Moms Gravy..How to?

[FlyLie]

Now that the seasons are changing and the crisp wind of fall is upon us here in South Central Kentucky, my thoughts turn to things that use to be, like Mom's Biscuits and Gravy....Upon occasion, I try to recreate those memories in our kitchen, but never seem to be able to get back to that aroma, much less the taste of Mom's Gravy. So, with being said, how did/does you Mom/Grandmother/Great Grandmother make Biscuits and Gravy ?

PS, hurry up, I'm hungry!!! Oh, It's OK if some of you Yankees want to reply with an Ole English cooking method..., it's all Good or Better..

[MsgMills]

I can make home made brown gravy from scratch, but eh biscuits would be from a can...Hungry Jack of Course...

But i would take about a lb roll of sausage and brown it up in a skillet and then add about 1 cup of flour, salt and pepper and stir it up really well. Letting it brown in color as it is heated in the cast iron skillet. Let the flour beocme some what like a paste. Then add milk to the skillet to filltill about an inch or little more from the top of skillet. Continue stirring the contents and let it thicken up on mod heat. Once the gravy is at a thickness you desire, remove from heat and pour into a big bowl or just let it sand in the skillet and dip out what you like to cover your biscuts...Yum Yum.....

[jcb]

MsgMills, that's exactly how I do it. Couple things I'd add:

1. The cast iron skillet is mandatory.
2. Nothing beats a wire whisk to get the lumps out.
3. If you remove it from the heat, remove it when it's a little more runny than you like to eat it. It will firm up pretty quick when it gets off the heat.

[Chubminnow]

To add to what Msgills wrote...I would add salt and pepper to taste as the gravey is simmering. And as JCB wrote...a whisk is a good thing to have on hand. I kind of think makin' good biscuits and gravey is almost like an art...you may not get it right the first few times, but eventually you'll get it right.

To heck with those canned biscuits...you can get by with them but they're no comparison to the made from scratch buttermilk biscuits. Makin' biscuits = another form of art.

[walkeraviator]

exactly as MSG MILLS and JCB stated. to add to it...eggs fried over easy, bacon, sourghum or honey.

and the Pièce de résistance

6 Granny smith apples skinned and sliced and thrown in a big skillet. 1 whole stick of butter and 1 cup of sugar... Cook over medium heat covered til soft and mash it all up....

On the plate... 2 biscuits opened up with honey on em... then the eggs on top of that... them teh gravy and top with fried apples...

oh my god im drooling...

[kygorski]

I like to use pork sausage with a sage taste, like BOB EVANS, As for bisquits? any kind will work for me. But strange as it sounds, I liked that old army SOS,and pouyr it over texas toast. First time I ever ate it was in 1945 when living on an army post. Just substitute ground chuck, add some butter and flour and brown it and add the milk, you can almost hear mess call.

[bassin_bug]

Okay MsgMills, here is a very old biscuit recipe used by a slave lady named Sally Dunn. It's from my "African-American Heritage Cookbook." They are delicious and will work until you can hone your biscuit making skills enough to roll em' out and pat em' down.

DROP BISCUITS

2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
3-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons butter
1-1/4 cups milk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Sift dry ingredients into a mixing blowl. Cut in butter until it resembles coarse cornmeal; add milk and mix into a dough. Drop by spoonfuls onto a lightly buttered baking sheet. Bake until light brown, approximately 12-15 minutes (or longer if you are making large biscuits). Brush the tops with butter and enjoy.
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BUTTERMILK BISCUITS

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup lard (vegetable shortening or butter may be substituted)
3/4 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine the first 4 ingredients. Using a fork or pastry blender, cut in lard until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Blend in the buttermilk until a soft dough is formed. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead lightly 7 or 8 times. Roll to 1/2 inch thickness, and cut out with a floured biscuit cutter. Reroll scraps and cut until all dough is used. Place biscuits on an ungreased cookie sheet, about 1 inch apart, and bake until golden brown, approximately 15 minutes.

Your first batch may not look like your grandma's but remember PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT.
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If you ever eat the Pillsbury's biscuits in a BAG (from the store's frozen food section), Canned Hungry Jacks will be history. They come in Homestyle, Buttermilk, Butter Tastin' and Flaky recipe and the taste is as close to homemade as you will find.

Have you ever tried dipping fried chicken tenders in gravy with good hot biscuits? Yummy!

[Col Forbin]

Canned biscuits are out - I have never had a good canned biscuit. Fresh is the best option, but if you are looking to save some time, pilsbury frozen biscuits are a close 2nd to fresh - 1000 times better than out of a can.

[FlyLie]

I like to use pork sausage with a sage taste, like BOB EVANS, As for bisquits? any kind will work for me. But strange as it sounds, I liked that old army SOS,and pouyr it over texas toast. First time I ever ate it was in 1945 when living on an army post. Just substitute ground chuck, add some butter and flour and brown it and add the milk, you can almost hear mess call.

Interesting that you bring up SOS. Before I retired, I spent 5 years in Eastern PA. You can't buy Biscuits/gravy ANYWHERE, thus I learned to substitute SOS. Hey, wasn't that bad, considering the local alternatives such as "scrapple" .

[kygorski]

Right aqfter I fininished posting, I made a batch of SOS,went fishing at barren, and came home to chicken N dumplings, life is good at times, would have been better if the fish at6 barren had co-operated.

[Tom523]

What about some fried squirrel and squirrel gravey and bisquits? I just had some today ummmmmmmmmmmm!

[MsgMills]

Oh man fried squirrela nd gravey..yum yum yum...all you people got my taste buds to goin haywire for sure