kitchen essentials — making your own bisquick
okay, this is MEGA-american (not that there's anything wrong with that! ;p) and a product i have childhood memories of in limited degrees, used mainly when my mother was making some recipe from a magazine like southern living.
btw .... as an aside, check out the 'bald peanuts' (must be said with a southern drawl) that i was/am so addicted to and must have whenever in atlanta and environs, several times a year. if you've never had them, you don't know what you're missin'! who knew you could make 'em yourself; usually these are bought off highways (i85 comes to mind) from (local) people roadside.
i digress. back to the subject:
but how to explain bisquick to those who don't know what it is ...... well, i guess it could be explained as a floury mixture which is somewhere between a southern biscuit mix and an all purpose one to use for crusts on pies or casseroles, and to make pancakes. the original, back in the 1930s was actually made with lard (rendered pig fat). now it's just vegetarian "very-bad-for-you" transfat, LOL.
while not an everyday pantry item for me, i do use every once in a while and instead of buying the mixture, i make it myself. the recipe is one i found in the newspaper quite a few years ago and quite decent, if not better. even better is that it takes 5 minutes to make and will last for months in the fridge or several weeks on your pantry shelves.
history of the product here.
homemade bisquick
makes about 4 to 5 cups; can be doubled
ingredients:
3 c all purpose flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
4 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 c vegetable shortening (like crisco)
method:
mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl and either sift back into the bowl or mix well with a wire whisk.
add the shortening and with a pastry knife/cutter, cut the shortening into the flour until it resembles coarse cornmeal.
this step can be done in a food processor also.
final texture:
store in a container. keep in the fridge for longer shelf life.
what to do with it? look here.
btw .... as an aside, check out the 'bald peanuts' (must be said with a southern drawl) that i was/am so addicted to and must have whenever in atlanta and environs, several times a year. if you've never had them, you don't know what you're missin'! who knew you could make 'em yourself; usually these are bought off highways (i85 comes to mind) from (local) people roadside.
i digress. back to the subject:
but how to explain bisquick to those who don't know what it is ...... well, i guess it could be explained as a floury mixture which is somewhere between a southern biscuit mix and an all purpose one to use for crusts on pies or casseroles, and to make pancakes. the original, back in the 1930s was actually made with lard (rendered pig fat). now it's just vegetarian "very-bad-for-you" transfat, LOL.
while not an everyday pantry item for me, i do use every once in a while and instead of buying the mixture, i make it myself. the recipe is one i found in the newspaper quite a few years ago and quite decent, if not better. even better is that it takes 5 minutes to make and will last for months in the fridge or several weeks on your pantry shelves.
history of the product here.
homemade bisquick
makes about 4 to 5 cups; can be doubled
ingredients:
3 c all purpose flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
4 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 c vegetable shortening (like crisco)
method:
mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl and either sift back into the bowl or mix well with a wire whisk.
add the shortening and with a pastry knife/cutter, cut the shortening into the flour until it resembles coarse cornmeal.
this step can be done in a food processor also.final texture:
store in a container. keep in the fridge for longer shelf life.what to do with it? look here.
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Labels:
instructional,
pancakes,
pantry item,
parve,
recipes,
vegan,
vegetarian
6 comments:
I had never heard of boiled peanuts before your post! (Although my mother said immediately "you mean like you get in Florida?") And strange how the world works - I saw them for the first time today. Walking through Willemstad, Curaçao. Sold by a street vendor on a little table.
Not too salty actually, and tasted just like chataigne seeds/bread nuts (boiled nuts must be similar I guess). And now I have my main question answered after following your link - they are indeed cooked in the shells.
hi chenette - from what i know, boiled peanuts are mainly a southern US thing and i've only ever seen them there. that's really interesting that you found them in curacao, of all places! i really love them -- they taste quite different from regular peanuts. (the first time when i had them when i was a kid, i couldn't understand the heavy accent (southern US) of the vendors; i couldn't figure out why they were saying the peanuts had no hair! LOL bald vs boiled). anyway, yes, always boiled in the shell. hope you enjoyed them! how is your fasting for ramadan going?
Hey - sorry I never replied to your comment on my blog. Thanks for the Ramadan wishes! It's been a bit difficult not having internet at home, and then preparing for this sudden trip to Curacao. It seems to be a regular thing there, these boiled peanuts, they clearly even make them at home as one of the Antilleans we were with told us exactly how you know when they're cooked etc.
My Ramadan is going pretty well. Much better than last year, when I was sick and missed all but 2 fasts. So anything more than that is great, plus I got to briefly stop in Trinidad and last night had my village mosque breaking of the fast experience.
I hope your holidays have also been good. I know you've been posting a lot :-)
chenette - no internet?? ay, caramba! :o
as for the boiled peanuts, they obviously came over to the USA and caribbean with the slaves, as it's an african snack. i've only ever heard of them in the southern states, though.
glad to hear your ramadan is going better than the last one and you actually were able to stop by trinidad. hoping you have many a wonderful breaking of the fast(s) over the next two weeks or so :)
Thanks for the howto on making your own bisquick. I've been getting the "heart healthy" version lately but now that it has gone off of "perma-sale," I think I'll pass on the $4.50 price tag for a small box.
hi sat - wow, that's pretty expensive for a box of bisquick. basically, heart healthy means they're using a non hydrogenated shortening. you can buy this type from a healthfood store. you could even use something like earthbalance margarine (vegan) instead. anyway, i say make your own! you can even keep it in the freezer for up to a year.
thanks for the comment and visit ;)
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