Brussels Sprouts and Mushrooms w/ Buttermilk Biscuits

Oddly enough, I've enjoyed Brussels Sprouts since I was a kid. But until just a few years ago I had only had them boiled. Lately though I have found a whole heap of recipes that utilize them in many different ways. Here is a stew that I particularly like. The recipe is adapted from one that is used in the dining halls at Middlebury College. At home I use a combination of fresh and dried mushrooms which include chanterelle, porcini, black trumpet, and portobello. In the dining hall we use button mushrooms. Up to you. I was never much at biscuits. But recently I learned how to make a very nice one, so I'll share it here and save you from using the frozen ones.

Preheat your oven to 425

1# Brussels Sprouts, cleaned and trimmed
3 strips of good bacon
1# assorted mushrooms
2 onions, medium dice
3T flour
2T butter
1/2 c red wine
3c chicken or vegetable stock
1 doz buttermilk biscuits (make them yourself, recipe follows)

Blanch and shock the Brussels Sprouts. Chop the bacon and render it in a stockpot or dutch oven. When crispy, remove the bacon and add the butter. Add the onions and mushrooms and saute until the onions are translucent and the mushrooms have rendered their liquid. Add the flour and cook roux for 3-5 minutes...a little color is a good thing. Deglaze with the wine and then add the stock. Add the Brussels Sprouts and the bacon bits and simmer for 30 minutes over low heat until the sprouts are softer and the gravy has thickened.

While the stew simmers, make these biscuits.

2c flour
1/4t baking soda
1T baking powder
1t salt
6T butter, cut into chunks
1c buttermilk

In a food processor, add the flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder. Pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter in chunks, it should be ice cold. Pulse a few times until the flour resembles cracker meal. Now dump in the buttermilk, turn on the processor and run it JUST UNTIL THE DOUGH STICKS TOGETHER. Not a minute more.
Dump the whole mess onto a floured board. Pat with your hands to about a half inch or so. This dough is soft and wet, so flour your hands if needed. Fold it on itself and pat it down again. Do that 3 more times. Now pat it down to about an inch or so thick. Use a cutter to make about 10 biscuits. Once you've cut all you can, pull the scraps together, pat to about an inch and cut out as many more as you can. I usually get 3 more.
Bake them on a cookie sheet, not touching for 11 minutes. This will give crispy sides that hold up better to the gravy.
The trick, I have learned, is to touch the dough as little as possible. The less you touch it, the better the biscuits taste and the more flaky they turn out.

Once the stew is done, top it with the biscuits and serve it up. Yum!