AZ Barbeque.com

Non-BBQ Related Topics => Dutch Oven Cooking => Topic started by: azkitch on June 22, 2011, 01:21:12 pm

Title: Biscuits and Gravy.
Post by: azkitch on June 22, 2011, 01:21:12 pm
I'm putting this post here, because A) it wasn't BBQ, and B) I should have used my DO instead of just a CI skillet...If I had a 10 or 12" chicken fryer--the higher sided CI skillets--that would do, too...
I do have one question...Whenever I try to make bacon/sausage gravy, and I try to do the flour/fat mixture at 50/50, I get thin soupy roux, and have to add about 80% more flour...What's the general experience of others out there?
I used our sausage in the meat loaves, so I just diced up some bacon. It wasn't the same. I added diced and sauteed onions this time, another change. We tossed in some Dizzy Pig Swamp Venom, but we were too cautious with it. I also found some of the Tony Chachere's "Spice n' Herbs", which I like much more than the red topped bottle of Original Creole seasoning. I used that on what I dished for me, not in the general mix.
Here is the finished product, sprinkled with a bit of DP Swamp Venom. It needed sausage--or at least some sage!--more salt, more SV. But it was pretty tasty anyway!!
(http://i452.photobucket.com/albums/qq242/azkitch/6_22_11_BiscuitsGravy/100_1675.jpg)
Title: Re: Biscuits and Gravy.
Post by: Mark on June 22, 2011, 03:13:04 pm
I make biscuits & gravy totally by feel. I brown the sausage and toss in enough flour to soak up the grease. I cook it for just a few minutes more and then add enough whole milk to get the consistency I want. The only other thing I add is ground black pepper. It isn't biscuits & gravy to me without those black specks in it.

I used to use Farmland bacon sausage, but I can't find it anymore. It had bacon ground into the sausage. It reminds me of country sausage I'd get in Tennessee that had real smoke flavor and came in a gunny sack sleeve. Tasty stuff! :P
Title: Re: Biscuits and Gravy.
Post by: Atlas on June 22, 2011, 04:56:55 pm
Like Mark, I do it by feel.  Add enough flour to your grease to make it ball up, if it flows out across the bottom of the pan you don't have enough flour.  Unlike Mark, I use heavy cream and chicken broth in approximately equal measures, and yes lots of black pepper!

Jim
Title: Re: Biscuits and Gravy.
Post by: Mark on June 22, 2011, 08:14:57 pm
The chicken broth sounds like a good addition. I gotta try that! :P
Title: Re: Biscuits and Gravy.
Post by: chefrob on June 22, 2011, 09:23:26 pm
looks good kitch.........remember, butter and flour are 1/2 & 1/2 but butter is not 100% fat. that is why you needed to add more flour to yer roux.
Title: Re: Biscuits and Gravy.
Post by: Dutch100 on June 23, 2011, 10:15:41 pm
Mine is by feel as well, but after I brown hot bulk sausage, i add some oil, then push the sausage to the side of the Dutch oven, add my flour till I get the consisteny I want, then add once my roux is where I want it, add the sausage back in and add my milk. I season mine with coarse grind pepper, and Lowrys Season salt. Sometimes I also use a dab of lemon pepper. If you have never tried a few dabs of Green Tabasco sauce on top of your biscuits & gravy, try it. I almost cant eat it without it anymore.
Title: Re: Biscuits and Gravy.
Post by: azkitch on June 23, 2011, 11:43:50 pm
I'm thinkin' a little Rectal Rocket Fuel Island Jerk Sauce. Pretty warm stuff, tho'. And due in stock at Out Of The Pan Saturday.
Title: Re: Biscuits and Gravy.
Post by: SmokeWatcher on June 25, 2011, 03:33:45 pm
I use a fatty in place of the regular sausage....gawd-awful good eats!
Title: Re: Biscuits and Gravy.
Post by: azkitch on June 25, 2011, 05:23:35 pm
I very nearly chopped up my leftover smoked meat loaf. Sure sounded good...but so do meat loaf sandwiches!
Title: Re: Biscuits and Gravy.
Post by: skou on July 29, 2011, 10:49:15 pm
I make biscuits & gravy totally by feel. I brown the sausage and toss in enough flour to soak up the grease. I cook it for just a few minutes more and then add enough whole milk to get the consistency I want. The only other thing I add is ground black pepper. It isn't biscuits & gravy to me without those black specks in it.

I used to use Farmland bacon sausage, but I can't find it anymore. It had bacon ground into the sausage. It reminds me of country sausage I'd get in Tennessee that had real smoke flavor and came in a gunny sack sleeve. Tasty stuff! :P

Mark, this is pretty much the Army recipe I was taught in the '80s, except we also used a dash of Lea and Perrins W sauce.

Oh, coarse ground pepper?  Pretty much a requirement, and straight out of a grinder.  (Or a peppermill.  Throw that pepper shaker away!)

steve
Title: Re: Biscuits and Gravy.
Post by: route66 on July 30, 2011, 01:01:28 am
I don't know enough to say butter is not 100%  fat and don't have any secrets. Use a good flavorful sausage and add sage, salt if needed but don't forget the black pepper. Mix enough flour to grease till it binds over heat and cook roux begins to take color and releases a smell to die for. If one pays attention the smell begins as an aroma of great sausage and upon adding the flour there is a slight musty odor, yet over heat the flour mixes with the fats and starts the roux flavor. Depending on your tastes and what you are building the flavor of the roux intensifies the longer you cook the flour. For a Southern Pepper Gravy you only want to bring the roux to a slight golden color which has a hint of white bread smell then combine the cracked pepper and milk or cream to build the sauce. Most sauces are a reflection of the roux and its paring with thinning ingredients for taste. The same basic ingredients are in most roux's yet dishes demand different flavors from their roux to be successful. It took me the longest time to understand a basic roux and how it applies to so many dishes and how each one is prepared different. Mexican Red Chili uses the same base as Southern Biscuits and gravy yet the flour is tempered in each recipe for a different flavor. I see myself getting carried away with too much info and will stop here. Honk if you like biscuits and gravy! Enjoy..
Title: Re: Biscuits and Gravy.
Post by: grizmt on July 30, 2011, 09:28:07 am
We just brought back a couple of pounds of dried chipped beef we got at an Amish market in W. Virginia. LOVE SOS and B&G! We really get the heart artery clogging going when we make SOS and fried cabbage as a side. If you've not tried southern fried cabbage you've no idea what your missing!
I almost always add either Texas Pete or Chipotle Tabasco on the finished product.
There's soooo many variations of B&G but like has been said here use fresh ground pepper or white pepper if those specs bother anyone. I've also added garlic from time to time just for a bit of difference.
Title: Re: Biscuits and Gravy.
Post by: Mark on July 30, 2011, 11:08:46 am
I love cabbage fried with onions and bacon grease. My family isn't wild about it, so it is about a one-a-year occurence for me. Just made some last week and it was as tasty as ever. :P

One of my favorite childhood dishes was something we called goulash, although it had nothing in common with the authentic Hungarian kind. My parents were from Massachusetts. A common wintertime meal was New England boiled dinner. It consisted of a boiled smoked picnic ham. Into the same pot was tossed cabbage, potatoes and carrots; occasionally a rutabaga. Delicious when eaten with coarse mustard, horseradish and dark rye. The history of the meal is that all the ingredients could be found in a root cellar in the dead of winter. Nevermind that I grew up enjoying this in sunny Phoenix! The next day, we would take the leftover meat and veggies, coarsely cut them and pan-fry it with plenty of black pepper. My favorite part was the strips of skin cut from the boiled shoulder. Nothing went to waste.

I even remember the electric skillet we cook it in. It had an electrical short and would zap you from time to time. Funny how I even look at the memory of that semi-near death experience with fondness! ;)
Title: Re: Biscuits and Gravy.
Post by: Harpo on March 05, 2012, 07:50:39 am
Found this old but very favorite topic, Biscuit and Gravey. I make mine like most of the recicpes posted but I do the biggest BBQ no no. Being from KY and I can't find smoked sausage anymore I do have to add some Liquid Smoke to mine. Every one that has ever had mine says it's the best they have ever had, and I won't argue with that. I salute you, Biscuit and Gravey. The best comfort breadfast food there is.
Title: Re: Biscuits and Gravy.
Post by: jimj on March 05, 2012, 09:37:16 am
You do realize that by putting in liquid smoke you're putting your "southern cook" card in jeopardy. ??? ;)
Title: When's the book coming out?
Post by: mustang on March 05, 2012, 10:41:23 am
I love cabbage fried with onions and bacon grease. My family isn't wild about it, so it is about a one-a-year occurence for me. Just made some last week and it was as tasty as ever. :P

One of my favorite childhood dishes was something we called goulash, although it had nothing in common with the authentic Hungarian kind. My parents were from Massachusetts. A common wintertime meal was New England boiled dinner. It consisted of a boiled smoked picnic ham. Into the same pot was tossed cabbage, potatoes and carrots; occasionally a rutabaga. Delicious when eaten with coarse mustard, horseradish and dark rye. The history of the meal is that all the ingredients could be found in a root cellar in the dead of winter. Nevermind that I grew up enjoying this in sunny Phoenix! The next day, we would take the leftover meat and veggies, coarsely cut them and pan-fry it with plenty of black pepper. My favorite part was the strips of skin cut from the boiled shoulder. Nothing went to waste.

I even remember the electric skillet we cook it in. It had an electrical short and would zap you from time to time. Funny how I even look at the memory of that semi-near death experience with fondness! ;)

Mark, I can't let this moment pass without encouraging you to please write a book about your varied food experiences, including your travel, cooking and consumption!!  It would be a shame not to document your unique eclectic history in some sort of permanent media (DVD?) for others to peruse!!
Title: Re: Biscuits and Gravy.
Post by: azcolt45 on March 26, 2012, 10:02:40 am
Mark,  tell us in more detail about ''cabbage fried in bacon grease and onions'' Do you do it until crispy or what.  Do you do it with the leftover cabbage from the New England Boiled dinner?? or fresh?
Thanks
Colt
Title: Re: Biscuits and Gravy.
Post by: Mark on March 26, 2012, 10:52:18 am
I use raw cabbage and sweat it down in the bacon fat. I start by cutting the onions in thin slices and put them in the skillet first to get a little color. Then I toss in the sliced cabbage and some s&p, put a lid on it and stir it every now and then. The whole process takes about a half hour until the veggies are limp. Both the cabbage and the onions have enough natural sugars to caramelize.

The leftover elements of the boiled dinner are all just chopped up into chunks, slightly smaller than what you'd do for a stew. I add a healthy amount of black pepper and a few blasts of Louisiana hot sauce and simmer it for about 15 minutes or so.

Funny thing a cookbook...about a dozen years ago I was on the Food Network. It was a show named "Calling All Cooks." They were looking for amateur cooks with family recipes. I submitted one for paella. They sent out a film crew and during the show they had a scene with a cookbook I had put together of my mother's recipes (from memory). I had just made a half dozen copies at Kinko's as a legacy for my son, nieces and nephews. Well, every time the show aired, I'd have people from around the world tracking me down for the recipes. They'd say they couldn't find the cookbook on Amazon, etc. Well, that's because it was all of about 20 pages long and homemade. I still don't have any of it on a computer file.

That said, I do encourage all of you to do the same. It's a nice thing to do for the family to keep those kitchen memories alive. Plus, it makes a nice gift.

For anyone interested, here's my paella recipe from that show.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/calling-all-cooks/paella-recipe/index.html
Title: Re: Biscuits and Gravy.
Post by: azcolt45 on March 26, 2012, 04:57:17 pm
That sounds great Mark.. I have some cabbage,,will have to give this  a try!!1