Kentucky Sorghum Bourbon-Spiced Biscuits with Tapioca and Poppy Seed

I can appreciate the golden sways of wheat from a Kansas wind across miles of field.  I can envision an orange sunrise for the backdrop of the world’s grain basket, the heart of the bread bowl coming from those fields.  I remember walking, prancing, and dancing barefoot on freshly plowed ground after it being harvested and disced in preparation for the next season’s planting.

I can set my eyes towards the South, a southern state where there is rich sorghum, crops of field where sorghum juice is hand-harvested in Kentucky after generations of time, having applied the same method of production.  I can appreciate the goodness of both places, the unique value that each contributes to feed a population of many. This is where the Midwest, the North Central region, meets the South.

It’s a rustic biscuit, it’s got to be patted into rounds, not rolled with a pin.  Rolling them out would toughen the dough since they are of the elements of a grainy texture.  This is homespun, it’s of the farm belt, it’s naturally beautiful without having to be anything elaborate.

I want good cake flour with the right texture for 2 leveled cups.  I make my own:  Remove 2 tablespoons Hudson Cream flour and replace the 2 tablespoons of flour with 2 tablespoons cornstarch per 1-cup measuring cup of all-purpose flour.  Sift it 5 times.

To make biscuit dough, accurately measure and sift 2 cups cake flour, 1 tablespoon baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon bourbon smoked paprika, 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground bourbon smoked pepper, and 1 teaspoon freshly ground bourbon smoked sea salt.

Whisk after sifting, just to blend seasonings into flour, then whisk in 1 tablespoon poppy seeds.

Grind tapioca pearls for 1/2 cup.

It should look like this; not too fine, a rough grind.

Having very cold fat ingredients, cut in equal portions of 3 tablespoons unsalted butter and 3 tablespoons lard.  Work with a pastry blender, making the additions pea-sized.

Drizzle Bourbon Barrel Foods Pure Cane Sweet Sorghum.  Gently spoon into mixture.

Measure 1 cup whole buttermilk.

This is what it should look like after the sorghum is combined into dry ingredients.

A little at a time while gently mashing and stirring with a large spoon, add buttermilk.  Altogether, I ended up adding close to 1/8 cup extra buttermilk.  All in all, this recipe will take 1 to 1 1/8 cups.

Now the dough should resemble this.

Grease a large Corning Ware baking dish with lard, then dust with flour.  Rather than using a baking sheet, the sides of the baking dish will enable the biscuits to have soft edges as well as placing them closely together.  The floured surface on the bottom of the dish will also give them added softness.  Lightly pat and form them into rounds.

Place the biscuits in a preheated 425º oven.  As soon as the biscuits are placed on the rack to bake, crank up the oven to 450º.  Bake them 15 to 20 minutes until golden-brown.  Remove immediately from the baking dish and place on a clean board.

Drizzle Kentucky sorghum all over the tops and sides.

pat a biscuit