REVIEW – Biscuits: Sweet And Savory Southern Recipes For The All-American Kitchen

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Biscuits: Sweet and Savory Southern Recipes for the All-American Kitchen

• Author: Jackie Garvin
• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing (May 5, 2015)
• ISBN-10: 1632203472
• ISBN-13: 978-1632203472
• Cover Price $19.99

From the kitchens of our grandmothers to present-day biscuit-only shops, this sweet and savory food has come a long way in American culture.

More than four hundred years ago, explorers of the New World carried a biscuit known as hardtack on their voyages. Hardtack was made from flour, water, and sometimes salt and was sturdy and long lasting, making it suitable for hard, treacherous journeys. The composition and texture of the hardtack biscuit changed at the hands of the Jamestown settlers, who had access to three necessary ingredients that would transform the difficult-to-bite and bland tasting hardtack into a soft, delicious biscuit: soft winter wheat, fat in the form of lard from pigs, and milk or buttermilk from cows.

Today’s version of biscuits barely resembles its predecessor. Our preference is for soft, billowy, flaky, and delicious biscuits that can be eaten alone, used as a vehicle for fillings and toppings, or incorporated as an ingredient in a recipe. While biscuits are wildly popular in our culture, they are known to intimidate home cooks. Jackie Garvin overcame her decades long biscuit-making failures by research and trial and error and has emerged to write a cookbook that simplifies and demystifies biscuit baking and highlights the prevalence of biscuits throughout the United States.

Rich in Southern history, as well as touching family memories, Biscuits presents a collection of more than seventy recipes including raspberry biscuit pudding with vanilla ice cream sauce, ham biscuits with honey mustard butter, loaded baked potato biscuits, and spicy pimento cheese bites. Also included are recipes for multiple gravies, toppings, and biscuit “neighbors” such as peach raspberry scones, chocolate toffee monkey bread, hush puppies, and chicken ’n’ dumplings.

Jackie Garvin retired to focus on cooking, eating, digging in the dirt, and writing about it after a successful career as a registered nurse, corporate executive, and entrepreneur. In 2011, she created her Southern food blog, Syrup and Biscuits, to chronicle wonderful food memories before they were forgotten. She is the recipient of the Reader’s Choice Award by Southern Food Network. She lives in Valrico, Florida, with her husband and basset hound, who are both fed regularly.

For many years I didn’t much care for biscuits. They always seemed to be dry and crumbly. Then, one day I had a good one and I realized biscuits were not actually intended to be gross as I’d previously thought. But, they weren’t something I’d be likely to try making from scratch, for fear they too would be dry and crumbly. When offered to check out this new cookbook all about biscuits, I had to accept.

Chapters in this cookbook include:

• My Biscuit Heritage
• My Biscuit Story
• America’s  Biscuit History
• Biscuits In My Kitchen – Products, Tips, Equipment
• Biscuits In Grandmother’s Kitchen
• Biscuits In Bakery Shops
• Biscuits In A Biscuit Shop
• Biscuits In A Butler’s Pantry
• Biscuits In Everyday Home Meals
• Biscuits And Toppings In Diners
• Biscuit Neighbors And Kin

The first several chapters in this cookbook are dedicated to the author and her feelings for biscuits, as well as the art of making biscuits, including their history and recommended items you’ll need to make them. There are even pages full of detailed step-by-step instructions on how to layer a biscuit. Then come the recipes.

The recipes in this cookbook are all easy to understand. The personality of the author comes through on every one, as she includes stories and experiences with each and every recipe. The ingredients are all common items that you’ll have in your kitchen or can easily get at your nearby grocery store. The cookbook is full of lovely color photos, with every recipe or page spread having at least one. Prep time is not included, and to find cooking time you have to read through the recipe. I do prefer it when these items are listed separately, as I always taken them into consideration when determining what recipe I’m going to try. I was pleasantly surprised at how many different ways the author had to make biscuits, and all of the different ways she gives them flavor. This cookbook would be great for anyone that enjoys biscuits, baking, or entertaining, as well as those who just want to broaden their cooking horizons.