Gravy

[Jackal1]

Originally posted by Skuzzy

The biscuits are supposed to a bit dense, but break apart easily.  Not to dry, not to moist.  You do not want cake texture.
 

  Jerry Clower, on one of his albums, described the perfect Cat Head biscuit. ( cat head refers to appropiate size).
  He said if the biscuit was made to perfection it would tear exactly in half when dragged through a plate of black strap molasses and butter.

  Of course he also stated that Aunt Bercie Leadbetter had to keep slappin Neugene`s hand and reminding him to " lick that fork before you put it back in the butter."


 

[Skuzzy]

And that is exactly right Jackal.  Never thought of it that way, but yes that would be perfect.

Bluedog, for MrBill's recipe you probably will want the dough to be around a 1/2" thick.  I did not see it, but I am sure he said something about buttering the pan the bisuits will cook in.
You want the biscuit to be golden brown on top when it is done.

[Habu]

Originally posted by Skuzzy
All this talk of gravy....I called the Wife.  We are having chicken fried steak tonight with gravy, corn on the cob, brown beans, mashed potatoes, and homemade bread for dinner tonight.

This day is not going to get over fast enough for me.

LOL

The power of suggestion.

I actually had a pretty crappy dinner tonight. Wife had to take my daughter to music lessons so I was alone with the boys who had already ate.

So I popped a Swanson Hungryman dinner into the microwave. My wife works for a company that has the parent company to Swanson as a client. They give her free dinners to try when she visits. This one was ribs and chicken with green beans and brownie. Was not that bad but I don't think it was very healthy.

[rpm]

Habu, the Backyard BBQ Hungryman is not bad. They have a boneless rib patty thats mighty tasty. I usually have a TV dinner for lunch at work and those are not too bad.

[MrBill]

MrBill's Biscuits and Gravy (tm) (actually MrBill's grandmothers recipe passed down.)

biscuits

Heat a cast iron dutch oven (A properly cured dutch oven requires no greasing) to 375 degrees. Or use a baking sheet but they won't cook the same.

Put a pound of bulk pork sausage into a skillet to brown. Crumble it or chunk it, however you prefer it.

2 c flour, measure after sifting
add 1/2 tsp salt and 2 tsp baking powder
sift at least twice

add 2 tbls lard and rub with fingers till lard is thoroughly blended with the flour No greasy spots!

add "ice cold" milk. I put the milk in the freezer with a flexible steel blade for appx 1/2 hour before starting biscuits.
Use the blade to mix in enough milk to form a very soft dough, almost but not sticky, somewhere around 3/4 c.
do not over mix as it will destroy the lightness of the biscuits and be quick the dough must stay cold.

on a well floured board pat (do not use a roller) the dough to a thickness of appx the first knuckle of your index finger, shape don't matter thickness does.

using a water glass (not plastic) or a steel cutter punch out as many rounds as you can with a single quick downward thrust do not twist as it will seal the edges and the biscuits will not rise.

Pull the dutch oven from the oven and raise the oven temperature to 450 degrees transfer the rounds to the dutch oven flour side down do not let them touch one another nor the side of the pan. Put on the lid, put in the oven for 12 to 14 minutes.

Ding sausage is done.

Lift most of the sausage out of the skillet with a slotted spoon, and add appx the same amount of flour as there is grease in the skillet, (you can add some butter if you think that you need more fat) heat should be medium, till all the flour is incorporated into the grease and is bubbling.  Stirring contently slowly add condensed milk or cream till gravy forms try to keep it bubbling all the time without raising the heat, get it to hot and it will break.
As it cooks it will get thicker and thicker keep adding milk till it quits getting thicker this takes some 10 minutes for the flour to cook. Add the sausage, a bit of salt, if needed, and some cracked pepper to taste. I like a tsp of Tabasco in it but that's up to you.


Ding the biscuits should be done!

Rip them puppies in half and pour on the gravy ... heaven is just a moment away.

OK SKUZZY!! I gave you the buttermilk, but ain't no way I'm putting eggs in anything called a biscuit.

The Beast is about to go an alert ... hehehe

If you try biscuits over a campfire, practice A LOT before you go bragging on them to your camping buddies. It takes quite a bit of skill to not end up with a burnt cracker topped by a lump of raw dough.

[Lizking]

I invite any of you lactose addicted plebes to come and try my "water gravy".  You will not know, nor will you care, that it contains no milk.

[MrBill]

Sounds to me like someone with a serious lack of palette ... next you'll try to tell me I can't tell the difference between meat smoked over wood charcoal and meat smoked over gas.

If you are lactose intolerant use goats milk.

I'm not saying that you can not make an "acceptable" substitute with water, just that I can tell the difference, but it ain't really gravy, it's an ersatz substitute.

Next someone will be trying to convince me that Postum tastes just like coffee ... or that Budweiser tastes just like beer.

[straffo]

Originally posted by Skuzzy
It is a biscuit here straffo.  


Hey, leftover BBQ aint so bad MrBill.

Well you have to know that in French the word Biscuit is like the word cake : generic

So if I reformulate my previous sentence :
There is a lot of "a" biscuit but a single "the" biscuit.

Hahemm this sentence look clearly better in French

[Skuzzy]

Oh Mr. Bill, I would never use eggs in the mix.  I offered it as an option to those who want a fluffier biscuit.

And there is absolutely no way to make gravy with water and have it taste the same.  No way at all.  Like I said (well, my mother and her mother said), if it is made with water, it aint't gravy, it's soup.

[Curval]

The bacon gravy described earlier sounds delicious...heart stopping, but delicious.

[Jackal1]

Originally posted by Skuzzy

And there is absolutely no way to make gravy with water and have it taste the same.  No way at all.  Like I said (well, my mother and her mother said), if it is made with water, it aint't gravy, it's soup.

Agreed. Gotta have the ole moo juice for a proper soppin.

[slimm50]

Originally posted by Skuzzy
Modify the ingredients to add one or two eggs beaten and mixed with the buttermilk (fluff the egg whites if you must).  No soda needed.

The biscuits are supposed to a bit dense, but break apart easily.  Not to dry, not to moist.  You do not want cake texture.

You roll each out the dough to about 1/8" thick, take an empty can and use it as the cutter.  Slather butter over the rolled dough and shake a light powder of flour over it, then stack the layers about 4 or 5 high and seal the edges.

Oh damn,..I cannot talk about this anymore.  Stomach is in full bore attack mode!

Skuzzy, so you end up with a precooked biscuit about 3/4" high? Right? Sounds good, I think I'll try that. Never done it that way before. I like to make them from scratch, and your method sound interesting. Does that make them sort of fluffy?

[Skuzzy]

Sort of.  And you can pile the layers up, if you like.  I find they bake better when keeping them a little thinner (less bake time too).

[weaselsan]

Originally posted by Skuzzy
You are not making gravy if you are using water.  If you use water, then you are making soup.

 

Absolutely...positively Correct...Buttermilk is best.