To Dorie G. And Multiple Awards!

I think I've been living under a rock this whole time. Oh I've known about the darlin' Ms. Dorie Greenspan and her iconic cookbook, "Baking - From My Home To Yours" for a long time. I follow the amazing accomplishments of her fans on the Tuesdays With Dorie event (admiring from afar, because right now I just don't have that kind of dedication and skill). But only recently did I finally manage to get my hands on the actual cookbook itself (it's extremely popular at my library - I think I was holdee # 193). I spent days scouring it from cover to cover, loving it all. Then came the dilemma of picking a recipe to actually try. Yes, I am indeed a Dorie virgin. Well, I was, till the other day when I finally pulled out a baking tray full of Dorie's adorable, and in her words "TOO GOOD", Sour Cream & Pecan Biscuits. Genius stuff, this. I'm now happy to report that I've been deflowered by Dorie! (if that doesn't make you flinch, nothing will)

Dorie Greenspan's Pecan Sour Cream Biscuits (getherbookgetherbookgetherbook - seriously. Click here to order it)
Makes 6 smallish biscuits, which serve 3 people - DG's original recipe was double the below ingredients.

Click here for printable recipe

Ingredients:
1cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 cup (packed) light brown sugar
2.5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 10 pieces
1/4 cup cold sour cream
1/8 cup cold whole milk
1/4 cup (a little less) finely chopped pecans, preferably toasted

Method:

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone mat. Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda together in a bowl. Stir in the brown sugar, making certain there are no lumps. Drop in the butter, and, using your fingers, toss to coat the pieces of butter with the flour. Quickly, working with your fingertips or a pastry blender, cut and rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture is pebbly (do NOT over-mix). You’ll have pea-size pieces, pieces the size of oatmeal flakes and pieces the size of everything in between.

2. Stir the sour cream and milk together and pour over the dry ingredients. Grab a fork and gently toss and turn the ingredients together until you’ve got a nice soft dough. Now reach into the bowl with your hands and give the dough a quick, gentle kneading–3 or 4 turns should be just enough to bring everything together. Toss in the pecans and knead another 2 to 3 times to incorporate them.

3. Lightly dust a work surface with flour and turn out the dough. Dust the top of the dough very lightly with flour and pat the dough out with your hands until it is about 1/2 inch high. Don’t worry if the dough isn’t completely even–a quick, light touch is more important than accuracy.

4. Use a biscuit cutter or sharp knife to cut out as many biscuits as you can. By hand or with a small spatula, transfer the biscuits to the baking sheet. (The biscuits can be made up to this point and frozen on the baking sheet, then wrapped airtight and kept for up to 2 months. Bake without defrosting–just add a couple more minutes to the oven time.)

6. Bake the biscuits for 14 to 16 minutes, or until they are tall, puffed and golden brown. Transfer them to a serving basket. Serve right away with soft, sweet butter.

Verdict: All this biscuit needed was a generous schmear of sweet butter. The tops were delicately crispy and the insides were melt-in-your-mouth tender and flaky. I also enjoyed the toasty crunch from the pecans. DH and I managed to finish this whole lot in one day. These are perfect for breakfast, or just as a mid-afternoon snack, by themselves or with tea/coffee. Best to have them within a day or two, but I guarantee you that won't be a problem. I know that outside of the US and Canada, not many people get our fascination with biscuits. In Europe and Asia, 'biscuits' are what we call 'cookies' here. They have scones in England, which are delicious, and are a close relative to our biscuit, but not as tender and flaky I feel. I never had a real American biscuit till I moved to this country. And now I just adore them. I'm really glad I picked these as my first DG recipe, because the experience was fantastic. I usually don't ask that you, dear readers, make any of the recipes on my blog (because that's your call) - but please make this one, because I wuv it so much, and want to share that wuv with you!

Speaking of sharing some love, recently I was lucky enough to have three different awards bestowed upon me.
It's all very flattering, and I'm truly humbled. No Oscar-speech from me, but suffice to say that I think both Sophie (from Sophie's Foodiefiles), Ann (from A Delighted Foodie) and another Ann (from Happy And Healthy Cooking) are gems, and deserve all the devoted readers that follow their blogs. I'm supposed to pass these on to 8 fellow food bloggers, so here are my picks (it's tough narrowing it down like this):

1. Finsmom
2. Cheryl
3. Lisa
4. Cathy
5. Kerstin
6. Donna-FFW
7. Debby
8. Parita

I hate leaving people out! You all deserve these awards, and most of you are lucky enough to already have them, but I also gotta give a special shout-out to to Yasmeen, Varsha, Natashya and Natasha.

These awards also come with a tag apparently, where there's a bunch of questions I have to answer. Frankly, I think there are too many questions. Some of them are interesting, but then there are others ... I mean, do any of you really want to know my favorite color or what I'm listening to right now?! (my cat whining and complaining, but that's what I always hear when I'm on the computer)

So I thought I'd spice things up by asking DH to come up with a few questions, being an objective third-party, and completely oblivious to blog award etiquette. And I quote:

Q1 DH: Do I have to?!
Me: Yes please, and I'm counting that one as a question.

Q2 DH: This doesn't make any sense. WHY do I have to do this?
Me: Because I'm trying to make my post interesting and I had hoped you'd be of some help. But this interview is all about you so far!

Q3 DH: GAWD! What do you want me to ask?!
Me: *sigh* This was a bad idea. I dunno! If I knew, I wouldn't be turning to you, now would I?!

Q4 DH: Oh all right ... ummm ... ok, how about this, how much longer is this blogging thing going to go on for?
Me: *raised eyebrows* (yes, both, because I can't do just one) Indefinitely. And I hope you're not complaining mister, because this "blogging thing" helps me be a better cook for you, and I've finally found something to do that I'm pretty good at, and I really love it .. and ... and ...

Q5 DH: Okok, sorry shweetie, let's try again ... what is your favorite color?
Me: I give up.

And that was the end of that little project, folks. It wasn't his fault you know. He was brushing his teeth and getting ready for bed at the time, so I didn't exactly pick the right moment. The good news is that all the receivers of this award are now officially off the hook, and don't have to answer any tag questions! Well, you can if you want to, of course. But try to limit it to ten questions, would ya?!