Friday, April 04, 2008

Biscuits and Gravy

Alyssa had to do a project about her favorite meal for school and needed pictures of it. So I decided since I had the picture already, I might as well blog about it and share it with the world. (Since the world reads about me.)

My mom was born and raised in Texas, and although she might talk like a Yankee now, (well most of the time), she's still a Southern Bell through and through. Aside from beans and fried cornbread, biscuits and gravy (or gravy and biscuits as my Granny called them) were a staple in our home growing up and the tradition continues with my own kids. The kicker in this delicious recipe is that the gravy is made from the bacon grease and NOT with sausage. And you serve these for dinner; my kids were shocked to learn that people eat biscuits for breakfast.



Buttermilk Biscuits with Bacon Country Gravy

2 c. flour
1 Tbs. baking powder
¼ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
3 Tbs. shortening
Mix together add:
1 c. buttermilk

Pinch of large golf ball sized amounts, shape into ball, roll in melted shortening, then flour. (OR flour then shortening.) Place in a greased pie plate and bake 12-18 min. @ 400 degrees until slightly golden.

Serve with country gravy made from bacon drippings.

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

I would have biscuits and gravy for any meal. Speaking of which, if you ever have any left over, you know where to find me.

Jewelle said...

Don't think I am stupid, but I have never made country gravy. I've only made beef gravy. Can you give me a run down of how to make it. I really want to try this meal!
~Jewelle

Elena said...

Dayne- Glad to know I have a fellow biscuit lover friend.

Jewelle- It's much the same as beef. You take the bacon grease (or any type of grease your using, it could even be just butter) over medium heat, add some flour (this is the tricky part cause it's kind of trial and error to know how much) and let it bubble for just a minute. Then add milk, let it come to a boil to see if its thin enough (if not add more milk, but always let it boil first cause that's when it will be at it's thickest state.). Then add salt and pepper to taste. Good luck!

Jennifer P. said...

Why, why, why must fatty bacon grease gravy be soooo very delcious?! You have made my mouth water! Thanks and not thanks :)!

Emily said...

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm, those look good.

believe it or not, I have been afraid to try biscuits and gravy. We've been in Texas for almost 4 years and I have yet to try them. Maybe I will make yours.

Jeff just ate biscuits and gravy while flying the airplane the other morning. how's that for multi-tasking... and I'm sure they were not as tasty as yours...

Lee Ann said...

Oh man that sounds good. What good be good after rolled in shortening and topped with bacon?

A good rule of thumb for white gravy is "equal" parts of everything..only it's not really "equal".

2 T grease
2 T flour
2 Cups of milk

It's a good place to start.

Anonymous said...

Jennifer- I want to know why why why EVERYTHING bad for me is so blasted good!?

Emily- I am actually quite surprised you don't make biscuits and gravy. Hope you try them and like them. I have to say, that flying a plane and eating them at the same time doesn't sound like an easy task. :)

LeeAnn- Thanks for that tip. I'm going to have to actually measure next time to see if that's what I do.

Anonymous said...

LeeAnn- P.S. I don't know if you saw or not, (I know you've been busy) but Jennie had her baby and I posted a pic for you. Just scroll down a few.

Anonymous said...

Do you really roll them in shortening first and then flour? That's not the way I taught you. They have to be rolled in flour so that you can handle them.

Anonymous said...

I forgot to mention that your picture is a beautiful presentation.

Anonymous said...

Mom- Yes you did teach me that. I've watched you 100 times. You melt the shortening in the pie plate, then you dip the biscuit in it and then roll it on the plate of flour. And thank you on the picture.

Lee Ann said...

This is getting funny. I can't wait to see who is right.

Brenda said...

It was great to hear from you, I was thinking about you the other day when I drove by your parents house. I still remember Courtney Craven and I riding our bikes down 1st Street to your house, after you moved out of Cloverdale! Your blog is darling, it was really fun to take a peak and see your family! Your children are sso cute, and those girls look just like you!

Miki said...

Elena!!! I've been so late to comment lately!!! Buiscits and gravy, ahhhh. I'm soooo excited to see an actual recipe on how to make the gravy. Thank you! I seriously had NO idea. This is going to be fun.

I agree with Jennifer P. "Why, why, why must fatty bacon grease gravy be soooo very delcious?!" She's so funny.

I guess I also have to thank your mom for being a Southern Belle and letting you watch her to get the recipe just right, 100 times over.

:)

Elena said...

Brenda- I don't even remember that, but we used to ride our bikes everywhere. That's a long way for little girls to ride. There's no way I'd let my kids do that now. My how times have changed.

Miki- I hope your gravy turns out when you make it!

Anonymous said...

Biscuits and gravy at my house tonight! Who wants a lesson?

Elena said...

Okay, so apparently I have been doing it backwards. My mom dips the dough in flour first and then into the shortening. (See, she really does roll it shortening, just AFTER the flour.) So I guess it works either way you want to do it, although, I have to admit that sometimes my biscuits come out a bit dusty. So I guess my mom is right. :)

Anonymous said...

Oh, she is a sweetheart for conceding to this one. I don't always win, mostly because I'm getting old and half crazy.

But just to explain, the biscuit dough is quite sticky, so, I dump it onto a plate of flour, then gently turn the whole lump over on the flour plate. Then, I pull off the balls of dough with just a little flour on them so as to make them easier to handle. Then I dab them in the melted shortening and turn them over so that the shortening side is up.

She is right, the other way works too. Her biscuits are great. Just a little difference in handling.

She did forget to mention that we always serve this meal with homemade hot cocoa. (But maybe she doesn't do that either.) Ha!

Anonymous said...

LOL! I don't do the cocoa. It has too much milk for me in it. (I'm a non-milk drinker.) So we do orange juice here.

Anonymous said...

As you all (or y'all) can see, we are passionate about our biscuits. :)

Mama Williams said...

Oh Elena you are crackin me up! Thanks for the "Smith" cooking lesson on biscuts. I know you eat them all the time. P.S. Mom-I'm coming over for cooking class. I'll be there in 4 hours...i wish. And how do I get my Mom to blog like you? :)

Anonymous said...

This post is taking on a life of it's own.
Julie, I don't blog, I just comment (and surf a bit).
And, I do like orange juice with this meal too, with lots of ice in it.

Natalie♥ said...

Elena thanks for the comment on my blog! Of course I know who you are. You have such a cute family, I can't beleive you have four kids, that's crazy because I remember you from a long time ago sitting in church with your family. I have had some weird things going on, on my blog that's why I wanted to go private but I think I will give it some time. But I really appreciate you commenting on my blog, I will probably check yours often now :)

Anonymous said...

Just so you know Elena, Mom had to call Deidra and double check herself on how she had taught her how to make the biscuits.

Jennifer P. said...

When I saw that this post had 24 comments I had to check out what was going on! Too funny! I have never heard of rolling biscuit dough in either flour or shortening. In fact, the biscuits I make use heavy cream instead of butter (they're called Hurry Up Biscuits). But now I'm wondering what I'm missing! You and your mom have given me a good laugh!

Camille said...

Yum! I love biscuits and gravy for dinner. I made it the other night and Paul informed me that he could eat a dinner like that 5 times out of the week! That's a valuable piece of information and I believe I will be making breakfast things for dinner more often!