After babble.com named me as one of their favorite mommy food bloggers last month, they asked me if I would also like to blog on their website. The food portion of their site is called The Family Kitchen, and I have joined Jenny Rosenstrach of DinnerALoveStory.com, Julie Van Rosendaal of Dinner With Julie, Kelsey Banfield, The Naptime Chef, and Caroline Campion, from devilandegg.com. It will be a lot of blogging, and a lot of fun to work with these women.

If you ever feel neglected here at sophistimom, then go on over to Babble.com‘s Family Kitchen, and you can see what I am posting over there. But for an easier time of it, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to become a fan of my new sophistimom facebook page, where I will always have updates of what I am posting, and where. Or, you can always just click on one of those cool new buttons over there on the right and register for my RSS feed, (my facebook page), or follow me on twitter.  But only if you want to.  No pressure.

Today I posted a recipe on babble for a crust-less quiche, which you see in the picture sandwiched in between the two halves of that biscuit. Click on over to see that recipe, and read about how I came up with the idea.

When I made these biscuits, I did something I have never done before in my life: I used the leftover bacon grease. Some of you may think that’s cool, others may think it’s disgusting. I knew it couldn’t be much worse than using hydrogenated oil, and thought it would add to the flavor and overall texture of the biscuits, so I gave it a whirl.

I think it really delivered.

Make sure you stop by in the next day or so, when I will be announcing a new giveaway sponsored by Bertolli.

cheddar bacon biscuits

3 strips bacon
2 cups (300g) unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
4-6* tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut in cubes
1 cup (235mL) buttermilk
1 ounce of sharp cheddar, cut in tiny pieces

1. Cook bacon in a skillet and remove to a paper towel. Chop or crumble, and set aside. Allow grease to cool. When it is close to room temperature, place in a container and keep in the refrigerator until ready to use.

2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees (220 celsius) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Measure out the bacon fat and add it to the dry ingredients. Add enough butter so that with the bacon grease, the amount reaches 7-8 tablespoons. With a pastry cutter, two knives, or clean hands, mix together ingredients until they resemble coarse meal. Add in buttermilk, reserved bacon, and cheddar pieces. Stir until just combined. Turn out onto a well-floured board. Knead a few times to pull the dough together.

3. Pat the dough into a 12 inch square, and cut into 9 squares with a sharp knife. Place on the baking sheet and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until biscuits are puffed and beginning to turn golden brown. Cool almost completely, and cut with a sharp knife.

* The amount of fat for this recipe should equal roughly 8 tablespoons. My bacon produced 3 tablespoons, so I used about 5 tablespoons of butter. If you won’t be using the bacon fat, then use a full stick of butter.