Harry Campbell swore he'd never crank out those beaten biscuits. Uh-uh. No way.

        But his wife, Irene, changed his mind the way wives sometimes do. And 35 years later, Mr. Campbell is still cranking out biscuits.

Harry Campbell and a batch of his beaten biscuits. (Gary Landers photo) | ZOOM |

        In fact, in the back of his restaurant in Paris, Ky., Mr. Campbell probably makes more beaten biscuits than anyone else in the Commonwealth. He sells the tiny, crispy biscuits, created by pioneers and still popular at Derby parties and holidays, to Kroger stores in Lexington and Louisville, other groceries and by mail-order.

        His wife died 11 years ago, but Mr. Campbell says he owes all the success to her, which is why he calls them “Irene's Beaten Biscuits.” She was something.

        “Everything she did, she did professionally,” says Mr. Campbell, who'll turn 81 in June.

        When they married in 1947, Mr. Campbell claims his wife “couldn't boil water.” But she quickly learned to do that and a lot more. After tasting beaten biscuits, Irene asked for a machine to make them. Mr. Campbell agreed to buy one, and that's when he declared he'd never crank the biscuits by hand.

        Well, he did that one time, and his arms ached. They don't call them beaten biscuits for nothing. One batch might take three hours or more of constant beating and rolling. Soon, the handy Mr. Campbell bought a couple of used washing machine motors and adapted them to the biscuit-maker.

        Irene went to work perfecting her recipe and selling biscuits. In 1966, she sold 5,000 dozen beaten biscuits to the Ladies' Exchange, a store in Paris — the same year the Campbells bought the restaurant.

        The biscuit business was so good that, in 1987, when Mr. Campbell left his job at a tobacco company, his daughter, Marilyn, convinced her parents to start making and selling them on a larger scale.

        “He needed something to do,” Marilyn says.

        She delivers the biscuits to stores, between cooking and waiting tables with her daughter, Myra, at Campbell's.

        Irene, who had diabetes, died in 1991. As long as she could, though, the tall woman with bleached white hair would pull her wheelchair up to a table to cut out her namesake biscuits. Mr. Campbell still gets misty talking about his wife of 44 years. She was something.

        He is faithful to her biscuit recipe, using nothing but flour, milk, sugar, salt, baking powder and lard.

        “I'm a lard man,” he says. “Nothing better.”

        Mr. Campbell mixes the dough and puts it on a big marble slab. Three rollers on the biscuit machine then pummel the dough for about 2 1/2 hours, pausing to let Mr. Campbell fold the layers over and over. Just like puff pastry, beaten biscuits are made of many delicate layers.

        After the first rolling, the dough rests and then is beaten again for about an hour. Mr. Campbell cuts the biscuits and pricks the top of each using three dinner forks taped together. The biscuits bake for 45 minutes. One batch of dough makes 14 dozen biscuits.

        Although beaten biscuits will keep for months if stored properly, away from moisture, Mr. Campbell makes them as fresh as possible to orders.

        “He gets pretty persnickety when he doesn't get any orders,” Marilyn says, when her father's not listening.

        His biscuits turn out firm and cream-colored, sweet with a hint of pork flavor from the lard — perfect for sandwiching slivers of salty country ham or a dab of spicy pimento cheese. They aren't designed for smearing butter and jam. As Mr. Campbell says, beaten biscuits are closer kin to crackers than biscuits.

        But they still shouldn't crumble down your shirt when you bite one. The best are a little soft, not too dry.

        And those beaten biscuits would be Irene's.

        Irene's Beaten Biscuits are available at Kremer's Market in Crescent Springs, the Produce Patch in Florence and Remke Markets in Fort Wright, Taylor Mill and Crescent Springs. Also available by mail order ($3.50 per dozen, plus shipping): (859) 987-5164. This is a fancy name for pimento cheese, the favorite spread of the South.

Derby Day Pate

        3 ounces cream cheese
        1/3 cup mayonnaise
       1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
        1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
        1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
       10 ounces sharp or extra-sharp cheddar, shredded
       4 ounces jarred pimentos or roasted red peppers, drained well and roughly chopped

        Put cream cheese, mayonnaise, onion, cayenne and Worcestershire sauce in food processor; pulse until smooth. Scrape down sides of processor bowl and add shredded cheese. Pulse several times to combine cheese (mixture should still be lumpy). Add drained pimentos and pulse several times to combine.

        Scrape cheese into bowl or crock and cover tightly. Refrigerate several hours or overnight to blend flavors. Before serving, allow pate to warm briefly until it reaches spreading consistency. Spread in beaten biscuits and on crackers for appetizers, with celery sticks as dip, or on toasted bread for sandwiches.

        E-mail cmartin@enquirer.com

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