Restaurant Knockoff - Cheese and Garlic Biscuits

I have fond memories of Red Lobster. There, I said it.

When I was growing up my grandmother loved Red Lobster. It was one of the special meals we'd have when I'd visit her after she moved down South. At that time we had to drive about an hour to the closest store whereas now there's a Red Lobster less than 5 minutes from her apartment. I would always get a Caesar salad with my lunch so I could dip the Cheddar Bay Biscuits, hot from the oven, into the leftover dressing. Delicious.

I've see a lot of knockoff recipes floating around but this one for Cheese and Garlic Biscuits claims to be straight from the Red Lobster kitchens so I thought I'd give it a try.


Every time I've made a version of these I kick myself for not getting the yellow cheddar because the color is always wrong with the white cheddar. I must make a mental note to buy yellow cheddar soon. Unfortunately my biscuits weren't as crispy as Red Lobsters. I'm not sure why. Maybe they needed to bake longer? SP got me a huge box of buttermilk baking mix so I'll definitely try these again, upping the cooking time to 12 minutes. I only made half a batch since we were going out of town (to visit my grandmother, actually) and we ate all 6 in one sitting. Oops!

Cheese Garlic Biscuits
Red Lobster, Myrtle Beach via The Way to His Heart

2 cups buttermilk baking mix
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup butter or margarine melted
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Preheat oven to 450 F.

Combine buttermilk baking mix, milk and cheese with a wooden spoon until soft dough forms. Beat vigorously for 30 seconds.

Drop dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet, approximately two tablespoons per biscuit.

Bake 10-12 minutes, until golden brown and crispy.

Combine melted butter and garlic powder: brush over warm biscuits before removing from cookie sheet.

Serve warm.

Makes 10 to 12 biscuits.

Garlic Cheddar Biscuits

I'm really mourning the loss of natural light these days. My photos, which were never that great to begin with, are really suffering from the lack of daylight. I'm thinking it might be time to invest in a light box.

Anyway, on to the biscuits. I admit to loving the Garlic Cheddar Biscuits at Red Lobster. I have very fond memories of going there as a kid with my grandma. It was a special treat and I would eat a bunch of these biscuits with my Caesar salad. Yum!


I used a white cheddar because that's what we had on hand, but I wish I'd thought to buy yellow cheddar for the picture. I guess I'll just have to make these again and retake the photo. Oh darn.

Garlic Cheddar Biscuits
Sugared Whisk

2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
2 oz sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup whole milk
1/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (for topping)
4 tablespoons butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
Seasoned or garlic salt, to taste

Adjust oven rack upper-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or grease for easy removal of biscuits.

Whisk together flour, cheddar cheese, sugar, baking powder, salt, and garlic in a medium bowl. Add milk and stir until ingredients are mixed, be careful not to over mix. At this point the dough should be fairly sticky but not runny or dry. Add more flour or milk as needed to achieve desired consistency.

Scoop dough onto prepared baking sheet with a large cookie scoop (about 2 tablespoons worth of dough). Top each biscuit with a sprinkle of cheddar cheese. Bake for 20 minutes or until the tops of the biscuits begin to brown.

In a small bowl, melt the butter along with the garlic and parsley in the microwave. Brush tops with garlic butter mixture and sprinkle with garlic salt to taste.

Makes 12 biscuits

Herb and Lemon-Marinated Pork Tenderloin, Au Gratin Potatoes and Green Beans

I love pork tenderloins. They're so easy to cook and stay juicy and flavorful. I used the same marinade I used last time and it was delicious.


I need to get my act together to actually marinate these overnight, although if I do I'll cut down on the lemon since SP said it overwhelmed the thyme after just three hours. I served the pork with au gratin potatoes (boxed), green beans and leftover biscuits.

BBQ Chicken Dinner

My apologies - I'm so far behind it's overwhelming.

We invited our friends C & D over for a cookout back in early July. SP's been craving barbecued chicken so I boiled a cut-up chicken and some chicken thighs and finished them on the grill, basting with BBQ sauce:


He's also been asking for my corn fritters so I made a double batch of those:


Just look at that delicious golden-brown color and crispy edges:


These were sweet and addictive. I think D had about 5 or 6. SP made his drop biscuits:


...which are always yummy and buttery. C & D brought a delicious strawberry shortcake for dessert:

Breakfast Sandwich

We had some leftover biscuits from the batch SP made on Saturday so Sunday morning (after a very long but very productive trip to the wholesale club) I made us breakfast sandwiches:


These were like a kicked-up version of a McDonald's biscuit sandwich, with scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese (SP had Swiss) and two slices of crispy bacon. These were so good we didn't speak to each other the entire time we were eating.

Fall Dinner

My parents invited us over for dinner on Saturday and since the weather is decidedly fall these days my mom thought a roast chicken dinner with all the fixings sounded like a great idea. Here are the two beautiful birds she stuffed and roasted:


But I'm getting ahead of myself. We started with some snacks while we had drinks, including sundried tomatoes and mozzarella on little toasts:


I really love these tomatoes and mozzarella.


In addition to the chickens my mom roasted carrots, steamed green beans and sliced some cranberry sauce:


Yes, we like the jellied cranberry sauce from a can. Don't hate us. She also made creamy, buttery mashed potatoes and gravy from the pan drippings:


SP made his amazing, buttery biscuits:


Here's the table all laid out for dinner:


My plate, with a little bit of everything:


This was one fantastic meal! The chicken couldn't have been more tender or juicy and all the sides were delicious. This was a good trial run for Thanksgiving since we have pretty much the same meal on that day as well.

After dinner we played Scrabble (I won, yay!) and then everyone enjoyed the pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting I'd made earlier that day.

Fried Chicken Dinner

On Saturday it was pouring rain so we couldn't grill. We had leftover buttermilk in the fridge so SP asked for fried chicken. I didn't feel like standing over the stove frying the chicken so I decided to try Ina's recipe for Oven Fried Chicken:


It worked out great. You fry the chicken for a few minutes and then finish it in the oven. The outside got nice and crispy and I had 30 minutes to get the mashed potatoes and corn together without stressing. Our only complaint was that the coating wasn't very thick. Next time I'll double coat with the buttermilk and flour.


Earlier in the day SP made buttermilk biscuits:


I cooked some corn on the cob:


... and we had mashed potatoes to round out the meal:

Fried Chicken Dinner

SP asked for some kind of fried chicken so I made it for dinner last night.


I used boneless chicken breasts that I dredged in flour, egg and bread crumbs. We also had corn fritters, mashed potatoes, and the biscuits SP made.

Chicken and Biscuits

Recently I've discovered that Everyday Food recipes can be hit or miss. I've had luck with some recipes, but this one for Chicken and Biscuits didn't go over so well.


I thought it was fine - certainly not craveable or something I'd be in a hurry to make again - but SP, a man who will eat just about anything and ask for seconds, did not like this meal. In fact, he didn't even take leftovers for lunch. Shocking.

I'm so glad this marks the end of the bake-off biscuits. We got three on sale and the processed flavor was starting to get to me. Next time we need biscuits I'll ask SP to make them. They were so, so much better then the ones from a can.

Breakfast with C&T

The weather was awful on Saturday so since we were planning a late night at C&T's we decided to stay over. C&T were incredibly gracious hosts and despite the time change kicking all our butts, T was up early making a sensational breakfast. Just look at this plate of food:

T mentioned to me earlier in the week that she made a mean sausage gravy. In all my years of loving breakfast I have never tried sausage gravy. She serves hers over biscuits:


It might not look that appetizing, but this was absolutely amazing. So amazing that I asked for the recipe and I'm planning to make it for Sunday breakfast this week:


T also scrambled some eggs with cut-up pieces of beef from dinner the night before:


I had my eggs plain, but SP was in heaven. Steak and eggs is a winning combination in his book. T also used some of the potatoes from the night before to make potatoes with onions and peppers:


Thank you again for such a fantastic weekend. We had a blast! Next time we'll do Eggs Benedict at our house.

Fried Chicken & Biscuits

SP has been craving fried chicken recently so that's what we had for Sunday dinner:


I tried a new recipe that involved marinating the chicken in buttermilk and seasonings and then dredging in seasoned flour. I knew I should have double-coated the chicken, but I was following the recipe to the letter. Unfortunately most of the coating fell off during the cooking process. I wish I could remember what recipe I used the last time I made fried chicken (which, admittedly, was ages and ages ago).

To go with the fried chicken SP made biscuits:


These things are ridiculously good. But really, how can you go wrong with butter? He doubled the recipe and made larger biscuits so they'd be more substantial. Absolutely fantastic!

My plate:


... with a chicken breast (moist and juicy), a biscuit and mashed potatoes.

Turkey Dinner

On Sunday we were both in the mood for a homey, comforting meal so we defrosted the turkey breast we got during the Thanksgiving promotion at our supermarket. I roasted it in a 350-degree oven for about 2 hours, seasoned only with salt, pepper and butter. It came out perfect - moist, juicy and full of savory turkey flavor. Finally, no undertone of sweetness. I'm keeping it simple from now on.


I served it with mashed potatoes made only with Plugra, salt and pepper, steamed broccoli and cranberry sauce. SP felt like making biscuits so he threw these together while the turkey finished cooking. We loved the flavor but thought the biscuits were way too small. SP is now on a mission to create the perfect biscuit. I'll keep you posted.

Beefed Up Biscuits

I dug this one out of the "haven't-made-since-last-year" file when SP said we had some ground beef that needed to be used up.


I love this recipe because the filling is so versatile (we're already thinking of things we can add to it to make it more of a complete meal) and the cheddar biscuits are just so darn tasty.

Since I enjoyed the last salad I made so much I threw together another one for myself:


... using iceburg lettuce, tomato, cucumber, more of those tasty olives and scallions dressed simply with red wine vinegar and oil.