If you want to see unadulterated happiness, give a chubby grown man (me) a biscuit fresh from the oven.
A just-baked biscuit, still warm to the touch, is a beautiful thing. With its crunchy, craggy exterior and soft, buttery center, a biscuit encapsulates everything comforting about baking. It starts life as just flour and fat — as simple as baking can get — and the best versions don’t overcomplicate the formula, which is all about patience and practice. The oven must be just right and the dough kneaded just so. Put in too much muscle, and you end up with an edible geode. Whether using butter or cream (ideally, both), a good biscuit is more gentle alchemy than exact science; it’s a confluence of simplicity and scrupulousness that can be subtly mastered — or easily screwed up.
But why take that chance when you can just go to Lillie’s Q?
The Bucktown barbecue joint, owned by chef Charlie McKenna, turns out an ethereal biscuit, as flaky and light as it is richly comforting. A perfect biscuit releases a puff of steam upon being cracked open — a satisfying breath — and this beauty does just that, revealing a soft, inviting middle.
A hearty eater would be hard-pressed to overlook the option of smothering the biscuit in savory sausage gravy and perfectly fried eggs ($11 on the new weekend brunch menu). But for biscuit purists, the simple biscuit and jam, sweet as summer and only $3, is all you’ll need.
Lillie’s Q, 1856 W. North Ave., 773-772-5500, www.lilliesq.com
[email protected]
Twitter @joeybear85
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