Category Archives: biscuitsandsuch news

Aug 15 1 comments
biscuitsandsuch news, gelato, sorbetto, and ice cream

Habanero Peach Sorbet

I have a lot of other things to discuss with you today so I thought I’d get business out of the way first.  You remember my habanero dilemma, yes?  Not much has changed in that department.  Actually, if anything, I have more habaneros than ever.  They just keep on coming and the more I use the more flowers those damn plants put out.  Dear Nature, this is why people turn against you.  I’ve put up a batch of peach habanero jam, habanero simple syrup, spicy pickled red onions, I’ve froze and roasted them, I’ve given a bunch away, and I made this sorbet.  This sorbet, which is singlehandedly the weirdest thing I’ve ever created.  At first, it’s all sweet and refreshing.  And then, after you swallow it gets SPICY and there is that signature habanero low and slow burn.  Delicious, yet completely disarming.  If you like taste anomalies or have a lot of habaneros to use up, I suggest you try it.

The next order of business is a personal dilemma.  As you may recall, just over three months ago we moved from Takoma Park to Baltimore.  Our apartment in Takoma Park, while small, irregularly temperatured, and leaky, had one thing going for it- the kitchen.  The kitchen was beautiful and drool worthy and had completely amazing light.  I was able to take photos with ample natural light, which gave my subjects dimension and beauty.  As long as I was cooking when the sun was up I needed nothing but an unblocked window to get beautiful photos.  Oh, how I took that for granted.  And our new apartment (despite its incredible yard) has a kitchen whose giant window looks into an alley.  A dark alley with no direct sunlight.

At first I thought it would be alright.  The lights in the kitchen are pretty white, so I figured it would be possible to take decent photos.  And compared to the dozens (upon dozens) of other crappy apartment kitchens we saw, this one looked pretty great with its dishwasher and cabinet space.  I have discovered, however, that I am flailing.  The photos I’ve been taking the past few months, either here or over at iVillage, have been flat, slightly off colored, and unappealing.  They lack that beautiful allure that natural light provides, the light that makes you want to snatch that pie right off of the windowsill.  So I’m here today asking for your advice.  Now, keep in mind, money is a little tight.  I definitely don’t have the means to buy a lot of crazy new equipment.  I recognize that something has got to give, so any suggestions you might have for my particular problems.  Not necessarily a quick fix because I’m dedicated to changing the situation, but a better solution than me carrying pans outside into the back yard to photograph them as I cook.  Because that’s my next step.

Now, in other (happier) news, I have a very exciting something to announce.  Now, if you’re around on twitter or facespace you’ll have seen this or heard wind of it, but on Friday my mother and I were photographed for the May 2011 issue of Southern Living Magazine.  I KNOW, RIGHT?  It’s been pretty crazy exciting on this end.  This all came about almost a year ago when the lovely Marian Cooper Cairns reached out to me to see if I was interested in being involved with Southern Living.  It evolved from there through many stages of me telling myself not to be too optimistic and on Thursday Marian (the food stylist/writer), Alison (the stylist), and Jennifer (the photographer) arrived in Baltimore.  We went out for an awesome dinner on Thursday night at The Brewer’s Art and on Friday the shoot went down.  (Thanks to Megan for taking the photos).

We shot at Cylburn Arboretum, a gorgeous park just north of us.  And despite on and off rain all day we were able to take a few hours worth of photos.  The photo taking itself was pretty crazy, lots of posing and doing the same gestures again and again so that they could get exactly what they had in mind.  It was really interesting to watch them work, and really enlightening to see Marian’s vision come to life.  Mom and I both had fun and if Megan’s photos are any indication of what Jennifer’s will look like, it is going to be amazing.  Now we just have to sit back, relax, and cross our fingers that it gets published!

Habanero Peach Sorbet

4 peaches

2 habaneros

2 cups sugar

2 cups water

Juice of 1 lemon

Slice your peaches into 1/2″ wide slices, skin on.  Cut small slits into each side of your habaneros.  Be very careful with your hands after handling the peppers.  Bring sugar and water to boil.  Add peaches, habanero, and lemon juice.  Lower heat and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Let cool to room temperature.

When your mixture is cool, fish out your habaneros and process the rest of the mixture in an ice cream maker.

Aug 10 3 comments
biscuitsandsuch news, store

Me, Myself, and My Cast Iron Pan

Today, if you look to the sidebar, you’ll see that the brand new Biscuits and Such Store, complete with bells and whistles, is open.  This store, you may remember from the doofy video I showed a few weeks ago, is meant to work as a platform through which I can share products with you that I actually, genuinely, love.  What’s so exciting about this opportunity, for me, is that the whole philosophy behind Open Sky is honesty and trust.  I won’t ever be pressured to promote something to you that I don’t myself use, or that I haven’t hand picked because it’s awesome.

Here’s how the shop will work.  Essentially there are three ways that you can buy a product through me.  First, you can go directly to my profile on Open Sky.  This will allow you to browse through everything I’ve added, check out what I wrote about it, and purchase as you’d like.  You’ll also be able to browse through everything Open Sky offers, which is quite a lot.  The second way to buy through B&S is in the Biscuits and Such Store page right here on the website.  This page, which will evolve as I grow the shop, will show you the same content that the Open Sky profile provides with the added bonus of being able to purchase something without ever leaving my site.  The final way to purchase something will be through individual posts.  Here’s the thing.  I’m probably not going to write about every product I add to the shop.  I will tweet about them or promote them on facebook, but not everything will get an individual post.  Products that do get individual posts, however, will have an “add to cart” button in them so that if you are so moved you can buy the product I’m talking about without ever leaving the post.  I’m making it so easy for you.

The first product that I wanted to write about is the product (beyond our coffee pot) that gets the most use in our house.  It’s the product that I don’t even bother to put it away because I use it for everything.  It’s the product that if you were scrolling through my archives you would see more often than any other dish, pan, or utensil.  It’s my cast iron pan.  And I know it’s such a stereotype that I’m a southern cook who never uses anything but my cast iron pan but I have to tell you, this thing is magic.  Everything from bacon to caramel gets made in this bad boy and the best part is that each dish, every time that the pan is used, it gets a little better.  I got to pick the one product from my kitchen that I wanted to promote and ladies and gents, this is the product I would scream off my rooftop about.

So that’s it.  This is a product I love.  If you don’t have one, I am telling you this pan will change your life, even if it’s just making it easier to fry an egg every morning.  When I say I use this pan 1000% percent more than I use the fancy expensive stainless steel pans we saved up for, I’m not bullshitting you.  So, if you’d like to bring this product into your life, and if you’d like to support Biscuits and Such while doing it, I’ve given you all the tools.  And, if you order anything from OpenSky between now and August 16, you get free shipping (use the code FREESHIPPING). Mazel tov.

Jul 28 2 comments
biscuitsandsuch news

Coming Soon- The Biscuits and Such Store

On August 10, something is coming to Biscuits and Such- an in-site store!  For the almost two years (eek!) that Biscuits and Such has been around we’ve had a small Amazon based store.  This store allowed me to recommend to you products that I was excited about, which was a great opportunity.  Unfortunately, the store was unsuccessful at best and I never did much about it.

Recently, I was approached by a company called the Open Sky Project.  They’re launching an online initiative that allows people to buy from sources that they trust.  I love the idea because as an avid blog reader I take recommendations from my favorite bloggers to heart, I find a lot of great products by reading blogs.  I loved the idea of being able to share things that have been working for me in my kitchen with you.

Because this is a food blog that is largely recipe based I’ve never been comfortable with the idea of posting just product reviews, sponsored or not, into the blog.  So here’s what I’m promising you.  These will be products that I am actually using, products that I bought for myself and that I’ve found successful.  Sometimes there will be giveaways, sometimes I will highlight a product with a recipe post.  But I will never try and sell you something that I don’t believe in, or that I wouldn’t use.  I’m so excited about this opportunity, I think it’ll be great for both of us.

In conclusion, I recorded this clip as part of a large promotional package for Open Sky.  I thought we could all laugh at it together.

Open Sky Promotional Video from elena rosemond-hoerr on Vimeo.

Jun 06 3 comments
biscuitsandsuch news

Burgers 101

Recently, a friend and blog reader made a request.  She asked for a how-to post on burgers, not unlike the one I did for steak or slicing an onion.  And because I really appreciate requests, and Erin is awesome (she gave Dan and I internships with her institution and is practically the reason we’re married), here it is.  i know that I’ve posted other burger recipes on this site that include a lot of pop and whiz but usually, when we eat hamburgers, we’re purists about the burger itself.  That means ground beef, usually somewhere in the 80% lean range, with sea salt and pepper.  This is enough for me, it lets the flavor of the beef and the grill speak.  And that’s the flavor I want.

First, you want to season your meat.  In a large bowl, combine ground beef with 1 tbsp of salt and 1/2 tbsp pepper.  Next, it needs to be shaped.  Shaping a burger is a two step process. Start by putting about a quarter cup to a third of a cup’s worth of meat in your palm.  Use your hands to shape the meat into a firm ball, nicely round and totally together.  Then, use both hands to flatten the patty.  The burger should be 4 or 5 inches in diameter, and 1/2″ thick.

Now, get your grill nice and hot.  Once your grill is ready, give your patties a final squish (particularly in the middle where they tend to puff), and throw them on the grill.  For a burger cooked to a medium doneness, which is slightly pink in the middle, cook it for 5-7 minutes each side.  Just like with steak, you only want to flip it once.  Stick it on the grill, put the lid down and walk away.  Resist the urge to press it down with your spatula or hover, it needs to cook.  Flip, and cook an additional 5-7 minutes.  For a burger cooked medium rare, bring the time down to 3-5 minutes per side, and for medium well, bump up to 7-9 minutes.  Let rest a few minutes and enjoy!

Mar 31 0 comments
biscuitsandsuch news

Like. Love.

I like smoothies.

I love pie.

I like spring.

I love summer.

I like cherry blossoms.

I love jonquils.

Now you can “like” posts on Biscuits & Such.

Because the man I love is a wizard with the internets.

In the upcoming redesign, I am hoping he will allow you to “love” a post.

Because sometimes, “like” isn’t enough.

Internet, I love you.

(photos taken with my iphone via the hipstamatic app.)