Savory Cheese Biscuits
As some of the readers of this blog know--as well as people who follow me on twitter (and I, them) or are friends on facebook--I lead the book group at the Norfolk Library. If you want to know more about it, check it out here. It's a bit of Paradise up here in cold Litchfield county, Connecticut.
Today, we discussed Ian McEwan's ENDURING LOVE, a very chilly tale of redemption. (You find out that the whole muck worked out in an appendix to the novel, almost as an aside. Sort of a "oh, by the way, almost forgot but they lived happily ever after.")
I fear I rode a couple of hobbyhorses in the discussion until the screws popped out of the wood. I was off on some jag about time and narrative and scientific investigation and the meaningless of beginnings.
The members seemed to forgive me because I always bring treats--and today, a special one: little, savory, cheese biscuits, crisp and lovely.
I've loved this recipe ever since Bruce first developed it for THE ULTIMATE COOK BOOK (which you can find here).
I also love it that these are refrigerator cookies: you make the dough and then can store it in the fridge for up to 1 week or in the freezer for months, slicing off and baking as many biscuits as you want at any one time. It's a perfect nibble whenever friends drop by.
So here's the drill:
First, cut 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks or 180 grams) cold, unsalted butter into small bits and put them in a food processor fitted with the chopping blade. Add 8 ounces finely grated, dry, aged cheese. Today, I used a two-year, aged Pecorino and a little Parmigiano-Reggiano. But you could use any dry, aged cheese--like aged Asiago. Just nothing wet. Not even a supermarket Swiss, certainly not a blue, not an Emmental, or anything that's not crumbly and hard.
Process until the mixture forms a dry, crumbly mess, sort of like sandy Play-Doh; then add 1 1/2 cups (180 grams) all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon (2 grams) dry mustard (not wet), a pinch of salt, and several grinds of black peppercorns. Process until the mixture looks about like dry pie crust dough before you add the water. With the machine running, pour 6 tablespoons (90 ml) heavy cream through the feed tube and continue processing until the mixture just begins to cohere.
What if you don't have a food processor? Cut the butter into the cheese with a pastry cutter or a couple of forks. Add the flour and seasonings and continue working the fat and cheese into the mixture until it all looks about like loose, grainy sand. Stir in the cream just until a dough begins to cohere.
Dust a clean work surface with flour and turn the dough out onto it. Knead several times until the dough holds together--but not too much. Cut the dough in half and knead both halves a few times. Roll them into balls, then roll them under your palms into little logs about 6 inches (15 1/4-cm) long and 3 inches (7 1/2-cm) thick. Seal these logs in plastic wrap and store them in the fridge for at least 2 hours or up to 1 week--or in the freezer for a long while.
When you're ready to bake off some biscuits, position the rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 375C (190C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
Unwrap one of the logs and use a heavy, sharp knife to slice off as many thin rounds as you'd like to make, each biscuit about 1/4-inch (a little over 1/2 cm) thick. Space these 2 inches apart on the baking sheet; store the remainder of the log in the fridge until you're ready for a second tray--or rewrap it and set it back in the fridge for another day.
Bake until lightly brown and slightly firm to the touch, 13 to 15 minutes. The biscuits go from brown to too brown very quickly, so watch carefully. Use a wide, flat spatula to transfer them from the baking sheet to a wire rack. Cool the baking sheet completely before making more--or use a second sheet, lined with parchment paper or a baking mat.
I brought mine with some of Bruce's sour cherry chutney as a garnish. But they needed no adornment: so crisp and crunchy, so buttery, full of cheese. They're perfect for nibbles, with or without a book in hand.
Mark Scarbrough | Posted on Friday, January 7, 2011 at 2:57PM | in Cookies, Fabulously Empty Calories, Starters, Vegetarian
Reader Comments (5)
Really, the words 'Savory Cheese Biscuit' are just about enough to send me into hyperventilation, thinking of thin buttery layers in a fluffy biscuit, but this? This crispy cracker-y option? Heaven. Please, I need a paper bag, stat.
I'd listen to you wax lyrical about anything - ancient Greek, classical music - if I could nibble on these cookies. As I can't do that, I guess I'd better make a batch of my own. :) Nice recipe, thank you!
Yum! These will be made with soup tomorrow to celebrate another dump of snow :)))) Tried a trick for cutting butter in if you don't have a food processor - Keep the butter frozen or really cold and grate it on the large holes of a hand grater. I used this trick for making scones (didn't pull the butter out of the freezer ahead of time to thaw SM! SM!) and they turned out perfect. I can't remember where I saw this trick but bless whomever came up with it. :) Happy snow day tomorrow!
Thank you for putting the amount of grated cheese by weight rather than volume! It makes it easier for me to figure out if I have enough cheese to make this recipe, and grating into a bowl on a scale is cleaner than mashing grated cheese into a measuring cup and then dumping it out. :)
Dropping in late to say these are AMAZING! I've been looking for a savory cheese biscuit recipe for ages that would measure up to the insanely expensive artisanal ones I used to buy in England. This is that recipe--thank you!