A warm Southern welcome
Is there anything more glorious and deeply satisfying on a visceral level than a fresh-baked biscuit?
I’d venture a resounding “no,” especially when the fluffy squares or circles of dough are super-sized to allow a generous canvas for building breakfast and lunch sandwiches, or paired with a creamy, hangover-curing Southern-style sausage or red-eye gravy.
Carolyn Roy definitely decided bigger is better when she and her former husband and now business partner, Jason, opened their first Biscuit Head eatery in Asheville, North Carolina, in 2013.
The couple had worked in various restaurant settings for years after meeting in Colorado in the early aughts — everything from fine dining to breweries to catering gigs.
They moved to Asheville 15 years ago after seeing how much fun family and friends were having there.
Known for its vibrant arts scene, exciting beer culture and many outdoor activities in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Asheville “had the same great vibe and funky feel of Boulder,” says Roy, but was much less expensive.
That suited the couple’s long-held desire to one day open their own restaurant.
When the pair took the actual plunge 11 years ago, they decided to go for something as fun, welcoming and big-hearted as the town itself — a breakfast restaurant centered around Southern-style “cathead” biscuits, so called because they’re as large as a cat’s head.
The restaurant was a hit almost as soon as its doors opened. Two more locations followed, along with a fourth restaurant in Greenville, South Carolina.
To this day, the original location on Haywood Road in West Asheville still draws lines that sometime stretch around the block.
Their cookbook, “Biscuit Head: New Southern Biscuits, Breakfast and Brunch,” hit stores in 2016. In addition to the recipe for its title character, it includes recipes for many of its homemade jams, gravies and infused butters.
It also offers instruction on how to use biscuits as the base for all kinds of knife-and-fork sandwiches.
“It might sound simple, but we believe cathead biscuits are magical,” the couple writes in the book’s forward. “They are humble but delicious, and they are wonderfully versatile as the base for a menu.”
For fluffy layers, be sure to use very cold butter and don’t overmix; add flour bit by bit, just until it reaches a workable dough. For a gluten-free version, substitute 5 cups Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free all-purpose flour.
Makes: 6 large (5-ounce) biscuits
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 ½ cups cake flour
¾ teaspoon kosher salt 1 tablespoon baking powder 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, chilled and cut into small cubes
2 cups whole buttermilk
1. Heat oven to 375 degrees, making sure you have one of the racks in the middle of the oven. Grease a baking sheet or cast-iron skillet.
2. In large mixing bowl, combine both kinds of flour, the salt and the baking powder. We strongly recommend sifting the dry ingredients to combine them.
3. Cut into the butter with a sharp knife and then “snap” it in by rubbing the butter between your forefinger and thumb with a snapping motion. (This makes thin sheets or ribbons of butter that will fold into the dough perfectly and then rise in the oven in beautiful layers.)
4. Add the buttermilk and stir gently to fold in. Take care not to overmix.
5. Scoop the dough into your pan or skillet, making sure to keep the dough scoops right next to each other on the pan. (A large ice cream scoop works well.)
6. Bake the biscuits for 20 to 25 minutes, or until they are golden brown and fluffy.