Mayonnaise biscuits

I've thought about starting a blog for years but always wondered what to write about.  I've always cooked since my mum taught me in my teens and food seems to be the new rock and roll so I thought I'd have a bash.  Have you noticed though that no matter how blokey and friendly a tv chef appears to be his food always ends up a little pretentious or beyond the skills of the average supermarket shopper?  Tescos in case you're curious, I like to collect the points and the price is right.  I sometimes go to Waitrose or Marks for a treat but I'm certainly not well off enough to shop there full time.  They can wait till I win the lottery.  I eat out very occasionally at ordinary restaurants like Pizza Express and review them on Tripadvisor.  I review under the name Tilerjohn ( a previous occupation).  In my blog I'll try to keep to simple food and if I muck it up or the recipe doesn't work as it should I'll tell you. 

Like most middle aged people I struggle with my weight so I'm trying the alternate day fasting diet, 15lbs lost since New Year and I can cook and eat on the non-fasting days so my interest in baking has been revitalised.

Seven years ago we were fortunate enough to go to Los Angeles and whilst we were there ate at a seafood chain called Red Lobster.  Apart from the wonderful seafood they provide every table with a basket of warm garlic and cheese biscuits and as fast as you eat them they will keep replacing them at no extra charge.  In case you don't know American biscuits are like a cross between a soft roll and a scone.  What we call biscuits they call cookies and they're soft and chewy, you tell me.  Anyway, I love American food and so went looking online for the recipe, here it is.  I don't change American measures into English unnecessarily as cup measures are readily available everywhere nowadays.

 

RED LOBSTER INSPIRED GARLIC AND CHEESE BISCUITS

 

 

• 1 cup of milk
• 1/3 cup of mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 2 cups od self raising flour
• 1/4 cup of grated cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon of garlic granules
• 2 tablespoons of melted butter



In a mixing bowl combine the milk, mayo, sugar and flour.  beat on high speed with an electric mixer for about a minute until smooth and completely combined.  Using a spatula streak the dough with the cheese.  The batter should NOT be thin enough to pour, if necessary add just enough milk so that it will drop from your spoon.  Drop the batter into ten paper-lined muffin tins.  Add the garlic granules to the melted butter and brush the tops of the muffins.  Shake some grated cheese over the top if you wish.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown at Gas mark 6/200C/400F.  Allow to cool in the pan on a rack for 30 minutes and eat fresh.

 

 

 

Okay so I made these for lunch on Mother's Day and everyone loved them but I thought they were a bit heavy.  Delicious but heavy and the damned things stick to the muffin cases.

During the week I found a pack of cheese and onion bread mix in the back of the cupboard so I thought I'd make it today.  Everything went well until I retrieved it from the airing cupboard and it hadn't risen at all.  I checked the sell by date and it was November 2011! Guess the yeast had died, it came out of the oven like a hot brick and went out on the lawn.  Apologies to the pigeons that are trying to fly with that in their guts.  As I intended to pop over to Marks at Banstead to get some Fuller Longer meals for my beautiful but permanently dieting wife I thought I might treat myself to one of their cheese scones.  However before I left I looked up another old recipe I had for Mayonnaise Biscuits and decided to make these instead.  They took about ten minutes to make from scratch and cost about the same as the scone but I got twelve the same size as a scone and they are delicious.  I added cheese and garlic granules to the recipe I had and they are everything the first recipe should have been, mainly light and fluffy.  Here is the recipe:

 

MAYONNAISE BISCUITS

 

• 2 cups of self raising flour
• 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise
• a cup and half of milk
• tablespoon of sugar
• a cup of grated cheese
• teaspoon of garlic granules

Combine the ingredients in a bowl, stir until well mixed and drop off the spoon.  Add a little more milk if necessary to achieve this consistency.  Drop into twelve greased muffin tins (no papers).

bake at Gas 8/230C/450F in the middle of the oven for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

They should come straight out of the pan without sticking and are delicious hot and/or buttered.

 

 

 

I sent this photo to my lovely wife by Whatsapp and she told me to stop winding her up so I followed it with this one!

 

 

 

These are a piece of cake (no pun intended) and very cheap to make.  Give them a go.