Whether you like themflakyorfluffy, fresh buttermilk biscuits are one of those things in life that you just shouldn't turn down—I know I don't. It's basically a sin to reject the warm pastry hug of a biscuit just out of the oven. So as I was flipping through Jonathan Melendez's new cookbook,The Slider Effect, one recipe really caught my eye:baked-potato buttermilk biscuits. Hold the phone—there's a baked potato in these biscuits?
It wasn't entirely without precedent. The tenderness of Edna Lewis'sfeatherlight yeast rollsis attributed to a baked potato, and I've tried goldensweet potato biscuits. Plus I've heard Marco Canora of NYC'sHearth(aka the Gnocchi Whisperer) say that a dry, starchy baked potato is the secret to light and fluffy gnocchi. It seemed reasonable that a baked potato could have the same effect on a biscuit.
I baked up a batch, and as I tasted the warm biscuits, I was sold. The potato did in fact impart a tender fluffiness. Although I grew up a flaky biscuit fan (the more layers the better!), my colleague Joe has recently educated me onthe pleasures of fluffy biscuits, and these certainly fit the profile. In addition to the biscuits' seductive texture, the sharp cheddar, bright chives, and cracked black pepper take them to the next level. With all that flavor, these biscuits don't need a thing—though a pat of softened butter certainly wouldn't hurt.
