Review: Biscuits - Even More American Than Apple Pie!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 1, 2013
Nothing is closer to a Southern girl's heart than a good biscuit, except perhaps cheese straws.  No picnic or shindig would be complete without biscuits in one form or another, often filled with paper thin slices of that other Southern treasure, country ham.  Southern girls for generations have been judged as cooks almost entirely on the quality of their biscuit.I found myself very pleasantly surprised by Gia Scott'sThe All American Biscuit.  Gia traces the history of American Biscuits back to the days of seafaring and soldiers' iron rations, giving a number of recipes for hard tack and various crackers (have you seen the price on a box of crackers lately?) before she comes to that staple of Southern US cuisine - Biscuits, a wealth of biscuits and even a few things to do with them once you've made some.The All American Biscuitis well laid out, with an interactive Table of Contents in the front.  Gia's writing is often engaging and the recipes downright scrumptious.  After recipes for four different kinds of hard tack, you'll find recipes for Flaky Cheese, Butter, Wheat, Saltine/Soda, Rye and Graham crackers, along with a number of variations.  And then there are the biscuits!You'll find tips to help you create the perfect flaky biscuit or tender biscuit, thick or thin - even biscuits you can partially  bake now and then brown up to serve a couple of days from now.  There's a good recipe for Angel Biscuits, that fail-proof stand-by of every Southern bride for generations, biscuits that you beat, plain old Baking Powder Biscuits to whip up in a flash, biscuits with spice or apples or raisins or even onions added, biscuits turned into cinnamon rolls, biscuits on top of stew, biscuits made with buckwheat or cornmeal, gluten free biscuits, biscuits with cheese or chili or shaped like a cat's head.  With recipes for 36 different biscuits, you can put biscuits on the table every day for a month and not run through them all - before you even think about Cinnamon Toast Biscuits, Sausage Gravy and Biscuits, or Strawberry Shortcake (the only biscuits my Northern Grandma ever made).Instructions are clear and the recipes well laid out.Grandma's $0.02 - Two thumbs up!  Excuse me while I go make biscuits.  There is country ham in my fridge calling my name.