Beaten Biscuits

Recently we entertained some insurance company executives from Syracuse, New York. Rather than taking them out to eat, hubby wanted to have them come to the house for a more relaxed, social event. We decided to include the office, some local agents, and make it a real party. I love to get out the little used "good" dishes and silver so I agreed to "cater" the dinner.

Knowing, from past visits, that the execs were food lovers, I decided to give them a true "southern" meal. Over the years I have discovered that each section of the country has its own distinctive cuisine. In the south you will find dishes that are unique to the area. Paula Dean has probably done more to spread the lure of southern cooking than anyone. She has labeled herself the Queen of Butter, but it is a fact that southern cooking is a little heavy on the fats and sugars, but oh, so good. I wanted to present a typical southern meal but also keep it easy to eat.

Meat was the biggest problem. I wanted to have country ham but knew that it is an acquired taste and they might not acquire it quick enough. So, to be sure, I decided to have city ham too. Now for the uninitiated, country ham is salt cured and hangs to age for 6-12 months. The salt pulls the moisture out of the ham and seals the ham against spoilage. The result is a rich, dark ham with an intense flavor. Southerners can't get enough of it. City ham on the other hand, is sugar cured and is the pink, delicate ham you find on most Easter tables. To make eating easier, I decided to serve it on biscuits that could be eaten out of hand.

Now the fun begins. In the south there are biscuits and then there are beaten biscuits. Regular biscuits are just what you think they are. Light, fluffy, quick breads, cut into little rounds and baked to golden deliciousness. However, die-hard southerners think that country ham just has to be eaten on a beaten biscuit. These are not your typical biscuit. The recipe for beaten biscuits goes back to colonial times. I don't know why they were developed except maybe to come up with a biscuit when leavening agents were in short supply. Most recipes use very little, if any, baking powder. Maybe it was because of their keeping qualities, since they remain about the same for days on end. Whatever the reason they are a uniquely southern item.

To make them you need a dough made from flour, lard, (yes, lard) and milk and water. Originally, they were then beaten 100 times with the flat of a hatchet, folding and turning as you beat. Let me tell you, women back then weren't weak sisters! The beating builds the gluten in the flour until the dough becomes very smooth and elastic. They are then rolled out, pricked with a fork and baked to a delicate golden brown. The resulting biscuit is like a thick cracker but slightly softer. Split it becomes the perfect receptacle for a tender piece of ham.

Sometime around 100 years ago, someone developed a machine to help in the beating process. It is called a biscuit brake and looks a lot like the ringers from an old ringer washer attached to a table. Except the ringers are metal clad and turned by a large crank handle. With this, instead of beating the dough you put in through the ringers, folding it each time. You still have to do it 100 times, but it's a lot easier. At the end of the process the dough has become slick and will pop from the trapped air in the turned fold. Then you know you are done.

I had made beaten biscuits as a child for a neighbor lady. A friend and I were the crank turners for her biscuits. We would spend a whole afternoon cranking for all the hot biscuits we could eat. I spent the first 20 years of our marriage, looking for a biscuit brake of my own. Finally, I found one, which is what we used to crank out these unique southern delicacies.

The good news. There is hope for the north yet, The folks from New York were intrigued with the little hard bisucits and decided they were delicious. In fact they ate more than the locals did. Success!