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DIY: Alexandria’s Top School Chef Shows Chicken & Biscuits Recipe

Chef Isaiah Ruffin is the Alexandria City Public Schools system’s first Executive Chef.

ALEXANDRIA, VA – Want a change of pace, and to have some fun in the kitchen with the kids? How about making chicken & biscuits during the quarantine?

Join the Alexandria City Public School system’s Executive Chef Isaiah Ruffin for a little light entertainment as you head into the weekend. See if you can make his recipe along with him. You’ll find all his recipes with links to watch him making them online in the ACPS Nutrition Calendar coming this fall.

Chef Isaiah’s Chicken Biscuits

Watch this masterclass and you can make this delicious dish at home with your children.

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour, spooned and leveled
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cubed
  • 6 ounces (180 ml) cold buttermilk, plus more for the tops of the biscuits
  • Chicken breast – allow 1.5oz per biscuit

PRO TIPS

“Make sure your baking powder and baking soda are still fresh before starting. Both ingredients are important to get a good rise in these biscuits and also be sure to use cold butter and buttermilk.

Chef Ruffkin’s favorite Chicken & Biscuits recipe gets a little honey finish. (Screenshot)

Don’t overwork your dough, make sure to work it together very gently. Fold the dough into thirds and pat it down three times. This helps to ensure that your biscuits are super flaky.

When cutting your biscuits out, don’t twist your cutter.  This will seal off the edges of your dough and they won’t rise as high. Just cut the dough straight down and pull the cutter right back out.

I like to flour the biscuit cutter to make sure the biscuit dough doesn’t stick. Lay the biscuits on a baking sheet touching each other. This will help them rise taller and give them soft edges when you pull them apart!”

METHOD FOR THE BISCUITS (MAKES APPROXIMATELY NINE)

  • Mix first five ingredients in a bowl
  • Add butter
  • Thoroughly mix with your hands until it becomes large crumbs
  • Add buttermilk and mix into a dough
  • Turn out onto a floured surface
  • Roll out to half an inch thickness
  • Fold into thirds
  • Turn 90 degrees and roll out again to half and inch and fold into thirds again
  • Repeat this step of rolling and folding four times
  • Roll out once more to half an inch thickness
  • Using a shaped cutter of your choice, cut out individual biscuits
  • Place them on a sheet pan about one inch apart
  • Heat at 400 degrees for 8-12 minutes

METHOD FOR THE CHICKEN

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees
  • Cut the chicken into 1.5 oz pieces
  • season the chicken with salt and pepper
  • Lightly flour the chicken
  • Lightly oil a sheet pan
  • Place chicken in the pan
  • Cook for approximately 8 minutes until chicken is 165 degrees

Construct and enjoy!

RELATED: Where to Pick Up Alexandria’s Free School Meals During School Shutdown

Mary Wadland

Mary Wadland is the Publisher and Editor in Chief of The Zebra Press, founded by her in 2010. Originally from Delray Beach, Florida, Mary is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Hollins College in Roanoke, VA and has lived and worked in the Alexandria publishing community since 1987.

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