How to Make Incredible Cheese Biscuits

I am excited to tell you about my latest NoviceToPro Interview with Chef Jenni Field, a graduate from the prestigious Orlando Culinary Academy’s Le Cordon Bleu program. It is a great interview and a must read if you are thinking of going to culinary school especially if you are over the age of 30.

Jenni started culinary arts school after a 16-year career as a teacher and avid amateur baker. The interview gets into why she changed careers, how she decided what culinary school to attend, what it was like plus Jenni talks about what qualities someone needs to enter the restaurant industry. Do check it out here.

I asked Chef Jenni for a signature recipe and she offer this one for Cheese Biscuits. Here is what she said:

“I make these for bread service at the restaurant every day.  People clamor for them in a most undignified manner!  This recipe doubles and quadruples with no problem (I make a batch with 32 cups of flour), so it’s a good recipe for a crowd”

Cheese Biscuits
 
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon mustard powder
pinch of cayenne pepper (to taste)
4 oz. cold butter, cubed
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup buttermilk
6 oz. grated cheese (we use gruyere and parmesan. Cheddar works very well, also)
Several grinds of black pepper

Heavily flour a smooth work surface.  (Seriously. You shouldn’t even be able to see the table under the flour).  Have your rolling pin, a bench scraper and grated cheese ready to go.

Whisk dry ingredients together in a large bowl.  Rub in butter with your fingers until the butter pieces are about the size of large peas. 

Pour in the cream and buttermilk and toss lightly with your hand, using your hand to fold the ingredients together like you’d use a spatula.  The dough will be a shaggy mess. Some will still just be plain flour and some will be kind of wet.  Doesn’t matter.  Overcome your trepidation and dump it all out on the floured surface.
Sprinkle a little flour on top of the shaggy mess of dough and pat it into a rectangle that’s about 1/2 inch thick. 

Take 1 oz. of the grated cheese and sprinkle it on half of the rectangle.  Use your bench scraper to help you fold the non-sprinkled half over onto the sprinkled half.  Try and get the edges fairly even. 

Turn the dough a quarter-turn.  You might need your bench scraper for this, too. 

Lightly roll this folded, still messy mass of dough and cheese until it is again about 1/2 inch thick.  Keep it as rectangular as you can. 

Sprinkle another ounce of cheese on half, fold, turn and roll again.  Repeat this process with the remaining 4 ounces of cheese.  It will look like all the cheese won’t fit, but carry on.  I promise it will.  If some falls out, just put it back in. 

With each fold, you are creating tons of layers of dough and cheese.  In that sense, it’s kind of like a puff pastry.  Also, the dough will become much easier to manage.  It might, in fact, become kind of hard to roll, making you have to push down pretty hard and grit your teeth.  That’s okay.  Just keep going. 

Once all your cheese is in (it will sort of magically disappear into the dough), square up the sides of your rectangle again, then cut in squares of whatever size you prefer.  With this size batch, you’ll probably get about 7-8 larger biscuits or about 15 mini guys. 

Use your bench scraper for this part, too–it is a useful tool.  (For the most beautiful baked biscuits, make sure all four sides of your biscuits are cut sides. 

Don’t bake one with a fold on one side.  It will still taste good, it just will rise all funny because the layers on one side are all still attached). 

You can bake the biscuits immediately, but they seem to like to be frozen for awhile first–they rise up nice and straight when the fat has had a chance to firm up again. 

At any rate, when you’re ready to bake, brush the tops with buttermilk, grind on a bit of black pepper, and bake off at 375 degrees, F for 7 minutes.  Turn the pan and bake for about 6-8 more minutes.  (This baking time is for a commercial convection oven.  Your baking time might be different). 

When they are done, they will be tall and golden brown and lovely.  Resist eating for as long as possible (we can only go for about 14 seconds at the restaurant) and then eat. 

They are great with butter, bacon, or for a truly decadent treat, smear on some really good raspberry jam.  Hooray for the cheese biscuits!

“Does my daughter need to go to a “big” named culinary school?”

Because of the number of popular culinary arts schools I have posted on my web site, a lot email is sent my way from high school students and their parents wanting to know more about attending culinary school.

One of those emails was from Vicky, whose daughter is interested in going to culinary school for pastry/baking. Here’s what she wrote:

 Hi RG! I have a 16-year-old daughter who’s interested in cooking school. We’ve started to look at this a bit and are curious if it’s necessary/best to go to one of the “big” schools–such as CIA or Le Cordon Bleu. She’s interested in pastry/baking and her goal would NOT be to work in a big name restaurant, but probably something smaller. Do smaller schools, tech schools allow people to get the necessary skills–and a job! — or is it a situation where you must go to a “name” school. Thanks for any thoughts you can share.

I immediately sent this email to Chef Leslie Bilderback, Certified Master Baker and author of Success as a Chef. Not only did she attend a “big name” culinary school, but also taught at the California School of Culinary Arts in Pasadena, CA and then was the Executive Chef at CSC when it partnered with Le Cordon Bleu.

As she mentions in her response, her book Success as a Chef was written with questions like this in mind. I really appreciate her honesty in her reply. Chef Leslie doesn’t candy coat a career in the food industry. Just the opposite, she comes right out and states culinary school is not right for everyone and “most students are not the right type” to go to one.

Read her response to Vicky to see why and whom the “right type” is who will do well in culinary school and be successful in the food industry.

(more…)

I want to introduce you to Chef Leslie Bilderback, Certified Master Baker and author of The Complete Idiots Guide to Success as a Chef. She is an amazing person who has accomplished an incredible amount in the culinary industry.

A graduate of the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco and then one of the first instructors at the California School of Culinary Arts in Pasadena, CA, Leslie has written a book specifically for anyone thinking of a career in cooking. 

You can learn more about Chef Bilderback at my Novice to Pro interview with her including

5 baking mistakes she sees home cooks making
How to get over your fear of cooking
Leslie’s favorite style of cooking
Favorite cooking gadget
And her signature dish

What About Going to Culinary School?

Young people considering going to culinary school everyday ask me how important is it and is it right for them. There are so many important issues to think about so not being a professional chef I asked Leslie what she thought and here is her reply in form of a letter to anyone interested in attending culinary arts school.  And don’t forget to check out my Culinary School Resource Guide too.

Dear Food Lover and Potential Chef,
 
I spend a lot of time talking to people about culinary school.  I was a student at one, a teacher at one, and the Executive Chef of one, so you might think you can guess my opinion.  But I am not so sure that these schools are for everyone. 
 
The culinary education business is booming now.  Food TV, and an increase in the frequency Americans eat out, has generated an interest in food.  That part is good.  But people are entering the business for the wrong reasons, and without enough knowledge.  And unfortunately, not all schools are stepping up with the best interest of the student or the industry at heart.
 
If you are thinking about life as a chef, please consider these five points before you do anything with permanent or financially serious repercussions.
 
1.  Be realistic. Being a professional chef is not glamorous.  It’s hot, and dirty, the hours are awful and pay sucks.  Chefs on TV look like they’re having fun, but they rarely show all the prep work that goes on behind the scenes.  Remember, slicing a case of onions is part of cooking for a living too.  Everyone has to work his or her way up, regardless of education.  Landing a chef or sous chef job right out of school is EXTREMELY rare.
 
2.  If you still think it sounds fun, get a job in a restaurant and test your hypothesis.  Regardless of your skill level, there will be a place for you somewhere.  Only 30% of culinary school graduates stay in the field 6 months after graduation.  The jobs are never what they hoped for.  This leads to high job turnover, and lower pay and benefits over all.
 
3.  If you still want to pursue a culinary career after that, then you need to consider how to go about it.  Can you afford school?  Are you sure?  Remember, student loans must be paid back, and you will likely have to do it with your $9.00/hour salary.  Visit as many schools as you can, and talk not to the admissions staff, but to the students and teachers.
 
4.  If you want to go it alone, it is certainly possible.  Many great chefs have.   Find a chef you respect and work for him or her.  You’ll learn the real-life restaurant lessons that they never teach at school, while still learning the basics, and getting paid!  You should also supplement your education by serious at-home book learning.
 
5.  If you choose school, take it seriously.  Get A’s, and impress your teachers.  They are your first chance at a reference and a culinary network.
 
Regardless of your culinary path, I have provided a step-by-step plan to help you become a chef in The Complete Idiots Guide to Success as a Chef (Alpha Books, Feb 2007).  Each of these topics is examined in depth, as well as how to make a success of it once you’re out there.  I hope it helps you realize your goals!
 
Sincerely,
Leslie Bilderback, CMB