By The senior thesis manuscript is at forty-five pages. The proposal-and-thesis package is now sixty-eight pages combined. Dr. Choi has read everything twice. The May agent submission is six weeks away. I am now polishing rather than drafting, which is a different mental phase that feels both lighter and more nerve-racking.
Sunday I made scallion and cheddar cathead biscuits because Mama had asked for them on Saturday’s phone call — she’d been baking biscuits for the cafe’s weekend brunch service since the brunch had launched in late February, and she wanted me to test a savory variation she could add to the menu rotation. The cathead format is a southern Appalachian biscuit style: hand-formed, larger and rougher than cut-biscuit format, with a craggy top that’s the structural signature of the technique.
The technique: three cups of self-rising flour (or three cups all-purpose flour with a tablespoon of baking powder and a teaspoon of salt added). A tablespoon of sugar. A teaspoon of salt (omit if using self-rising). Whisked together.
Six tablespoons of cold butter cubed and cut into the flour with a pastry blender or fingertips until pea-sized. A cup and a half of grated sharp cheddar tossed in. A half-cup of finely sliced scallions (white and green parts both) tossed in.
One and a quarter cups of cold buttermilk poured in. Stir with a fork until just combined — the dough should be wet and shaggy, much wetter than cut-biscuit dough.
The hand-form: with floured hands, scoop a generous three-quarter-cup portion of dough and shape it loosely into a round, leaving the top craggy. Place in a buttered cast iron skillet (the biscuits should touch each other slightly — the touching is part of the cathead architecture). Repeat to form six biscuits in the skillet.
Brush the tops with melted butter. Bake at four-twenty-five for eighteen to twenty-two minutes until deeply golden brown. The cathead biscuits are the size of a fist (a “cat-head” is the historical descriptor) and are hand-shaped rather than cut, with the craggy top giving them their distinctive look.
I FaceTimed Mama Sunday afternoon with the biscuits in the cast iron. She held up her own batch on the cafe counter at the same moment. The variation is going on the cafe’s weekend brunch menu starting next Saturday.
Hand-formed cathead, craggy top, cast iron, four-twenty-five for twenty. Cheddar and scallion in the dough. Here’s the build.
Scallion and Cheddar Cathead Biscuits
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 22 minutes | Total Time: 32 minutes | Servings: 8 biscuits
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
- 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 4 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced (about 1/2 cup)
- 1 1/4 cups cold buttermilk, plus 1 tablespoon for brushing
Instructions
- Preheat. Heat your oven to 450°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or grease it lightly.
- Mix the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until well combined.
- Cut in the butter. Add the cold butter cubes to the flour mixture. Using your fingertips or a pastry cutter, work the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbles with some pea-sized pieces remaining. Do not overwork — cold, uneven butter is what makes biscuits tender.
- Add the cheese and scallions. Toss the shredded cheddar and sliced scallions into the flour-butter mixture and stir to distribute evenly.
- Add the buttermilk. Pour in the cold buttermilk and stir with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula just until the dough comes together. It will be shaggy and sticky — that’s right. Stop mixing the moment no dry flour remains.
- Drop the biscuits. Using a large spoon or a 1/2-cup scoop, drop 8 mounds of dough onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart. These are cathead biscuits — they’re meant to be big and rustic. Brush the tops lightly with the reserved buttermilk.
- Bake. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, until the tops are deep golden brown and the biscuits feel set when gently pressed. Rotate the pan once halfway through for even browning.
- Serve warm. Let rest for 3 minutes on the pan, then transfer to a towel-lined basket. Best eaten the same day, split open next to a bowl of black-eyed peas.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 318 | Protein: 10g | Fat: 14g | Carbs: 38g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 492mg