If you say 'fold in' one more time.

The Week in Selfies: 5/18/20 - 5/24/20

May 22, 2022

At the end of the month of May, I will be making a donation to the National Network of Abortion Funds in conjunction with the newsletter. For every new free subscription I get, I’ll donate $1 and for every new paid subscription, I’ll donate $5. I’m already planning on donating $100 so this is on top of that. I currently have four incredible matching donors so any donation goes even farther! And if being a matching donor is something that interests you, let me know.

I feel like I’ve reached a bit of a plateau with subscriptions these days so if you know someone who may fancy this newsletter, I’d love it if you would share it. If you are having a good time with it, maybe consider a social media shout-out. It would mean a lot to me. But mostly, as always, thank you for reading.

Anyone who knows me even a little knows I’ve always been a bit of a baker. It is rare that I don’t have some sort of baked good or dessert in or around my person. I currently have this Salt & Pepper Ice Cream in my freezer (which is actually very interesting and I like it very much). Most recently, I had these Vegan Brownies around (simple, delicious, can pretend they are healthy). I do also cook but baking tends to be my go-to in any situation and for any feeling: birthday, celebration, sadness, stress etc etc.

Much like nearly everyone else, my baking picked up exponentially during the shelter-in-place time. At least a project a week, if not more. Since one of this week’s pictures is of some scallions I regrew after using them for a project, I thought I’d share one of my favorite recipes from that time (which, incidentally, uses the scallions).

This recipe for Sour Cream and Onion Biscuits is, yes, from Bon Appétit. And yes, I watched all of those videos obsessively for a while. And yes, I have followed some of the former staffers to their other projects because wow, they all make some good food. Bon Appétit has a paywall after a certain amount of articles per month and yes, I do think people should get paid for their writing and work (obviously, so if you can, subscribe to them) and also…I’m still going to share the full(ish) recipe with you; I might streamline it a little bit.

Sour Cream and Onion Biscuits
From Molly Baz

Ingredients
8 scallions
12 tbsp. chilled unsalted butter, divided
2 ½ tsp Diamond Crystal or 1 ½ Morton kosher salt (Diamond Crystal or die. Fight me.)
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 ¾ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1 ¼ tsp sugar
2 ½ cups (313g) AP flour, plus more for surface
1 ¼ cups sour cream, plus more for serving
Flaky sea salt

Method
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 425°F with a rack in the middle. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Trim roots from 8 scallions and slice crosswise. Set aside.

Step 2
Melt 2 tbsp chilled unsalted butter and set aside. Whisk salt, freshly ground black pepper, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and flour in a bowl to combine.

Step3
Cut the remaining 10 tbsp chilled unsalted butter into ½” pieced. Add to dry ingredients and toss to coat. Using your hands, work butter into the dry ingredients, smashing it between your fingers and flattening it between your palm until there are lots of thing shards and pea-size bits. Add reserved scallions and toss evenly.

Step 4
Create a well in the center of the mixture and add sour cream to the well. Using a fork and working in circles, mix until large shaggy clumps form. Fold the dough over itself a couple of times until it comes together.

Step 5
Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead once or twice until it comes together. If there are any loose bits, add them to the center of the dough and knead once more.

Step 6
Pat the dough into an 8x4” rectangle about 1” thick.

Step 7
Working from a short side, fold the dough in thirds as you would a letter. Pat the dough into another 8x4” rectangle, and then fold like a letter one more time. (Fold like a letter two times total.) Pat the dough back into an 8x4” rectangle.

Step 8
Cut the rectangle in half lengthwise, then cut each half crosswise into 4 squares. There should be a total of 8 biscuits.

Step 9
Transfer biscuits to the baking sheet. Brush the tops with melted butter and sprinkle with flaky sea salt.

Step 10
Bake the biscuits until golden brown, 18-22 minutes.

And here’s a photo of some of my biscuits: