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In virtually every post in the fore-going series I mention early morning wake-ups for hunting and refer to "coffee and rusks". In South Africa they are inseparable twins - not only for hunters, but every day in every household. It gradually corrects the morning's low blood sugar condition after the long night without sustenance and carries the hunter through to even a late breakfast.
It of course can never replace a red meat protein breakfast as the most important meal of the day, but it assists that clear mind, controlled breathing and steady hold and smooth trigger pressure required when the hunter takes a possible 9 a.m. shot after having been on an animal's tracks since 7 a.m.
Here is an easy recipe for buttermilk rusks (just 18 "biscuits" for a start).
This is what the crusty, tasty bicuits look look like after drying overnight in a low heat oven. They are specifically designed to be dunked into your coffee:
Buttermilk rusks cut to size.
Buttermilk rusks broken to size.
This is the What and the How:
WHAT
1 lb of self raising flour (previous error of 2 lbs corrected)
½ teaspoon salt
½ lb butter
7 oz sugar
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg.
HOW:
1. Put the flour in a large enough mixing bowl.
2. Cut the butter into little blocks and rub it by hand into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs.
3. Thoroughly mix the sugar into the mixture.
4. Whisk the egg and buttermilk together and mix it well into the flour mixture.
5. Pre-heat the oven to 360 degrees F.
6. Lightly coat the inside of a 4" x 9" (or there-abouts) bread pan with butter.
7. Bake for 1 hour - test by inserting a narrow knife into the dough. It must retract perfectly cleanly.
8. Dump the “bread” on a grid and let it cool completely, then cut in 1” x 1" rusks.
9. Dry the rusks on a grid overnight in the oven at 200 degrees F with the oven door slightly ajar.
Interesting variations can me made: Add two cups of muesli, or two cups of bran (or 1 cup of coconut, or 1 cup raisins, or whatever you like) with the sugar and mix well. Compare the relative wetness with the plain rusks and add a little buttermilk if necessary - but not too much. Also you can adjust the amount of sugar to your preference after the basic recipe has been tried.
No matter which type you bake, 18 rusks will not last you and the family for long - so just double the ingedients the second time around. Once baked it lasts forever without spoiling.
That is exactly the same recipe I use for biscuits (American)
Thanks, Andries, for the Rusk tips.
We have avoided the virus. It appears that everyone we know has (have)?? avoided it, too. Our rural parish is not heavily populated. The last count I saw was 108 cases.
As a staunch conservative this "shut down" situation goes against the grain. When I was younger and the cold war was raging, the favorite phrase was "it is a communist plot". It has not been as bad where we are. We are essentially a republican state with a Democratic Governor, thanks to the large metropolitan areas in the southern part of the state. He has played it better than I thought he would. The state is opening up as we speak. I…
Hello Gary!
Trust you and the family are safe and sound.
I contacted 37 friends I know from Cape Town in the south to the northern border with Zimbabwe , and from west coast to east coast, and asked if anyone they knew has contracted the Covid 19 flu, and asked them to ask everyone they knew. It came out that nobody I know, and nobody known by them has heard of anybody that has this China flu. A lady friend on the east coast's daughter and son in law are both medical doctors - he in fact is part wner of a private hospital. The daughter has HEARD of one positive tested case but the lady of 60 sho…
Hello Gary!
Trust you and the family are safe and sound.
I contacted 37 friends I know from Cape Town in the south to the northern border with Zimbabwe , and from west coast to east coast, and asked if anyone they knew has contracted the Covid 19 flu, and asked them to ask everyone they knew. It came out that nobody I know, and nobody known by them has heard of anybody that has this China flu. A lady friend on the east coast's daughter and son in law are both medical doctors - he in fact is part owner of a private hospital. The daughter has HEARD of one positive tested case but the lady of 60 sho…
The first attempt turned out pretty good. However, we want to try again. The first attempt with the double recipe and trouble getting it dried left us wondering if what we were tasting was the way it should be. I believe that the dough had too much liquid when she put it in the pans. At any rate, I will let you about the next batch. Need to get some more buttermilk. I can only handle that stuff in cooking.