Biscuits and Gravy - do you love it or hate it?

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buckytom

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I remember my sister-in-law making it for us one time. She is a true Southern lady, raised in the backwoods of Virginia and Kentucky.

First, she browned some uncased/crumbled pork sausage in an inch of corn oil in a cast iron pan. Next, she sprinkled in flour to thicken it into a sort of roux, and added butter, milk, and a heavy dose of black pepper.

I had a heart attack just looking at it, but poured over a sliced, freshly made biscuits that wrre as light as air, it was a thing to behold.
 
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The first time I ever heard of this was on this forum and I thought it sounded very weird! First of all, if you are a Brit, you need to realise that the biscuits in question are not the same as UK biscuits (cookies in US). The biscuits are similar to a UK scone. The gravy is a bechamel sauce flavoured with crumbled sausage meat. I have since made it twice (once with chicken for dinner) and I quite like it. I gather it is often served for breakfast.

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image from - https://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/u...biscuits/3140d428-fb73-4e94-9c9b-ad2f3c7497ec
 
We don't have that here in the UK. Presumably the biscuits are savoury? Just a basic recipe?
 
Yes, definitely not sweet. They can be very basic, just buttery and a bit salty. Or they can be a little tangier with buttermilk. Some folks like to add a bit of herbs(not many will admit it as this is a traditional thing not to be messed with).
 
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buckytom said:
I had a heart attack just looking at it,
Click to expand...
Do you mean you think it is unhealthy? I was looking at the Pioneer Woman's website and she goes on about it not being a heathy meal (although she loves it). To my mind its a whole lot less unhealthy than a full English breakfast - and a lot healthier than lots of other recipes. I mean, if you had a pasta dish with sausage meat in a cream sauce (classic Italian dish I think) would that be healthier?
 
It was the amount of oil she used. First, she poured a few cups into the pan to fry eggs, then fried the sausage in the oil, even adding more before making the roux. It makes a lot of gravy.
Looking at the picture, what I've mostly had was where the sausage is crumbled rather finely in comparison, then the gravy is poured over the opened biscuit so that it is smothered.

That is a pretty wimpy biscuits - n - gravy.
 
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buckytom said:
It was the amount of oil she used. First, she poured a few cups into the pan to fry eggs, then fried the sausage in the oil, even adding more before making the roux. It makes a lot of gravy.
Looking at the picture, what I've mostly had was where the sausage is crumbled rather finely in comparison, then the gravy is poured over the opened biscuit so that it is smothered.

That is a pretty wimpy biscuits - n - gravy.
Click to expand...
Why did she fry the sausage in oil?
Sausage is greasy enough.

Now, on biscuits and gravy:
Are you talking milk biscuits or buttermilk biscuits, dropped or rolled?
On the gravy, cream gravy, sausage gravy, bacon gravy or red eye gravy. There is even a chipped beef gravy.
Just for @morning glory, a traditional southern breakfast consists of 2 to 3 eggs, sausage, ham or bacon, hash browns, biscuits and gravy.
The eggs are usually fried or scrambled.
Now to make a proper southern gravy, fry up in your meat in a little bit of bacon grease unless you are making sausage in which case just cook up the sausage. (If it is pork, you won't need extra oil or grease).
Now take the meat out of the pan and add a bit of flour to the grease. Slowly stir in milk until it is a nice consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve over everything but the eggs if they are fried.

Or you could now do what most southerners do and buy the powdered gravy mix.
 
The one my sister in law made was sausage gravy, but she first fried the eggs , almost poached them, in oil, then fried the sausage in it, then made the gravy. The wsy you've described it sounds more reasonable.

I've also had Red Eye - with the coffee added. I didn't like that one.

But S*** on a Shingle - creamed chipped beef on toast - is delicious. I'll order that every once in a while when down South.
 
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buckytom said:
It was the amount of oil she used. First, she poured a few cups into the pan to fry eggs, then fried the sausage in the oil, even adding more before making the roux. It makes a lot of gravy.
Looking at the picture, what I've mostly had was where the sausage is crumbled rather finely in comparison, then the gravy is poured over the opened biscuit so that it is smothered.

That is a pretty wimpy biscuits - n - gravy.
Click to expand...
Ah - I see!
 
My wife spent several years in the US [she was at college there] and her opinion of biscuits and gravy was a definite thumbs down
 
Biscuits and gravy done right is awesome.
Done wrong is well what is worse than awful.

Oh and BT, SOS is hamburger meat in gravy.
 
I made some Swedish meatballs today and the way I make them (from minced pork - so a bit like sausages really) is to fry them in a little oil, then remove and add flour to the pan juices to make a roux. Then add some beef stock and milk to make a fairly thick gravy. I think this is a fairly traditional Swedish recipe and its is really very similar to the idea of the gravy in 'biscuits and gravy'. I serve the meatballs with mash potatoes or noodles rather than biscuits, though.
 
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