Biscuits and gravy? Who the what?

[turbo]

I agree with Evo on making 'good' gravy. The 'drippings' as you call it is basically fat. I've NEVER had good gravy from anything but the actual drippings from the meat.

When my wife and I roast a turkey or make a boiled dinner, we remove the meat and vegetables from the pan and using ALL the juice including the fats, put the pan on the stove-top to simmer and reduce the juices. In the meantime, I whisk flour into cold water to make a thin paste, and when the juice has reduced to a nice dark color, slowly add that to the juice, whisking all the while. It's important to stop adding the flour mixture before the gravy gets too thick, and let the simmering complete the thickening process while you season to taste.

In the summer, we don't do a lot of roasting. In fact, we had my dad down on Father's Day and I hickory-smoked a 14# turkey. No gravy, but that left-over meat makes the best turkey soup you'll ever eat.

 

[DocToxyn]

What about red-eye gravy? Pan drippings from fried southern ham, deglazed with strong black coffee and thickened a bit with flour. MMMMmmm tasty!

And Moonbear I'm surprised at your reaction to "alternative" gravies. I could make you one that you couldn't refuse. Fry some fresh pork sausage seasoned with sage, black pepper/salt and tart apple diced, toss in some chopped onion, fry until just crispy. Drain some of the fat if you want but not all, toss in some flour and stir to coat the pieces and cook the flour. Add some half and half and let it thicken, hit it with a dash of worchestershire sauce and pour over (or next to) biscuits.

 

[Danger]

See entire preceding post.

Jeez, Doc, your name is suddenly very appropriate.

 

[larkspur]

Have you ever tried honey on your biscuits and gravy?:shy: If you haven't you got to try it.

 

[gravenewworld]

awww man i have been craving some good biscuits and gravy for a loooonng time. too bad i live in philly, cause you really have to go south to get the good stuff.

 

[JamesU]

Have you ever tried honey on your biscuits and gravy?:shy: If you haven't you got to try it.

I've put honey on biscuts...not with gravy though

 

[turbo]

Can somebody explain to me why Southerners have to have biscuits the consistency of cake? How did that come about? Here in Maine, if somebody brought those alien baked-goods to a church social, PTA supper, or fund-raising sit-down, they would be ignored publicly and excoriated in private. The gold standard for biscuits here is soft, tall and flakey. Pastry biscuits (folded and rolled over and over in the dough stage) that you separate with your fingers and slather with butter while hot. They are so good that you wouldn't dream of contaminating them with sausage gravy. Besides butter, the only reasonable topping for New England biscuits is molasses or (drum roll) fresh wild strawberries steeped with sugar and topped with real whipped cream. If you haven't had strawberry shortcake made with fresh flaky biscuits, wild strawberries, and real whipped cream, you have missed a culinary delight.

 

[Moonbear]

Can somebody explain to me why Southerners have to have biscuits the consistency of cake? How did that come about? Here in Maine, if somebody brought those alien baked-goods to a church social, PTA supper, or fund-raising sit-down, they would be ignored publicly and excoriated in private. The gold standard for biscuits here is soft, tall and flakey. Pastry biscuits (folded and rolled over and over in the dough stage) that you separate with your fingers and slather with butter while hot. They are so good that you wouldn't dream of contaminating them with sausage gravy. Besides butter, the only reasonable topping for New England biscuits is molasses or (drum roll) fresh wild strawberries steeped with sugar and topped with real whipped cream. If you haven't had strawberry shortcake made with fresh flaky biscuits, wild strawberries, and real whipped cream, you have missed a culinary delight.

Mmm...at last! Someone understands what a biscuit is and how it should be served! I've never had it as a strawberry shortcake, but that sounds delicious! It sounds like just the thing to serve as a dessert with a Sunday brunch. Maybe it's because they get those dry, cakey biscuits in the South that they need to drown them in gravy in an attempt to make them edible.

 

[Danger]

Most assuredly we make strawberry shortcake with biscuits up here. Far better than angel-food cake that a lot of people use. The only disadvantage is that it doesn't soak up the strawberry juice as easily. A sponge cake actually works best.

 

[Ouabache]

If you would like to try good southern biscuits and gravy --

here's a method to make tastey southern biscuits.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHQ-RhUQkLg

Here's a 2nd good instructional clip for making southern biscuits.

In both clips, they are using a low-protein, self rising flour (e.g. White Lily, Red Band, Martha White), (self-rising= baking powder & salt already in it). Notice, you work in the shortening and form the biscuits with your hands (no pastry or biscuit cutters). Alton Brown also does a good http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3QuQSdjMVE" on how to make them too. He hails from Georgia and describes southern biscuits as "light, fluffy and delicious", those are the only kind I've had (nothing with consistency of cake).

Here are some tailgaters in Georgia, making a proper cream gravy, you can dip your biscuits into.. Mmmmm boy...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0JrXEPNwKA
they started by browning & rendering broken up sausage in the pan, added flour (little at a time) and are making a roux. (a traditional roux is made only with only rendered fat & flour, they kept in the sausage bits). The flour should be fully cooked but not browned, before adding the liquid. The roux is made to thicken the gravy.

Here's another person making sausage gravy.

 

[Proton Soup]

originally, i come from mississippi, not far from NO, actually. and the gravy i was raised on is a bit different from that. at least every weekend, i had tomato gravy, which has a brown roux with tomatos (of course), salt, and black pepper (another staple, i might add). the biscuits are indeed made with self-rising flour and formed by hand. you make seven of them and place into a greased iron frying pan in a honeycomb pattern so that you get 6 with a crust on the outer edge, and the center biscuit breaks off so that it is soft around the middle and only has a crust on top and bottom. i'll take a biscuit (or two) and break it into 3 pieces (2 crusts plus the soft part) and drench these in tomato gravy.

edit: oh, and in the old days, my grandmother would keep a coffee can with bacon grease for just this sort of thing.

 

[montoyas7940]

Is that a bowl of white beans on grandmas' table with the biscuits?

It makes me hungry just watching!

 

[tribdog]

Cheapest breakfast in town: Whataburger's Biscuits and Gravy $0.99

 

[larkspur]

I followed the video and made some biscuits today. I had never made biscuits from scratch before. They turned out great. Didn't make the gravy.
Thanks Oubache.

 

[gravenewworld]

Biscuits and gravy= food of the gods. Totally fattening, totally delicious.

 

[Evo]

The restaurant at the location I used to work in made a breakfast pizza. A personal size pizza crust, coated with cream gravy, topped with cooked crumbled sausage, scrambled eggs, and cheese. Wonderful.

 

[wolram]

The restaurant at the location I used to work in made a breakfast pizza. A personal size pizza crust, coated with cream gravy, topped with cooked crumbled sausage, scrambled eggs, and cheese. Wonderful.

That sounds like an army dish where you get your dessert with the main all mixed up.

 

[tribdog]

I hate my dessert getting mixed up with the main course. cold doesn't go with hot. Unless it's hot french fries and cold ketchup, but I wouldn't eat cold french fries and hot ketchup. Why is that? If the mean temperature of the two was the same should it make a difference?

 

[Ouabache]

Is that a bowl of white beans on grandmas' table with the biscuits?
It makes me hungry just watching!

At the very end of clip, yeah it sure does looks like a bowl of white beans. It could also be white gravy. Either way it looks delicious

originally, i come from mississippi, not far from NO,... i had tomato gravy, which has a brown roux with tomatos (of course), salt, and black pepper (another staple, i might add)...

Tomato gravy, that's a great variation, I'll have to try that!

I followed the video and made some biscuits today. I had never made biscuits from scratch before. They turned out great.
Thanks Oubache.

Glad to hear you made some fine biscuits.. It's nice having a few virtual grandma's around to share their cooking tips

The restaurant at the location I used to work in made a breakfast pizza. A personal size pizza crust, coated with cream gravy, topped with cooked crumbled sausage, scrambled eggs, and cheese. Wonderful.

Yummm, a tastey all-in-one breakfast.

 

[montoyas7940]

What about the old stove in the video? That is a trip in the way back machine.