Molly Wizenberg Sweet Potato Biscuits with Ham, Mustard and Honey

Sweet Potato Biscuits with Ham, Mustard and Honey

Here it is Friday again and our group has now reached #20 on the list of Gourmet Live's 50 Women Game Changers. For the past few months we have been experimenting with dishes from each of the 50 influential women on "the list" so far. Whether you agree or disagree with the authors chosen fifty and their order it has been an enjoyable and creative outlet to cook from the masters. We have checked out books from the library, borrowed cookbooks from friends, surfed the Internet and browsed our own cookbook collections seeking that one recipe that will highlight that weeks outstanding woman.

If you are a foodie, you will know the name Molly Wizenberg. She's a Seattle-based food writer who is best known in our world from her pioneering food blog Orangette. It is here that we first discovered her friendly, conversational approach to writing, cooking and exploring food where each post is a jewel box with an impeccable recipe attached. She has been compared to such greats as M.F.K. Fisher and has thousands of fans, me included. The foods she writes about and photographs, she said, helps her understand who she is and where she came from, her city and the people in her life. "It's a way of making sense of the world."

She writes a regular column in  Bon Appetit, has written a New York Times bestseller (A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table). Reading her blog is an intimate experience; reading her memoir of losing her father and falling in love with her husband is even more so. Back in 2005 Brandon Pettit wrote her that her writing was exactly how he felt about food and life. Two months later, after an intense cross-country romance, she introduced him to her readers. The next year, they were engaged, and Brandon bought a one-way ticket to Seattle where they now own a popular pizzeria Delancy.

One of my favourite well-travelled bloggers Mary of One Perfect Bite invited bloggers to travel along on a culinary journey throughout the year. Gourmet Live brought out a list of the 50 most influential women in food...Fifty women game changers. Some are chefs, some are food writers, and some are women who are passionate about the creative process. You could certainly add or detract women from this list, but no matter what these women have all influenced us in one way or another. Being a woman and passionate about food myself I wanted to explore and join Mary on this journey and not only learn from the masters but recreate some of their dishes to better understand what has shaped and molded them into who they are today. In doing so I have learned more about myself, and have learned more than a few new recipes and techniques. My cohorts for this adventure can be found below. If you would like to join in  please contact Mary. This is an informal event and you have the flexibility to follow along when you can. We have reached #20 on the list of 50. We post every Friday.

Let's see what we have been up to with our 20th game changer....

Mary of One Perfect Bite - Gâteau au Citron (French Style Yogurt Cake with Lemon)

Val of More Than Burnt Toast - Sweet Potato Biscuits with Ham, Mustard and Honey
Joanne of Eats Well With Others  - Green Lentil Soup with Coconut Milk and Warm Spices
Susan of The Spice Garden  -  Dorons Meatballs with Pine Nuts, Cilantro and Golden Raisins
Taryn of Have Kitchen, Will Feed  - Apple Butter
Heather of Girlichef  - Scottish Scones with Lemon and Ginger
Miranda of Mangoes and Chutney - Cream of Scallop Soup
Jeanette at Jeanette's Healthy Living  - Chana Masala
Katie - Making Michael Pollan Proud
Kathleen Van Bruinisse at Bake Away with Me
Sue of View from The Great Island - Salted Peanut Butter Cookies
Barbara of Moveable Feasts - Jimmy’s Triple Chocolate Scones
Nancy of Picadillo - Apple and Butternut Squash Soup

What I love about Molly's cooking is that her style is eclectic, so just like my own Canadian roots she has a melting pot of cultures to choose from. These are flaky, buttery, perfectly seasoned biscuits. The naturally sweet and fruity, mashed sweet potatoes add a delicious and unexpected flavour. The salty ham and tangy mustard balanced these well for a memorable breakfast treat. If you've made biscuits before, then you know how easy these will be. The only change I made to the recipe is to chill the butter thoroughly, or you could even freeze it, and then grate it into the flour mixture, a little trick I learned from the Food Network that works beautifully every time.

In a few short minutes I am headed for a shopping adventure, but what would be an adventure be without some serious foodie time. I am going to go to a Cider Mill as well as a town in the Cascade Mountains that leaves you feeling you are in Bavaria. Schnitzel anyone!!! Camera in tow I hope to have some adventures to share with you all.

**Sweet Potato Biscuits with Ham, Mustard, and Honey**

Bon Appétit December 2009 by Molly Wizenberg

• 1 3/4-pound red-skinned sweet potato (yam), peeled, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon (packed) dark brown sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick, 1/2 cup) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes, plus 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/3 cup chilled buttermilk
• Dijon mustard
• 6 ounces thinly sliced country ham or Black Forest ham
• Honey

1. Cook sweet potato in medium saucepan of boiling salted water until tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain, cool, and mash.

2. Position rack in lower third of oven; preheat to 425°F. Butter bottom and sides of 9-inch cake pan with 1 1/2-inch-high sides.

3. Whisk flour and next 5 ingredients in large bowl. Add cubed butter to flour mixture (or do as I do and grate the butter directly into the bowl then just toss it with the flour); toss to coat and rub in with fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Whisk 3/4 cup mashed sweet potatoes and buttermilk in medium bowl. Add to flour mixture; toss with fork. Gather mixture in bowl, kneading until dough comes together. Turn dough out onto floured work surface and pat into 1-inch-thick round. Using 11/2-inch round biscuit cutter, cut out biscuits, flouring cutter after each cut. Gather scraps; pat into 1-inch-thick round. Cut out additional biscuits (do not reuse scraps more than once).

4. Arrange biscuits side by side in prepared cake pan. Brush with melted butter. Bake until puffed and golden on top and tester inserted into center biscuit comes out clean, about 22 minutes. Cool 10 minutes in pan. Turn biscuits out and gently pull them apart. Cut each biscuit in half crosswise.

5. Spread bottom half of each biscuit with mustard, then top each with sliced ham and second half of biscuit. Serve with honey.

You are reading this post on More Than Burnt Toast at http://morethanburnttoast.blogspot.com. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to the author and or owner of More Than Burnt Toast. All rights reserved by Valerie Harrison.