White Lily Biscuits

My White Lily Flour arrived today just in time for the holidays; 20 pounds of it, two bags of all-purpose and two bags of self-rising! I couldn't be more thrilled if Santa had delivered it himself. You see, I'm a flour snob, a Southern flour snob at that, and just any old flour won't do for my holiday baking, and particularly for the biscuits. If you don't have White Lily Self-Rising Flour for the biscuits, why bother?

When I was growing up in Georgia, we didn't know there was any other kind of flour. Well, we might have heard that catchy little stick-in-your-ear Grand Ole Opry jingle for "Martha White Self-Rising Flour...for goodness sake," but we didn't know anybody who used it. Or if we did it was somebody "way out in the country," and we for sure didn't want to be eating any of their biscuits.

What's special about White Lily? It's a fine white "soft" flour, "made from, 100% soft winter wheat" according to the the label on the bag. It's so soft they even insist that you need to add an additional 2 tablespoons of flour for every cup called for in a non White Lily specific recipe. All I know is that is makes the very best cakes, pies, cookies, biscuits, pastry of any kind, and that they don't distribute it in the West, which makes me want it all the more.

Even worse, in California self rising flour of any kind is hard to find, and that's what you have to have if you're going to do biscuits up right. For those who don't know, self rising flour is flour with salt and baking powder already added for leavening. It's very popular in the south but not so much elsewhere, though I'm betting that's only because they can't just walk into Von's and grab a bag!

I used to satisfy my White Lily fix by having friends and family haul a bag or two out whenever they came to California, and every time I was in the south I'd stock up and stuff my luggage full of five pound bags of the fluffy white stuff. (I have long been amused, and somewhat apprehensive, imagining what the TSA folks might be thinking as they x-ray my bags.) But alas, with the new bag and weight restrictions recently imposed by the airlines, this is no longer a viable option. (Seriously, twenty pounds of flour doesn't leave you much room for clothing or boiled peanuts or even your cell phone charger.) As with most things these days, a quick Google search yielded a mail order outlet and, wow, I only have to pay 60% of the actual cost of the flour in shipping charges. What a deal!

Still, it's worth it to me, and when my friends brag on my biscuits it makes an interesting story to tell. These are the best biscuits in the world, and probably the easiest you'll ever make, (just three ingredients), short of dumping them out of a bag or a can. I swear to you, it's all in the White Lily Flour, and the Crisco, of course. These are "southern" biscuits after all, ya'll.

WHITE LILY BUTTERMILK BISCUITS

2 cups White Lily Self-Rising Flour
1/4 cup Crisco
2/3 to 3/4 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Coat baking sheet with baking spray.

In a large bowl, cut Crisco (or other shortening) into flour until the mixture has the texture of coarse crumbs.

Add milk a little at a time until dough leaves the side of the bowl and will form a ball.

Move dough to lightly floured surface and knead two or three times. Roll out to 1/2 inch thick, cut with biscuit cutter. (Don't twist. It's tempting, but the biscuits will rise higher if you don't.)

Place biscuits on prepared baking sheet and bake for 8 to 10 minutes until golden brown on top.

Makes one dozen 2-inch biscuits. The best you've ever eaten.