Southern Style Bisquits

I've had biscuits at Glady's and Edna's; bisquits were very good. Sweet Maple is good, but a little to "bready" for me. Popeye's Chicken are a little too greasy. Any suggestions?

Lord, give me strength.

I've only been completely satisfied with one biscuit I've eaten in Chicago, and that was at Kuma's right after they opened two years ago. The biscuits served at Depot Diner are very good, but a little pale of color for my personal taste; YMMV. Otherwise, I suggest a road trip.

Unless they are made with lard, biscuits are, at least to my taste, a waste of time. Passable ones can be made with lots and lots of butter, but there's just something about lard that can not be replicated.

Chip Dudley wrote:Unless they are made with lard, biscuits are, at least to my taste, a waste of time. Passable ones can be made with lots and lots of butter, but there's just something about lard that can not be replicated.

I would agree with that. They also tend to do better in a smaller size and have to be eaten while still warm from the oven, or just cooled off less than a half hour or so, at which time they are worthless and should be tossed out. This means that serving good biscuits in a restaurant requires devoting substantial labor to their (continuous) production. It's unfortunate so many think of biscuits like pre-sliced bread for the toaster; just a substrate, an afterthought, and an "obvious" place to shave labor and cut corners by sticking them in a warming tray or, worse, letting them cool off and reheating them on the grill or in a microwave. Better not to serve biscuits if you aren't going to do it right.

Note that Josephine has spent considerable time testing and perfecting her biscuit-making skills, and may want to chime in here as a real practitioner of the art.

JimInLoganSquare wrote:Note that Josephine has spent considerable time testing and perfecting her biscuit-making skills, and may want to chime in here as a real practitioner of the art.

This pretty much sums up my feelings to date on this one. While I have only been back in the Chicago area for about a year and a half, I haven't found a commercially available biscuit that is anywhere near even the average one found near my mom's in N.C. This thread might as well be moved to the shopping and cooking thread as doing it yourself is probably your best bet. On the other hand, I don't feel I have a right to be bitter about it any more then I could complain about not getting a good Italian Beef in Bar Harbor, Maine.

JimInLoganSquare wrote:They also tend to do better in a smaller size

I don't know about that.
I recently had some biscuits
in Mississippi that were so big
and tender you had to use
both hands to eat them or
they would fall apart.
I've often heard these called
"cat head biscuits".

SCUBAchef wrote:I don't know about that.
I recently had some biscuits
in Mississippi that were so big
and tender you had to use
both hands to eat them or
they would fall apart.
I've often heard these called
"cat head biscuits".

Biscuit haiku.

SCUBAchef wrote:

JimInLoganSquare wrote:They also tend to do better in a smaller size

I don't know about that.
I recently had some biscuits
in Mississippi that were so big
and tender you had to use
both hands to eat them or
they would fall apart.
I've often heard these called
"cat head biscuits".

Most certainly. "Tend to do better in a smaller size" does not mean "only small biscuits are good." I've had quite a few excellent "cat heads," as well as a multitude of good little "plops."

Biscuits discussions are very similar to BBQ discussions.

"Here is how I do it .... and it IS the right way."

Some of the best biscuits and most of the worst that I have ever had have come from NC.