Chef Demo Recipe: Josh’s Skillet Biscuits with Spiced Peaches

Josh Henderson is CIA-trained (that’s Culinary Institute, not Central Intelligence) and the mastermind behind Skillet Street Food, the Airstream trailers serving up gourmet grub and gravy fries to Mariners fans, out-to-lunchers, and other bacon-jam-ophiles. Josh is also an extraordinarily nice guy, and we were thrilled that he consented to plunk his skillet on our hot plate. Which took a l-o-n-g time to get hot. When it did, wow. A dessert to reckon with — crunchy, sweet, creamy, tangy, and fragrant, this combo hit all the right notes. A bonus for slow burners: Josh schooled us on acids, salt, the care of cast iron, and how to proof crème fraîche next to a television. We hope he’ll keep coming back.

Chef Josh Henderson, peach of a guy. Photo by Valentina Vitols.

Josh’s Skillet Biscuits with Spiced Peaches and Sweet Crème Fraîche

Biscuits
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 T baking powder
2 T sugar
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups milk
oil and butter for frying biscuits

Mix dry ingredients together. Incorporate milk, making sure not to overmix. In a cast iron skillet, add 2 T butter and 2 T oil. When hot but not burning, add 2 T “drops” of batter, pressing down slightly to flatten the biscuit. Cook till golden brown on either side. Reserve.

Spiced Peaches
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 whole peaches, sliced
1 T lemon juice
1 tsp salt
1 star anise “clove”
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 T basil chiffonade
2 T butter

Sauté peaches with brown sugar, lemon juice and spices for approximately 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add butter and basil. Reserve.

Sweet Crème Fraîche
2 cups crème fraîche or sour cream
1 T lemon zest
2 T powdered sugar

Mix all ingredients together.

Assembly:
Place biscuit on plate and top with a tablespoon or two of spiced peaches and 1 T of sweetened crème fraîche. Enjoy.

Skillet biscuits. Photo by Valentina Vitols.