Bakin' biscuits (plus UT football)

So here's what happens when Kristin has a major house-cleaning project pending: She gets really interested in ... well, pretty much anything else. Hence, biscuits.

(The scene around here this afternoon has been ridiculously domestic, circa 1950. Kristin's in the kitchen with a rolling pin while Christian is kicked back in the man-eating chair with a Shiner Bock, screaming at the TV. To be fair, Tennessee has simply destroyed the University of California. Embarrassing, really.)

This is also a preview of next week's All The Rage. The cover of the pullout food section is ... biscuits. Specifically the ATR staffers' mothers' and grandmothers' biscuit recipes. Kristin's grandmother, the former food editor of the Tulsa World, swears by the Biscuits Supreme reecipe from the Better Homes & Gardens cookbook. These aren't the stereotypical Southern biscuit. They're not big and fluffy, and buttermilk goes nowhere near them. Instead, they're flat and elegant and very tender, and there's no better vehicle for homemade apple butter.

Uh huh -- YUM. And the dirty little secret is, they're stupidly easy to make.

Here's the recipe, courtesy of the 2000 edition of the Better Homes & Gardens cookbook:

BISCUITS SUPREME

1. Stir together 2 cups All-Purpose flour, 1 Tbsp. baking powder, 2 tsp. sugar, 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar and 1/4 tsp. salt. Cut in 1/2 cup butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in center. Add 2/3 cups milk all at once. Stir until moistened.

2. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surfaced. Quickly knead dough by gently folding and pressing dough 10-12 strokes or until nearly smooth. Pat or lightly roll dough to 1/2-inch thickness. Cut dough with a floured 2.5-inch biscuit cutter.

3. Place biscuits 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in a 450 degree oven 10-12 minutes or until golden. Remove biscuits from baking sheet and serve hot.

Album of the moment: KT Tunstall, Eye to the Telescope