Biscuits

Preheat oven to 475 F.

In a large bowl combine flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda then sift the mixture 3 times. Add cheese, basil, mustard powder and cayenne to the mix and stir to combine.

Using a pastry cutter or your hands combine the grated butter and dry ingredients until it resembles coarse beach sand. Add almost all of the milk and mix until a sticky dough forms. Only add the remaining milk if necessary (the wetter the dough the lighter the biscuits will be).

To achieve an even crumb to the dough very gently knead the dough 4-5 times on a lightly floured surface.

Pat dough into a 6 inch by 4 inch rectangle and use a biscuit cutter to stamp out (without twisting) the rounds. Combine scraps to stamp out the last biscuit. Or use a floured sharp knife to cut the dough into biscuits.

To have soft sided biscuits place the rounds just touching on a baking dish, or place them further apart to have crisp sided biscuits.

Bake in a very hot oven 8-10 minutes until biscuits are well risen and lightly colored on top. Serve warm.

Recipe adapted from Audax Artifex.