I have had Texas comfort food on my mind for some time now. A word or two triggered the thoughts some time ago, and the term ‘greasy spoon’ has since been on my mind. I moved a friend down to Texas back in 1996, I believe, and with a resume in hand, bumped into their neighbor, who ironically was the technical director for the company whose resume I had in hand. Call it luck, call it fate, call it all good, because this is where I really created my network of really talented friends, and explored really great food.
One thing that has been creeping up on me in my thoughts were the late nights, hanging out with friends, and cruising the rock club scene. Literally, on any given night, you could walk into a club and find great punk rock, alternative, blues, jazz, or rockabilly music. Any given night! Those nights blurred into one another, and after a late night out, a friend of mine and I would drive to a local greasy spoon for a late night meal. This is where I encountered biscuits and gravy.
If you have never had biscuits and gravy, I think you are missing out, and as many folks associate Texas with barbecue, I associate it, for the most part, with biscuits and gravy.
This is where my cheddar and thyme biscuits came into play. Now keep in mind these are not the fluffy and flaky types of biscuits that had white gravy ladled over them, but they were, lets say, their biscuits cousins. These easy to make biscuits easily satisfied my thoughts of those endless nights at a greasy spoon, and oh yeah, they go great with gravy as well!
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of all purpose flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp dried French thyme
- 1/2 cup of shredded colby jack cheese
- 6 tbsp of cold, unsalted butter, cubed
- 3/4 cup of milk
To a mixing bowl, sift the flour and baking powder. Add in the thyme and cheese, and mix with a wooden spoon. Take your cubed butter, and with two forks, begin working it into the flour mixture, making sure you get it incorporated into most of the flour. Next, pour in the milk, and begin to work the milk into your flour mixture, until it begins to take shape into a dough. You are not looking for a wet dough here, but you are looking to bring it all together.
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Take a large spoonful, roughly about 4 tablespoons worth, and drop it onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Add about six or so to the sheet, and place in the preheated oven for 11-14 minutes, or until a light golden brown. Repeat with the remaining dough.
Let cool, and eat them as is, or feel free to drizzle a bit of honey on them, or heck, even eat them with jam. If you are like me, and missing out on those late Texan nights at the greasy spoon, make yourself some gravy, and dunk them on it in. Enjoy.