Buttermilk Biscuits

 

One of my favorite boys in the world is my nephew, Christopher.  Dark, dark hair, deep, hazel eyes and a slow smile that will make your heart skip a beat, this boy is going places.  Why, he made varsity baseball just this week.  I nicknamed him “Biscuit” when I couldn’t remember his name.  We were in the Keys for Thanksgiving, the entire family would go every year, until my mother’s health prohibited it.  Anyway, all the kids were running around, Jimmy, cigar in mouth, was holding a shuffleboard tournament, we were all barefooted and young and we had cocktails and out came the names of two or three of his siblings and possibly a family dog or two, then came the word “Biscuit” and he was christened.  Those days were just heaven on earth.  During the day Uncle Chris would take the children fishing, bay or ocean side…made no difference, he’d let them drive the boat, take them to his secret fishing spots.  Then at night they all played games in the pitch black, inky darkness, running and screaming from the thrill of it all.   Every child had a flashlight and every grownup had a drink.  The resort where we stayed was on the ocean side but, sometimes, we would cross the highway to the bay side for more drinks and appetizers at the big mermaid bar.  It was a little rough and tumble but it’s so laid back down there nothing ever happened.  The stars would be out like no other place in the world, hundreds and hundreds scattered across the sky.  We’d stumble back back across the highway, with our little swarm of kids, and start grilling dinner.  Dolphin, pink Keys shrimp, whatever we had, always tasted so fresh and fabulous.  Someone typically had picked up a Key Lime pie during the day and, hopefully, some smoked fish dip and saltines.  We’d boil up big pots of pasta, grill burgers and dogs or cool down with a big bowl of homemade ceviche; it ALL tasted better down in the keys.  And THIS is the best tastin’ recipe for biscuit I’ve ever had except for my college boyfriend’s mother’s.  I wish to this day I had written down that recipe.  She made biscuit so much she didn’t even have to measure her ingredients.  That just blows me away.  This recipe is more of a drop biscuit. You don’t roll it out, you “pat” it gently. The dough is rather runny, but it works.  It’s Nathalie Dupree’s recipe that she got from Shirley Corriher.  I think it’s just brilliant and so does my boy, Biscuit!