Few foods feed Southerners' souls like homemade biscuits.

Or feed our insecurities.

(ENLARGE)

Scott Peacock

Scott Peacock's Biscuit recipes Crusty Buttermilk Biscuits, the basic recipe  (Biscuit)Strawberry Shortcake  Tomato Gravy, for biscuits  Photo gallery A biscuit feast for the eyes  Biscuits step-by-step Seven easy steps to success  The golden ideal: What makes biscuits great  Ingredients: Good biscuits start with using the good stuff  Equipment to use: On baking pans and biscuit cutters  The baking and the serving, plus some final thoughts  Printer-friendly step-by-step  Biscuits main page  Biscuits therapy Don't say, "I can't." Scott Peacock answers your biscuit-baking fears and questions

Believe me, I understand this well. In rural Alabama where I grew up, my father teased my mother mercilessly about her biscuit-making skills, which in his estimation never measured up to the ones his mother made for him twice a day.

"These look and taste just like the Himalayan Mountains. Hard as them, too!" he used to say. No wonder she turned the biscuit-baking duties over to Pop N. Fresh.

Biscuits aren't hard to make, but it's taken me two decades to achieve my gold standard: Crusty and golden brown on top (and lightly browned on the bottoms, too), with an interior that's soft, light and tender but not too fluffy; slightly moist but not gummy when you eat it. It should be well-seasoned, with a slight buttermilk tang — no larger than three inches in diameter and no more than an inch or so in height. I'm no fan of those big, Hollywood-pumped-up-on-steroids-looking biscuits.

Ingredients are hugely important, especially the fat. Most people nowadays use vegetable shortening, but that's a weak substitute at best for lard.

Do you have tales of biscuit triumphs or tears? Do you have a favorite way to make, or eat them? Or a particularly fond memory? Do share.

I'll be checking in from time to time to offer support or answer questions — whatever I can do to get your fingers in the flour!