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1
Preheat oven to 375. Sift all dry ingredients together. Cut one stick butter into tablespoon-sized pats, and cut into dry ingredients with a fork or pastry blender until it looks like coarse crumbs.
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2
Toss with grated cheese (I often use a combo of whatever kinds of firm cheeses I have in my fridge).
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3
Add milk, and stir just enough for dry ingredients to all come together. If dough is too dry and crumbly add a little more milk.
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4
Turn out onto a floured board and knead only two or three times -- enough to incorporate everything. Form into a ball and pat or roll out to about 1 inch thick.
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5
Use a small biscuit cutter -- I find a small tomato paste can, both ends cut out, makes a great cutter for cocktail sized biscuits -- to cut out biscuits. Place on ungreased baking sheet. At this point, if you're making in advance, you can freeze the biscuits on the baking sheet, then remove to a plastic bag. Allow to thaw before baking.
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6
Melt remaining half-stick of butter and brush tops of biscuits. Bake until golden brown, and cool on a rack.
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7
Cut bacon into 1-inch pieces and toss into heavy Dutch oven. Cook over medium high heat, stirring periodically, until starting to crisp.
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8
Dice onion and mince garlic, and add to bacon. If you're concerned about the fat content (It IS bacon, after all), drain off some of the fat first, leaving 3 tablespoons or so. Lower heat to medium and cook until onion starts to brown, about 8 minutes or so.
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9
Add remaining ingredients. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover, and cook for an hour or two. Stir occasionally, and add water if it gets too thick.
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10
When bacon is very tender, remove from heat and let cool for 30 minutes or so. Transfer to food processor -- you may need to do this in batches, depending on the size of your processor -- and pulse until mixture is the consistency you want.
