Summer Camp and Cream Biscuits

I know we're just barely spying the first crocuses, but my friends are already starting the first tentative glimmerings of summer camp plans: Will the kids play soccer, or go swimming? Art class or computers? 

I've been jealous of some of the fun available for kids, but now I know there's an adult version, and my mind keeps going back to the time I spent as a guest at the Tom Douglas Culinary Summer Camp. In 2008, I joined campers as they decorated cakes with the Dahlia Bakery's manager and participated in cooking demos and taste tests with star chefs from inside and outside the Douglas empire. Last year, I was torn whether to audit baguette-making with Douglas head baker Gwen LeBlanc, get a pickling lesson from Renee Erickson of my beloved Boat Street Pickles, imbibe a cocktail tutorial from the masters at Sambar, or a host of other options. Finally, I went for some of the guest headliners, the steak tasting with Bruce Aidells (which turned into a lively lesson on meat-cutting) and the crisp fried game hens and super-fluffy biscuits cooked up by Nancy Oakes. 

Watching those top-notch biscuits come together, an experience I otherwise never would have had, reminded me how much difference first-hand observations make when cooking. It's one thing to read a recipe, another thing entirely to watch an expert chef in action. It's like the difference, I guess, between reading about a soccer game and getting to play. 

I wish we adults had more chances like this to learn about topics that passionately interest us, having fun all the while. 

Of course, the recipe itself is nothing to sneeze at. If anything, winter is an even better time to enjoy these: 

Nancy Oakes Cream Biscuits

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups self-rising flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup heavy cream (plus a few tablespoons more if necessary)
1/3 cup melted butter

 Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Put the self-rising flour, salt and sugar in a medium bowl. Using a fork, slowly stir in the cream until the dough just begins to come together. If it feels dry and there are too many pieces falling away, add a little more cream, 1 tablespoon at a time.
3. Once the dough comes together, turn it out on a lightly floured cutting board and pat and shape it with your hands into a 1/2-inch thick square. Cut into nine squares and dip each square into the melted butter. 
4. Place the biscuits on a baking sheet. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 15 minutes or until lightly golden. Serve hot from the oven.

Makes nine biscuits (which, as Oakes said, is two per person and one extra for the cook).

-- Rebekah Denn