Stories from the Recipe Box

        
What does your recipe box say about you? That is the premise of Utne Reader's article "Uncovering the Past Through Recipes". It is a great question to ask. I actually did two winters ago when I visited my grandparents in Arizona. My granny has an old recipe box and a binder of recipes she's made throughout the years. It speaks of Swedish and German ancestry, 1950's white middle class foods, and lot's of love. I even copied recipes for classic Swedish Potato Sausage, rosettes, and crispy rolls (the latter of which I still can't make...Dang baking).

Collecting recipes and stories here at The S. Kitchen, I wonder what it says about me. My collection is a weird amalgamation of cuisines from around the world. It boasts lots of spicy flavors, and pork seems to be a key ingredient. And the format isn't your typical recipe box. It's not about secret recipes and ingredients. It is about sharing, connecting, and loving through food.

Please let me know your thoughts and stories about your families cooking traditions or the recipes posted here. It is always a pleasure to hear from you dear readers and friends.

"Uncovering the Past Through Recipes"

Cuisine: Sweet Potato, Pear, and Ginger Biscuits

So...since I have been un(der)employed, I have been trying my hand at new things and slowing down. One of those things is baking. This weekend, I experimented with biscuits and surprised myself. These are fantastic! It may sound like an odd combination of ingredients, but the end result is a delicious, moist, and succulently sweet biscuit. In fact, we ate them all in two days. Not that we should have, but we did.

As many of you may know, my cooking always entails a lot of steps and takes a wee bit of time. I am also lousy at writing recipes down. Well! Here is a recipe that is fairly simple and written down exactly as my memory recalled. And as I age, my memory fails me more and more.

So...Let me know how these turn out for you. I'd love to hear the stories they inspire.

Xo,
Jason

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Ingredients

• 3 small sweet potatoes, peeld and cut into 2 inch sections
• 2 pears, peel, quartered, and cored
• 2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and diced
• 1/2 teaspoon ground clove
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup oats
• 2/3 cup milk
• 2 1/2 cups Bisquick, plus additional 1/3 cup
• 1/3 cup butter, soft
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, plus additional 1/2 cup
• Real maple syrup (optional)
  

Directions

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add ground ginger and let seep for 5 minutes. Then add cut sweet potatoes and boil for 10 minutes. Next, add pears and boil until sweet potatoes are soft, about 3-5 more minutes. Drain and mash the ginger, sweet potatoes, and pears with the clove and cinnamon. Set aside to cool.

In a small mixing bowl, combine oats and milk. Soak for 5 plus minutes.

In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 1/2 cups Bisquick, 1/3 cup butter, and 1/2 cup brown sugar. Mix together lightly. Add sweet potato mixture and oat mixture. Gently stir together ingredients. If mixture sticks to the side of the bowls, add additional Bisquick one tablespoon at a time. Stop when mixture is still slightly lumpy and pulls away from the edges of the bowl.

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Grease a cast iron skillet or a heavy glass pan with butter (or spray with Pam). Using a 1/3 cup, scoop the biscuit mixture into a large ball and place on skillet or pan. Pan should hold 5 to 6 biscuits. Then sprinkle about 1 tablespoon brown sugar and drizzle a little maple syrup over each biscuit.

Bake for about 15 minutes. Check at 12 minutes. Biscuits are done when toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Enjoy with butter. Mmm...Tasty!