Biscuits and Gravy

[kyles]

My dearly beloved went to America years ago (before I was on the scene) and still raves about biscuits and gravy. I know your biscuits resemble what I would call a scone....but have no idea what the gravy would consist of. Can one, some, all of you help me to replicate this deish, and what size and shape are the biscuits usually?

Thanks in advance

 

[BubbaGourmet]

kyles;
I assume that what you are asking for is oone of the various milk gravies that we eat with biscuits. In my area that would almost always be sausage gravy. Though sausage gravy is made with a lot of "feel" I have tried to give you a recipe below.

Sausage Gravy
1 lb. Bulk sausage (country sausage...like ground beef oonly pork with spices...I don't know what it would be called in England)
app. 1/4 cup flour
app 1 1/2 cups milk
black pepper to taste

Brown the sausage in a large skillet. Add the flour and stir to combine well. Coook for about 5 minutes stirring coonstantly. Add the milk and stir until thickened. Serve over biscuits. (Below)


From the cookbook;

Buttermilk Biscuits

Biscuits. Hot, steaming, light, fluffy bits of heaven sitting on a plate. When I was a good bit younger, I lived in New Jersey for a few years. Whenever my accent gave me away (61 times a day) and I was asked where I was from, Biscuits always seemed to come up. (“I LOVE the biscuits down there!” “Do you know how to make Biscuits?” “Everywhere we ate they served us Biscuits.”) This is understandable, as biscuits are truly wonderful. Biscuits highly resemble the British Scone only they are not sweetened. They are a perfect mealtime accompaniment and, stuffed with Sausage or Country Cured Ham, make a terrific breakfast. The really neat thing about biscuits is that, no matter what part of the South you eat them in, they are made essentially the same in every Southern state.
This recipe is an easy way to make biscuits. No, it is not your Southern Grandmother’s way but it is a good quick method.

MAKES 10 BISCUITS

KID FRIENDLY

2 cups Self-Rising SOFT wheat flour (Usually called Biscuit Flour)
1/8 tsp. Baking Powder
½ tsp. Salt
¾ cup Vegetable Shortening (you may substitute Lard, not good for you but the best Biscuits)
1 cup Buttermilk
2 tbsp. Melted Butter

In a large bowl combine the flour, salt and baking powder. Add the shortening and cut in with a pastry cutter or pinch in with your fingers until the flour resembles meal. Add the Buttermilk and stir in with a fork until the dry ingredients are just moistened. The resultant dough is very sticky. Turn out onto a well-floured surface and knead lightly a few times. DO NOT OVERWORK THE DOUGH! It will be quite sticky. Roll the dough out to a rough circle approximately ¾ inch thick. Cut the biscuits out with a biscuit cutter or a glass that is roughly 2-2 ½ inches in diameter. Grease a heavy baking sheet and set the biscuits on it. Bake at 450 degrees until lightly browned 10-12 minutes. Brush with the melted butter. Break out the butter and the jelly, I’ll be right over!


Copyright "The Bubba Gourmet" 2003 by Steve Lapan

 

[oldcoot]

Kyle, bubba gave you a fine recipe.

BW and I sojourned in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri for 8 looong years. Biscuits & gravy are common breakfast fare there, and we found them enjoyable and still have them often. My approach to them is a little different.

I just mix some all purpose flour, a generous amount of baking powder, a little salt, and - usually - bacon drippings (grease) for shortening. Once mixed pretty well with a fork, I add milk and stir to a soft, slightly sticky dough. Toss on to a floured surface and knead barely enough to permit rolling or patting out to 3/4" thickness. Cut into individual biscuits, place them on an oiled baking sheet, about half an inch apart. Bake at 375-425F until golden brown.

The gravy is simply a flour and bacon grease roux to which milk is added. The consistency should be just thin enough to flow. Apply libareally over the hot biscuits, then add (my prefernce) a generous amout of coarsely fresh cracked black pepper.

A couple of eggs, sunny side up, two strips of bacon, a coup.e of biscuits and gravy, a glass of orange juice, and a cup of hot coffee and you're ready for the day. Of course, you may suffer a suden heart attack from the cholesterol - but heck, you'll die happy.

 

[kyles]

Thank you gentleman, I shall try this on Friday morning.

BTW BubbaG, my grandmother would never ever have made sweetened scones, hers were always savoury usually with cayenne in the flour (this commenced my life long aversion to cayenne, which I am trying to overcome) sometimes chopped chives, and on special occasions she would mix grated cheese in them as well. It wasn't until I was much older that I heard of sweet scones with jam and clotted cream. In some parts of Australia they make pumpkin scones, but they are a bit evil!

And Old Coot, I am not convinced about the cholesterol threat, my dad has eaten a full English breakfast everday for the past 79 and a half years, (as well as drunk a flagon of sherry every day) and has never shown any ill effects, despite moderately high cholesterol readings and borderline diabetes. His one concession to his doctors plea for him to change his lifestyle is to broil his bacon rather than fry it, but he still fries his eggs!

 

[scott123]

Your dearly beloved has good taste

Biscuits and gravy is one of the greatest dishes ever invented.

Bubba's recipe looks right on the money. The only thing I'd add is, after you brown the sausage you might want to spoon out some of the excess oil.

I'm a little uptight about sauces, so when I make it, I start by making a pale roux, then make a white sauce with milk, whisking it for lumps. To that I add the browned drained sausage. But that's probably overkill.

Sausage gravy isn't just divine on biscuits. I eat it poured over eggs like a hollandaise as well as put it on pasta. It also goes wonderfully with chicken.

 

[kyles]

I'm so glad I asked the question, because I was barking up the wrong biscuit with the gravy. Gravy as we have it here is a stock based sauce, traditionally made with pan juices from your roast beef etc, or more commonly now, stock and wine reduction. I never would have thought it was made with milk. My other half isn't too hot on descriptions!

 

[maws]

Hi Kyles - Your father's breakfast delights reminds me so much of eating habits here in SA. Our farming communities thrive on enormous breakfasts consisting of porridge, eggs, bacon and sausage - often also lamb chops or steak. But we forget that these farmers arise at 5 am and return at 8 for their breakfasts, having used a lot of energy. And they all seem to live forever - and are the best of people to know and meet. But then we (SA & Australia) have so much in common and that's why so many of our countrymen are leaving and settling in Australia. But I love this place too much to leave.
Maws

 

[kyles]

My grandfather was a farmer. he used to wake at five and have porridge for breakfast. Then at 8 he would have bacon and eggs, fried bread, sausage, and often another small bowl of porridge for afters, this time with a dram of whisky stirred in! And cream! He always had full cream milk, butter and fried his bread in dripping. He lived til 89. Ironically working out in the sunshine that kept him so healthy was his undoing in the end, he died of skin cancer.

I would love to visit South Africa, I have many friends from there. I will do it one day!