Buttermilk biscuits.......a true comfort food.

Not all comfort foods are soups or stews or casseroles dripping in gravy. Buttermilk biscuits definitely fall in this category.It is the perfect addition to any meal and certainly brings back childhood memories of grandmothers house or wherever you were lucky enough to have these biscuits.My first run in with these biscuits happened just a few years ago. We had been visiting friends in South Carolina and on the way home stopped at a Waffle House for a final taste of the south. I know, the Waffle House .......really? Here in New England it is next to impossible to find these restaurants. Sunday morning at this restaurant was a ritual for our Carolina friends.Our friend "Cokes" as he was called had recently passed away and stopping here seem like the right thing to do.It was still quite early and I wasn't ready for the big breakfast that my husband eagerly ordered and the waitress suggested a biscuit with honey...............Oh My God. Why had I never had these before?? When I got home I looked up a recipe for them and they have been a staple ever since.Here's how we make them at home.

 Sift together 2 and 1/4 cups of flour
                    1 tablespoon of baking powder
                     1/2 teaspoon cayenne
stir in             1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
With a pastry blender cut in 1 stick of butter
toss in            1 cup of cheddar cheese
In a separate bowl mix 1 cup on buttermilk with 1 egg

Stir the wet into the dry.........you will have a sticky gooey ball of dough.
Drop it on a VERY well floured cloth or board add more flour to your dough so that you can roll it out to a heavy 1/4of an inch.If you can't roll it try flattening it with your palm.It took me a few tries before the dough didn't stick to the rolling pin. Cut into any size circle. I use the 2 1/4 in biscuit circle but feel free to use anything that serves the purpose. Glass, can , or by eye if you can.

                                              Once I have them all cut out.

                                                I stack them one on top of the other

                                             Bake them about 18 minutes at 395 degrees

Once they have cooled just a touch I split one open..............add a hint of extra butter, drizzle the whole thing with honey and think ,oh yeah........now this is southern comfort....................said the hobbit.