let's have a ball and a biscuit, sugar

These biscuits are perfect for sopping up turkey gravy.  I suppose they'd do nicely under some breakfast sausage and gravy for a hearty start to Black Friday also.  The original recipe called for 3/4 cup of shredded cheddar cheese which might put these over the top...feel free to add it with the bacon.

Bacon Scallion Biscuits
adapted from Gourmet February 1997

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh sage leaves
5 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut into pieces
4 scallions, greens included, trimmed and chopped
5 bacon slices, cooked almost crisp and chopped
3/4 cup cold buttermilk (shake it first, duh)

Preheat oven to 450°F. Line a baking sheet with a silpat or parchment paper.  Put 10 or so fresh sage leaves in the bowl of a food processor*.  Pulse until well chopped.  Add flour, baking powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt to food processor, pulse 2-3 times to mix well.  Add cold butter* and pulse until mixture resembles meal.  Add bacon and Scallions, process for 20 seconds. Add buttermilk and process until mixture just forms a dough.  Pour dough out onto a lightly floured surface.  Flour your hands, gather dough into a ball,  and knead gently a few times (no more than 5 or so, don't overwork the dough).  Press dough to 1 inch thick round.  Using a 2-inch cutter, cut rounds from dough and arrange 1 inch apart on baking sheet.  Reform scraps of dough into another 1 inch round, working dough as little as possible, and continue cutting. Bake biscuits in middle of oven 10 - 15 minutes until browned.

*If you don't have a food processor, use a bowl and your hands.  Work the butter in quickly, rubbing between your fingers.  Obviously your fingers will not chop the sage - for that I suggest a knife.

**I cut the butter as soon as it comes out of the fridge and then keep the pieces in a bowl in the freezer while I assemble the dry ingredients.