For many, January brings a welcome relief from crazy schedules. November and December holidays behind us, we can settle in for a quiet month or two with few pressures.
That is unless you’re Carrie Morey, founder of the handmade biscuit company, Callie’s Hot Little Biscuits, and author of a recently published second cookbook, “Hot Little Suppers” (Harper Horizon, $34.99).
Morey founded her biscuit company more than 15 years ago, and while she is thankful the business is at a place where she’s not personally doing the baking, packing and shipping, that doesn’t mean she isn’t working on the business every day.
“January has traditionally been a slow time for us. Everybody’s on a diet. Nobody wants to eat biscuits.”
The business may not be selling quite as many biscuits in January as in December, but this January finds Morey on tour for her new book, shooting season two of her PBS series, “How She Rolls,” preparing marketing plans for the year, meeting with new vendors and working on the plans to move to a larger production facility. That’s on top of traveling every weekend for her daughters’ volleyball games. February will bring more of the same. “It’s busy, busy, and honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“Hot Little Suppers” is the story of how, in the midst of her busy schedule, she still manages to gather her family around the dinner table. The more than 120 recipes include ideas for quick weeknight suppers and slightly more involved preparations suitable for weekend cooking, all divided by season. Each section includes recipes for drinks and desserts and what she calls “Hot Little Extras” like side dishes and sauces.
How does she decide what’s for dinner? “I am the driver of the supper conversation with my three children as very vocal passengers. My husband is amenable to anything as long as it’s hardy. Sundays, we talk about what we want to eat in the coming week and what’s on our schedules. I plan for the week’s meals to vary between fish, vegetarian and meat-based and to include a range of cuisines. When I cook, I plan ahead for the next two or three meals. If I’m chopping onions and celery and carrots for tonight, I’ll go ahead and chop what I need for the next few days. I may make a pot of slow-cooked grits and know it will work with whatever protein we’re going to have. I’m always thinking ahead about food and eating. I don’t finish one meal before I’m thinking about the next one.”
Morey says she plans meals that will broaden her family’s culinary horizons, introducing new flavors in things like dips that are big family favorites and experimenting with ingredients. “How many jalapenos can we add so the dish is spicy but not over the top?”
Many recipes in the new book come with family stories, like the snowy day she decided to make Italian Wedding Soup and her daughters decided to stage a wedding to go with it. “They wrote out wedding invitations and went around the neighborhood passing them out. They arranged the furniture to make rows of chairs with an aisle in the middle. During the ceremony, Cate got hitched to a boy in the neighborhood and then we all ate soup. One of my favorite wintertime memories!”
RECIPES
We chose recipes from Carrie Morey’s “Hot Little Suppers” (Harper Horizon, $34.99) for light and flavorful meals no matter what January has in store for your household.
Credit: Angie Mosier
Credit: Angie Mosier
Italian Wedding Soup
To make this soup in advance, make the meatballs and refrigerate and prepare the soup up until the stage where the meatballs and orzo should be added. Then 30 minutes before you want to serve, heat the soup, add the meatballs and orzo, and continue with the recipe.
Credit: Angie Mosier
Credit: Angie Mosier
Coconut Salmon
Salmon is one of the Morey family’s go-to ingredients for a seafood dinner. Start the rice, make the sauce, broil the salmon, and dinner is on the table in about 20 minutes.
— Adapted from a recipe in “Hot Little Suppers” by Carrie Morey (Harper Horizon, $34.99).
Credit: Angie Mosier
Credit: Angie Mosier
Cranberry and Apple Crisp with Biscuit Crumble
No doubt there are always a few leftover biscuits around the Morey household. This recipe cleverly uses them to make the topping for a fruit crisp. If the pie crust has been mixed up and stashed in the refrigerator, this dessert goes together in minutes.
— Adapted from a recipe in “Hot Little Suppers” by Carrie Morey (Harper Horizon, $34.99).
Buttermilk Biscuits
2 1/2 cups self-rising flour, plus extra for working with dough, divided
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1/4 cup cream cheese, cut into cubes, room temperature
3/4 to 1 cup buttermilk
— Adapted from a recipe in “Hot Little Suppers” by Carrie Morey (Harper Horizon, $34.99).
