Texas Iron Chef

I am tired of canned biscuits.  Yes, they are convenient.  Yes, they taste good.  But why can’t I make tasty and easy biscuits from scratch?

Thanks to America’s Test Kitchen, I am ready to bake biscuits from scratch in our camp Dutch oven.  Every recipe I have tried from their cookbooks turn out so well I get excited and am ready to try cream biscuits (page 712, The New Best Recipe).  This recipe grabbed my attention since it looked easy and adaptable.   Let’s try two versions of cream biscuits.  Both have smoked cheddar cheese, but one recipe will have crispy pancetta and the other will have roasted green chile.  I love Southwestern 505 green chile, so let’s start with it!

I pulled out our big 16″ Lodge camp Dutch oven, fired up the charcoal, and am ready to bake up these yummy biscuits!

Here’s the recipe for Easy Cheesy Green Chile Biscuits

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 oz shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup roasted, chopped green chiles
• 1 cup heavy cream

In a bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients then add cheese, stirring lightly until all cheese is evenly distributed.  In a separate bowl, mix together cream and green chile, then slowly fold in to dry ingredients until dough begins to form.  Be gentle and avoid over working the dough (or it will be tougher than a hockey puck!).  The dough will be “shaggy” and dry, but don’t worry, it will hold together.  Turn out onto counter top and gently knead three or four times until dough forms into a ball.  Gently press dough into a square, about 6-inches wide and long and a little bit less than an inch deep.  I used my bench scraper to help measure and cut the dough.

Cut the biscuits into sixteen squares by cutting four columns and then four rows.

Spray 16″ camp Dutch oven with oil and preheat by placing 28 charcoal on top and 18 underneath.  Arrange biscuits about an inch apart and bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until the tops of the biscuits are golden brown.

These biscuits bake up quickly in this hot oven and may develop a hot spot where a biscuit may burn.

Temperature control is THE most difficult task of outdoor baking.  The design of the Dutch oven and the cast iron makes it a perfect vessel for baking, but like all ovens, it will have hot spots, increasing the chance of burning.  To avoid this, make sure to rotate the lid (don’t lift it!) one direction and then turn the oven in the opposite direction about half way through the baking time (8 minutes).

Yummy!  Cheesy and kicking with the Hatch green chile!  Best of all, this is easy!!!

Next, let’s see how the pancetta cheese biscuits turn out.

The recipe for the pancetta biscuits is slightly different but just as easy and tasty.

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 oz shredded cheddar cheese
• 3 oz pancetta, chopped and fried until crispy
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Here’s what the “shaggy” dough looks like with crispy pancetta and cheese.

Even though it looks dry, it will shape up nicely into a ball and then into a 6″ x 6″ square that is just shy of 1″ thick.

Cut it up into 16 squares and put into a 425 degree Fahrenheit degree 16″ Dutch oven and bake about 18 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown.

Easy.  Adaptable. Delicious.

Are you ready to give up canned biscuits?