Cowboy biscuits

If you don't have time to whip up biscuits in the oven before the game, you can still make them in your cast-iron skillet out in the parking lot.

 

This is another recipe we culled from our can't-fail mentor of cast-iron, A.D. Livingston and his seminal work, "Cast-Iron Cooking" (The Lyons Press, 1991). It's pretty easy to do. This will make up to 30 small biscuits, so halve the recipe if you need to.

Mix flour, salt and baking soda. Add the oil slowly, mixing it as you go. Shape mixture into an oval and make a well in the middle of the mixture with your fist. Pour the buttermilk into the well and stir it until a dough forms. Knead gently about 10 to 15 times on a floured cutting board or other flat surface (you must be gentle when kneading biscuits or they get rough when cooked).

 

Heat about an inch of oil (vegetable, olive, canola) in a skillet. It's ready when you stick a wooden spoon into the oil and bubbles immediately form around the spoon. If it's smoking, the oil is definitely too hot. Oil that's not hot enough will make an oily biscuit. Oil that's too hot will quickly burn the biscuits. Pinch off biscuit-sized balls, flatten them in your hands or with a spatula while in the skillet, and cook in the oil about 2 to 3 minutes per side, until nicely browned. Drain on paper towels or paper shopping bags and serve with your favorite breakfast dishes.