Cheese & Bacon Biscuits

Well, three full days into my job and I'm still here!  Everything is going so well.  I can tell it will be challenging and interesting which is just what I was looking for in a job.  I feel like I'm going to be really happy there for a long time.  But work is work and I'm tired, enjoying a celebratory glass of wine, and gearing up for a new episode of Rocco's Dinner Party on Bravo.  (When did I get into so many horrible trashy TV shows?  Or maybe the real question is, why did it take so long?!)

Last night  I was making some chicken and realized I had all the ingredients for some Cheese & Bacon Biscuits, so why not make those too?  I didn't even think about putting it on the blog - I was really just making us dinner.  But once I got the bacon in the pan I remembered I had a cooking blog so here we are.

THE MISSON:

This is another recipe from Rachael Ray's Look + Cook.  I made it once with the glazed chicken shown in the picture above and that was awesome, too.  Note to readers: chicken + peach preservers + chicken stock + Worcestershire sauce + hot sauce = delicious dinner.  I'll probably make that recipe soon, before peaches go out of season.  Peach season really is never long enough.

THE INGREDIENTS: 3 slices smoky bacon finely chopped (either before or after you cook it), 2 1/4 cups Bisquick, 3/4 cup milk, 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg, 1 cup shredded sharp yellow cheddar cheese.

Preheat the oven to the temperature called for in the package directions.  Heat a small skillet over medium-high heat, add the bacon, and cook until crisp.  Place the biscuit mix in a bowl and add the nutmeg.  Continue to follow the package directions, then mix in the bacon, 1 tablespoon of the drippings, and form the biscuit dough.  Fold in half the cheese.  

The dough should be pretty sticky and if you follow the measurements on the Bisquick box, they'll come out perfectly every time.  I received an amazing gift from my husband's lovely cousins at my Bridal Shower: a baking mat from Crate&Barrel.  You can put it under anything - cookies, biscuits, anything that you want to bake and not stick - and nothing, I mean nothing sticks to that thing.  It's incredible.  Usually, if you bake something that has melted cheese, you spend an hour after you're done eating trying to scrape it off the pan.  But after the biscuits were done and there was cheese melted everywhere, it all just pulled right off the pan.  And the mat went right in the dishwasher.  Dreamy.

I'd like to reiterate once more that I do not work for Crate&Barrel.  I'm just a fan, that's all.

Arrange the biscuits on a baking sheet and/or baking mat and top with a sprinkle of cheese.  

As you can see, these are large biscuits.  I get five or six from this recipe.  And they're not supposed to look perfect, they're "drop biscuits."  I use a cookie scoop to drop mine because it has that little mechanism that gets everything out.  It's like a mini version of an ice scream scoop.  You know, the kind the lunch ladies use to scoop mashed potatoes.  Lol.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until tender and lightly golden.  Eat!


MISSION COMPLETE:

You know those cheddar biscuits at Red Lobster?  These are like those.  WITH BACON!  Chef hint: if anything doesn't turn out the way you want, add bacon.  Instant success.

DEBRIEFING: Baking's tough.  This is simple.  And they turned out so well.  Just like those commercials you see someone tearing a biscuit in half, steam rising out of it.  The cheese inside was melty and stringy but there wasn't too much of it.  And you take a bite and it's like little bacon surprises throughout.

J's making pancakes for dinner.  He's attempting to do it from scratch...that's one thing I just use good ole' Aunt Jemima for.  I may be reheating last night's dinner.

Those Dreamy Orea Brownies will be made this Sunday.  It's a neighbor's birthday and I can bring them into work now.  Best way into people's hearts is through their stomach.  There's always that one awesome coworker that brings in treats for everyone.  I wanna be that person. 

Cheers,
Rachel