Yesterday was a rather trying day. I’ve had a persistent cough for the past few months, and this week it’s been much worse than usual. It’s primarily when I’m exercising or when I have dairy products (probably from the casein in milk). After we learned about asthma in my pharmaceutical care class, I was alerted to the fact that it’s possible that I have a mild case of asthma – cough is the most common symptom. Not wanting to leave that to get worse, I tried making a doctor’s appointment to get it checked out. Because my primary care physician is back in Pittsburgh, I learned from a not-so-friendly receptionist that I could only go to an immediate care facility or the ER.
Because I really didn’t want to waste my time at the ER (and wasting health care dollars), I went to an immediate care place right by our apartment. They didn’t have the equipment to do pulmonary function tests, so all the doctor could do was take a chest x-ray and listen to me breathe. Both told him nothing – I seem healthy. Because it’s mostly been a chest tightness and a cough, I knew he wouldn’t be hearing anything.. I never wheeze. So I’m now equipped with an albuterol inhaler for when I exercise, a prescription cough medication, and a 5-day corticosteroid for inflammation, all to just hold me over and see if they work until I can get to my doctor and schedule some pulmonary tests. Today was the first day I tried it, and surprisingly, I’m already seeing a difference in my cough. Not too excited about the fact that I probably have asthma, though..
Thank goodness for today, though. Tuesdays are usually my scheduled laboratory/counseling days, but today I had nothing scheduled, so I looked forward to sleeping in and spending my day restocking my almond flour, almond butter, sunflower seed butter, and reading A Storm of Swords. For whatever reason, though, I couldn’t bring myself to want anything sweet (I consider nut butters sweet, although they really aren’t, particularly..). And then I received two Dorie Greenspan cookbooks (Baking and Around my French Table) in the mail after getting an AMAZING deal on them from Amazon. I saw her basic biscuit recipe, and I was sold..
This is probably the perfect biscuit recipe. A crusty outside, moist and soft inside, with a lovely flakiness.. I used white whole wheat flour, so my biscuits didn’t rise quite as much as they should’ve, but the flavor is so perfect that I can’t find it in me to complain. I added a bit of cheddar for a bit of extra flavor, which turned out lovely. These are perfect with a pat of butter, sprinkled with a bit of sea salt, or just eaten plain.
Buttermilk Biscuits
adapted from Baking: from My Home to Yours
makes about 12 biscuits
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 T baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
2 t coconut sugar
6 T butter, cold, cut into 12 pieces
3/4 cup cold buttermilk
1/2 cup sharp cheddar, shredded
In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt. With your fingers, rub the butter into the flour mixture until it’s crumbly. Toss in the cheddar. Pour in the cold buttermilk, and stir with a fork until a soft dough comes together. Turn it in your hands a few times to bring it together.
Turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, and pat out to 1/2″ thick. Cut out as many biscuits as you can (with a 2″diameter biscuit cutter or the mouth of a cup). Place them on a parchment lined baking sheet, a few inches apart for crisp edges. Take the remaining scraps, and bring them together, working them as little as you can, and pat out to 1/2″ thick again. Cut as many more biscuits as you can.
Bake in a 425ºF oven with the rack in the center for about 14-18 minutes, until golden and puffed.