This month’s Sourdough Surprises is “biscuits”. Not real biscuits: American biscuits, which are some bizarre sort of take on a nice scone that Americans eat with fried chicken, instead of cream and jam… All very odd!
My first thought was do do make actual biscuits (ie US cookies), as I’ve been tempted to try some of these for a while. But that didn’t seem in the spirit of things.
Then I wondered about making scones, basically the UK equivalent of a the US biscuit, although generally used in a sweet way with jam and clotted cream rather than the savoury US style.
Then it occurred to me that I should take the opportunity to try this fried chicken and biscuits that’s so popular in the US South.
A little investigation seems to offer two versions: fried chicken on the bone, with biscuits and gravy; or fried chicken off the bone using the biscuit like a burger bun.
The decision here is simple, as to be honest I’ve got no idea how you’d go about eating chicken on the bone with biscuits and gravy. What do you do, tear off bits of chicken and bits of biscuit and eat together? Or eat separately? No idea…
So off the bone inside the biscuit-as-burger bun it is. Luckily good old Cook’s Country a recipe for fried chicken sandwiches which I can use for this. However… they also have a tantalising Nashville extra-hot fried chicken, but that’s on the bone. So I’m going to mix-and-match and do the Nashville flavour with the chicken sandwich method.
Back to the biscuits… Not being American I know little about these “biscuits”, so I’m happy to stick to the basic recipe provided by The Gingered Whisk.
So it’s decided: Nashville extra-hot fried chicken, using the biscuits like burger buns it is.
Except… that picture of scones with clotted cream and jam above is calling to me. Well: no reason not to do both! I’ll have my biscuit and eat it, if you will ;)
So I’m going to follow this scone recipe from Bakery Bits (who sold me my La Cloche for my regular sourdough loaves!).
Oh and after the disappointing oven onion rings last night, we’re going to do proper beer-battered deep-fried onion rings today.
So here we go! Starter, dry stuff, cut butter into stuff…
Roll out large for chicken sandwiches, rest, and brush with melted butter.
Bake… and be disappointed by how they don’t rise :(
Scones start in a similar way, but with more sugar.
And they get topped with egg.
And they also don’t rise much :(
Chicken rub is prepared.
And bagged up.
Meanwhile onions get brined.
Chicken has egg added to the flour mix for the coating.
Chicken is fried.
Onions are beer fried.
And dinner!
With scones, clotted cream and jam for pudding.
Despite the rich clotted cream scones, and lovely crispy & spicy chicken… the best part was the onions rings: properly crispy in stark contrast to the ones last night.
We’d definitely do this again. I’d pound the chicken to make it even flatter next time, as it really puffs up while cooking. And it could take some extra heat from chillies.
However… I might do it without the sourdough… as I’d prefer things to rise more!
Check out the other great “biscuits” the Sourdough Surprises people have been making!
Bulmer Food 
Try a recipe with baking powder next time, you might be happier with the results as it will be more like a traditional biscuit. I wondered how non-US bakers were going to like this challenge! I was confused when I did a UK challenge for scones which were biscuits in my mind. :)
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There was some baking powder and soda in the recipe, but maybe it needed more, and possibly a longer rise… I’ve got a lot to learn about your American biscuits!
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Was it double acting baking powder? That’s what we have here which means that it gives rise twice – once when mixed and again when it hits the heat of the oven. I hope you try again – a good fluffy biscuit is really enjoyable! Another good way to serve them here is split with a white sausage gravy on top.
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I’m drooling just thinking about homemade onion rings!
I think you might get a better rise with your biscuits and scones if you roll them out a little thicker. For best results, they need to be about 2.5 cm thick before baking… I’m just thinking out loud here, but I’m skeptical about the resting/rising time, too. The sourdough is mostly just contributing flavour and the baking powder and soda are doing the leavening, and I wonder if they lost some of their oomph during the rest. Normally with chemically leavened quick breads, you want to bake them right away…
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Thanks for the tips – I’ll give them a try next time!
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Haha, you crack me up! I don’t think there is an equivalent to an american biscuit, it is its own thing. I have never eaten mine as a fried chicken sandwich – usually beside with jelly. But covered with sausage gravy, definitely! And they make awesome breakfast sandwiches, too. I made three different sourdough recipes this month, and not a single one of them rose much! Must be something in the air. But your fried chicken and onion rings look awesome! And the scones with clotted cream and jam! Yum!
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