Cheddar Biscuits

Baking bread at Lammas goes to the heart of the holiday. It is the first harvest of the year, the gathering of wheat. As the first of the three harvests, Lammas presages autumn. The golden heads of cereal grains tell us so. Barley, wheat, rye, oats, rice and maize all stood, stalwart green to soldier brown, in field all summer. Grains mature at Lammas as the sun gains its strength in Leo. Gold is Leo's color, for the sunshine of high summer, for the glint of angled light at sunset, for the lion's mane, and for those golden heads of grain.

In ancient times, grains, notably wheat, were so sacred that the last sheaf of the harvest was not struck by the sickle. It was left standing in field as an offering to the hope of plenty through the upcoming celebrations of the harvest and the lean cold months of winter. Once cereal plants grow their seeds, they die, in a literal and symbolic cycle of the seasonal turning of the wheel. The offering of the last sheaf standing was both in gratitude for life-sustaining grain and as an entreaty, ever respectful, that the next two harvests – Mabon and Samhain – be plentiful. 

At Lammas, nights are arriving noticeably earlier as Mother Earth tilts away from the Solstice towards the Equinox. In the perfect turning of the wheel, the dark half of the year will soon prevail. For now, though, we rest in the golden days of Lammas. This holiday is dedicated to Demeter, Goddess of the grain, whose Roman name Ceres gave cereal plants their collective name. Demeter is depicted as an Earth Mother with Her arms open to spill the abundance that becomes the autumnal cornucopia, with plaits of flaxen hair that reflect golden heads of grain. It is a holiday for dancing in the sunlight that is the counterpoint of the opposite spoke of the wheel: Candlemas, the holiday of candlelight. It is the holiday of the corn dolly, the symbol of female plenty fashioned from corn husks. And it is the holiday of baking breads, in celebration of the gifts of grain.

In keeping with Lammas traditions, here is the second of three recipes to celebrate these golden days: cheddar biscuits. We serve them alongside a California omelet for brunch, and serve the bacon-Gruyère variation to accompany a roast beef dinner or a Sunday Supper of Carbonnade. 

Cheddar Biscuits
If you don't have a pastry cutter, mix the biscuits together by safely using two butter knives in a crisscross motion. This recipe makes six biscuits; it can be doubled.

1 cup all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup whole milk, plus extra for glazing
1/2 cup grated sharp Cheddar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Freshly grated black pepper
Cream of Tartar

1. Heat oven to 425 degrees F. Butter a cookie sheet, or lay down a silicon baking mat.
2. Measure the flour, baking powder, salt, cayenne pepper, several grindings of black pepper, and a pinch Cream of Tartar into a large mixing bowl. Stir the dry ingredients together.
3. Use a pastry cutter or two butter knives (see above) to cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture comes together as crumbs.
4. Measure the grated cheese into the bowl and stir just until combined.
5. Use one hand to pour the milk in a thin stream into the bowl while using the other hand to stir the milk into the dry ingredients. Stir just until the dough comes together.
6. Flour a clean rolling surface.
7. Transfer the dough to the floured rolling surface. Shape the dough into a log about two inches round.
8. Cut the log in half crossways. Cut each half crossways into thirds.
9. Flour your hands. Shape each 1/3 cut into a domed biscuit and place on the prepared cookie sheet to make 6 biscuits total with room between each.
10. Use a pastry brush to dab a bit of milk on the top of each biscuit. Top each biscuit with a grinding of fresh black pepper.
11. Transfer the baking sheet to the oven. Bake biscuits until brown and fragrant, 12 - 15 minutes.
12. Serve biscuits while they are still hot.

Bacon-Gruyère Biscuits: Substitute the leaves stripped from 2 - 3 sprigs fresh thyme for the cayenne pepper. Substitute 1/2 cup grated Gruyère for the Cheddar. Crumble 3 strips well-cooked bacon into the dough along with the cheese.

Resources
Baking Pantry
Dilled Cheese Bread
Cream Cheese and Chive Biscuits