Cooking with instinct
On a hot June day, I was first properly introduced to my grandmother’s cast-iron skillet.
I sat on a stool in the kitchen as my grandma cooked in her house dress. She got a bowl down and she began to gather the ingredients for her cornbread. As she washed her hands she did her other favorite thing which was talking on the phone. She gossiped with one of her five sisters and her loud voice filled up the tiny kitchen. Suddenly six year old me noticed something, a mistake that she was about to make. Right before she could pour the cornmeal in I touched her hand. “Grandmama you forget your measuring cups”. Without missing a beat she turned to me and said: “oh no baby grandmama don’t measure, I just know. Now, watch me make this cornbread so you’ll know too”. I was shocked, but the longer I began to think about it, she was right. My grandma doesn’t measure anything when she’s cooking
As time went on and I began to go on my own cooking journey I discovered one day that I too, hardly ever measure outside of a few specific things. Now ten years later I understand what my grandma meant when she said “I just know”. However, that knowing feeling does not happen overnight. It is truly trial and error. I like to think of cooking as riding a bike or playing a sport. How do you get better? Practice. The beautiful thing about cooking is that it is an art. The person cooking has creative control. You are in charge, and in many instances, you can make the rules. Sure there are varying degrees of difficulty, but with practice and hard work it will all flow together.
There are moments in which we second guess ourselves. Oddly enough they happen when we're alone with our own thoughts. During the "luxurious" vacation sponsored by Covid-19, I went on the quest of “perfecting” a southern staple, biscuits. About once a week or so I would wait until the entire house was asleep, turn on whatever show I was binge-watching at the time (Criminal Minds?), and give it my best shot. The first time I used a recipe from a biscuit book sitting in our kitchen the first few times, then moved to my grandma on my dad’s side recipe. I’ve tried both more times than I’d care to share but eventually I figured it out. I developed a hybrid between the two. Despite my biscuits still being a work in progress, I can now proudly say that they are edible. If you don’t believe me, try it yourself.
All my Love,
Claire
2 am Biscuits
The Goods
1 cup of Buttermilk
1 1/2 sticks of Butter
2 1/2- 3 cups of Self-Rising Flour
2 Tbs of shortening
Music, a cool documentary, or anything to distract from the fact that this might take a little time
DIY: Makes 15 Biscuits
Ok you’re in the kitchen… maybe you’ve never been in one that’s okay you got this. Preheat the oven to 420°F. First, get a measuring cup and measure out your first cup of flour and buttermilk and set it aside.
Take a butter knife and make sure the flour is level (use the smooth edge), then transfer it into the sifter and get to sifting. Warning: You will get tired, you need to sift 2 and 1/2 cups but it’s okay to take a break if you need to. After all, it’s just you. The house is asleep, that special someone never called you back, and Spencer Reid just made a breakthrough on the case. You’ve got all night.
After all the flour is sifted take a whole stick of butter(8 Tbs) out of the fridge and cut it up into small pieces. Once it’s all cut up into the bowl take your hands and start incorporating it into the flour. Things are going to get messy. If they call, let it ring, you’re too good for them anyway.
When the flour starts to look like breadcrumbs, add the buttermilk…SLOWLY. Take your hands and mix. Start adding the other half cup of flour in order to achieve the perfect dough-like consistency.
Now it’s time for the season finale. We’re going to take it to the counter. Sprinkle some flour onto the counter and grab a cup. I use this milk glass from a pottery barn set my mom’s had forever. Knead then roll the dough out with the cup to your desired thickness. Pro tip: Don’t make them too thin, or else they’ll burn.
Take out a can of shortening or that half stick of butter and grease whatever pan you’re going to cook the biscuits in. Transfer the biscuits into the pans. For softer edges make sure they touch. Look at them for a few seconds, say a prayer, and put them in the oven for 12 minutes.
After 12 minutes go to the oven and ever so carefully flip the bottom of one of your delicious biscuits over. If it’s golden brown then congratulations, you did it! Now, take your biscuits out, get that butter, and rub the biscuits down. I’m talking a butter bath so thorough your grandpa with high cholesterol magically appears and says “save me one but don’t tell your grandma”.
Let them fully cool if you’re lame, and enjoy:)
