Veggies by the Bushel: Parsnip biscuits

This week's email from Siena Farms included a recipe for parsnip biscuits. Inspired by our recent trip to Charleston, I decided to try to make these biscuits, which turned out to be easy to make as well as tasty. The email says that the recipe is from Chef Cara at Oleana.

Parsnip biscuits

Ingredients for the parsnip puree:

2 medium parsnips, peeled and diced
2 T butter
1/2 c water
1/2 c milk (the recipe called for buttermilk, but I used 1% milk)
2 T honey
1/2 t salt

Ingredients for the biscuits:

2 c flour
2 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
8 T butter (1 stick), chilled
1 c parsnip puree, chilled

As the parsnip puree needs to be cold when you make the biscuits, I made it in the morning, to give it the day to chill in the fridge. Peel and dice your parsnip(s). (If you have huge parsnips, just use one. You need to end up with a cup of puree.)

Melt the 2 tablespoons of butter in the puree ingredient list in small saucepan. When melted, add the parsnips and cook until they start to soften and brown.

Add the water and cook until the parsnip is soft. Remove from the heat and add the milk, honey and salt.

Puree until smooth, then chill until cold.

In the evening, I made the biscuits. Start by mixing your dry ingredients together well to make sure the baking powder is evenly distributed (I use a whisk).

Add the butter. The recipe in the email suggested grating the butter into the mixture. Excellent suggestion -- it worked very well. Then use your hands to lightly mix the butter into the dry ingredients. Chill for 10 minutes.

Add one cup of the parsnip puree and knead until just combined.

Roll out the dough to 1/2 inch thick. I use the back of a large wooden cutting board to roll my dough.

After rolling it out, fold it into thirds and then half (or thirds again if you can do it). You're adding layers to the biscuits. Then roll again and fold again. (Not too many pictures of these steps, as my hands were a mess.)