Fanaticism — The word fanatical has gotten a bad rap. Fanatic implies passion, and passion is the antidote for an uneventful life that fails Thoreau’s litmus test for a life worth living. And so it is with a friend of ours that is fanatical about her biscuits. This includes monthly shipments of the special flour direct from the manufacturer.

I don’t know how or why (well, maybe I do, given that I’m not exactly short on the fanaticism ingredient myself) … but one day she exchanged with me her multi-page dissertation on how to make the perfect biscuit. Dissertation? Yes, not a recipe, but rather a manifesto.

Fanatical Biscuits

In her honor today I share the results of my morning brunch prep: buttermilk biscuits, hearty bacon, red peppers fried in bacon grease, and cilantro scrambled eggs with more buttermilk.

Secret ingredient: dried beef slices folded into the biscuits – wow! Why is this not a thing?

Music accompaniment: Leonard Cohen’s final album You Want It Darker – it goes well with the dried beef.

Chipped Beef Biscuits and its supporting cast