Biscuits and Gravy

Today, my friends, I share with you the best breakfast ever. The best part of going to my grandma's house was that she always made me biscuits and gravy. (Really, she made it for my family, but my childish heart was convinced she made it just for me). Is everyone familiar with ,bisuits and gravy? Fluffy biscuits of deliciousness drenched (never drizzled) with creamy flour gravy, so simple yet so divine? B&G doesn't have to be homemade; some of the best comes from run-down truck stops along the interstate. Small, hometown diners usually have some mean B&G. In a fix, even i-hop will do!


My grandma taught my mom how to make gravy, and she in turn taught me. You won't find any (white) gravy from a packet in Mama Sarah's Kitchen. Nuh uh! This recipe is more of a guideline, and I'm afraid a bare one at that. But so much of the gravy-making process is done by sight and taste and feel.

My grandma always made homemade bisuits, and one day I aspire to that. For now, I find frozen ones work well, definitely better than the pillsbury canned kind. Use whichever biscuits you love the most. Or have in the kitchen.

White Gravy:
fat (bacon or sausage fat, or you can use vegetable oil, though it's not gonna be nearly as tasty)
flour
milk
salt
pepper
water

So, I started out frying some bacon on a low-medium heat. I had about 7 pieces of bacon and used the fat rendered from those. A couple days ago, I planned on making b&g, but ran out of time, so I saved the fat from that as well. In all, you'll need about a 1/4 of cup warmed fat. When you cook the bacon (or sausage) you'll end up with little bits of meat in the bottom; these are GOOD. Keep them! They add flavor.

Next your going to add the flour to the fat. You need to have equal parts of each, so about 1/4 cup flour to match your 1/4 cup fat. When stirring, USE A SLOTTED SPOON! As you add the flour, stir like a fiend. Now at this point, the flour is going to absorb the fat and you're going to think holymoly how am I going to get a good amount of gravy out of that?? Have no fear! Just keep it moving and try to get it all in the same place in your skillet (middle works well).

Once your gravy is starting to brown a bit (light brown, not dark; we aren't making a roux here), you're going to stir in milk. I added a bit at a time, starting with 1/4 to 1/2 cup additions, then adding slowly from there. As you add the milk, STIR LIKE CRAZY, or, like my mama says "it will be lumpy and there isn't a cure for that." How much milk you add decides how much gravy you end up with. I'd say all in all, I added about 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups milk.

The gravy will be a bit too thick at this point. You have to add water to thin it some. But before I do that, I like to season it with salt and pepper. I have no idea as to these amounts as it's all to taste. Start small, then make little additions until it's where you like.

Add water, again stirring like crazy. I'd say I added about 1/4 cup water until it reached the right consistency. Again, personal preference. Taste it again and add salt and pepper as needed.

TADA! You've got gravy!

Spoon liberally over biscuits.


(Disclaimer: the picture above is a false representation of the manner in which Mama Sarah eats her b&g. She first tears apart her biscuits into bite size bits, then pours the gravy on top. It just isn't nearly as presentable)

(Disclaimer 2: gravy is difficult and it is very likely you'll mess up your first time.. or your second.. or your third. It's okay to screw up; just don't let that prevent you from trying again!)