 egg
½ cup breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon season salt
½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 teaspoon nature's seasons

Gravy:
½ cup reserved hamburger meat
1 ½ cups sliced mushrooms
¼ cup butter
¼ cup flour
3 cups fat free milk
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper

Mashed potatoes, cooked rice or egg noodles for serving

To make the hamburger steaks, combine the hamburger meat (reserving half a cup for the gravy), onion, egg, breadcrumbs and seasonings in a large bowl. Mix well so that all of the ingredients are combined. Form eight hamburger patties and cook in a skillet that has been heated on medium high heat until they are just cooked through, about 4 minutes per side. You may have to cook in batches if your skillet isn't large enough to cook all of them at once. Once done cooking, place in an oven safe dish and place in a warm oven, about 200° F until ready to serve.

To make the gravy, brown the remaining hamburger in the same skillet that was used before. Add in the mushrooms and cook until soft. Place cooked hamburger and mushrooms into a bowl and set aside. Heat butter in the same skillet until melted, over medium high heat. Add the flour once the butter is melted and cook, stirring with a whisk until slightly browned, about 2 minutes. Slowly add in the milk and whisk until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Let the gravy come to a boil, stirring constantly. If the gravy is too thick for your likings, add a bit of water until the consistency that you like is achieved. Once the gravy is thickened to your likings, add in the reserved ground beef and mushroom mixture. To serve, place a serving size amount of either mashed potatoes, rice or egg noodles on each plate, followed by a hamburger steak that has been kept warm in the oven and then mushroom gravy. Enjoy!

Chicken Stew

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My oldest son, who is four years old, recently started taking karate classes. The classes happen to be at 5:00 in the evening, which means that dinner needs to be cooking at home while we're at karate class. Thank goodness for crock pots!! I've got two crock pots that I use pretty often, and I love! This dinner was made up one day before karate class, as both a way to use up some chicken thighs that were in the fridge and a way to get dinner done and ready by the time we got home from karate. My kids ate this up and wanted more! I think they just really love good home style foods like stews, soups and casseroles. Things that fill you up and make you warm inside (not that we need to be warm in August, but you know what I'm talking about!). So if your family loves that kind of food too, they will be sure to love this chicken stew! I served mine over white rice, that I cooked when we got home from karate along with some homemade wheat bread. I hope you enjoy!

Chicken Stew

1 ½ pound boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite sized pieces and seasoned with salt and pepper
1 pound russet potatoes, peeled and chunked
½ pound baby carrots
1 onion, chunked
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 can water (use the empty soup can)
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
salt and pepper to taste
½ cup frozen peas

Brown the chicken pieces in a large skillet that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Cook, stirring often until chicken is cooked through. Once the chicken is done cooking, place in a crock pot. Add in all ingredients except for the peas and mix well. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 7 hours, or until the veggies are soft. Half an hour before serving, add in the peas and mix in. Continue cooking until the peas are warm, about 30 minutes. Enjoy with biscuits, rolls or over cooked rice.