Country Ham Biscuits
A small, flaky baking powder biscuit, split and filled with a thin slice of salty country ham. Savory, deep, almost umami under the buttery dough: the traveling snack.
A small, flaky baking powder biscuit, split and filled with a thin slice of salty country ham. Savory, deep, almost umami under the buttery dough: the traveling snack.
When I boarded the train for Washington to defend my patents, my tin box never left me. The biscuit must be worked with a light hand, without kneading — otherwise it becomes hard as a shoe sole, and who would want such a snack? You split it while still warm, slip inside a thin slice of country ham, well salted, and let it cool before wrapping it in a cloth. Thus armed, I could discuss mechanics for hours without a pang of hunger.
- •Wheat flour — as needed (biscuit)
- •Lard or butter — a good amount (flakiness)
- •Buttermilk (fermented milk) — as needed (binding and rise)
- •Baking soda / baking powder — a pinch (leavening)
- •Country ham (salted, cured) — thin slices (filling)
- •Salt — a pinch (seasoning)
Country Ham Biscuits
A small, flaky baking powder biscuit, split and filled with a thin slice of salty country ham. Savory, deep, almost umami under the buttery dough: the traveling snack.
Why this dish? Beulah Henry traveled constantly: from Raleigh to New York, and all the way to the Patent Office in Washington to defend her inventions. The ham biscuit is the quintessential Southern travel bite — sturdy, savory, slips into a tin box and lasts for hours on the train.
When I boarded the train for Washington to defend my patents, my tin box never left me. The biscuit must be worked with a light hand, without kneading — otherwise it becomes hard as a shoe sole, and who would want such a snack? You split it while still warm, slip inside a thin slice of country ham, well salted, and let it cool before wrapping it in a cloth. Thus armed, I could discuss mechanics for hours without a pang of hunger.
Ingredients (period version)
- Wheat flour — as needed (biscuit)
- Lard or butter — a good amount (flakiness)
- Buttermilk (fermented milk) — as needed (binding and rise)
- Baking soda / baking powder — a pinch (leavening)
- Country ham (salted, cured) — thin slices (filling)
- Salt — a pinch (seasoning)
Ingredients
- Pastry flour — 300 g (biscuit)
- Cold butter — 90 g (flakiness)
- Buttermilk (or milk + 1 tsp lemon juice) — 200 ml (rise)
- Baking powder — 1 packet (11 g) (leavening)
- Baking soda — 1/2 tsp (crumb)
- Salt — 1 tsp (seasoning)
- Aged dry-cured ham (or country ham), thinly sliced — 150 g (filling)
- Softened butter — a little (spread inside)
Method
- Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Rub in cold butter cubes, working lightly (you want visible butter pieces).
- Add buttermilk all at once, mix just to bring the dough together (do not knead).
- Roll out to 2 cm, fold in thirds, roll out once more for flakiness, then cut with a biscuit cutter.
- Bake at 220°C for 12-15 minutes until golden and well risen.
- Split the warm biscuits, butter lightly, slide in a slice of ham. Let cool before wrapping for travel.
How it was made : Country ham is a dry-salted, long-aged ham typical of Virginia and the Carolinas, very salty to preserve without refrigeration. Slipped into a buttermilk biscuit, it formed the travel and work snack of the rural South. Tin boxes were filled with them for train journeys, markets, and days in the fields.
The contemporary twist : Add a touch of honey mustard inside and serve them warm as an appetizer platter: the ham biscuit becomes a chic reception bite.
Sources : Mrs. S. R. Dull, Southern Cooking, 1928 · John Egerton, Southern Food: At Home, on the Road, in History, Knopf, 1987
Beulah Henry · Charactorium