AVI sometimes accuses me of this, with fairness. Today for our late Sunday breakfast I made applewood-smoked bacon and fried eggs, but I decided to try DL Sly's take on biscuits (see the comments to the Southern Biscuits post). Just to be fair to Lodge Cast Iron's Dutch oven cookbook, and because I was making bacon instead of sausage, I decided to try their recommended packet gravy as well. I baked the biscuits in a Dutch oven, pictured.
The chief difference in Sly's family biscuits and mine is the lack of any kneading or folding. As a result, the biscuits are very much like my mother's spoon biscuits: my grandmother, who taught me, was my paternal grandmother; my maternal grandmother never made biscuits because she made them for my maternal grandfather one time when they were first married and he laughed at them, so she never once made them again for him again in her entire life. (He taught me to make bacon; my paternal grandmother made it daily, but it’s his method of baking it in the oven that I use.) As a result, my mother's biscuits were learned after she married and was majoring in home economics in college (apparently a thing one could do in those days; she later transferred her major to education and became a career teacher).
These biscuits are excellent for gravy-and-biscuits because the zero kneading and folding means that they have almost no gluten in them. They are thus extremely tender to the fork. They are less suitable than mine for making an egg-and-bacon sandwich, as they lack the fluffy layers that keep them from falling apart as easily. Depending on the meal plan, however, they might be a great choice.
The packet gravy was not a good recommendation: I stand by my earlier condemnation of it, now on empirical grounds. It is not a third as good as the from-scratch sausage gravy, and it isn't even particularly easier to make because you still have to mix the packet with cold water before then stirring it into boiling water. If you're going to do that much, go all the way and have the full and delicious experience.
Still, you know, you try new things and some of it works, some of it doesn't. The biscuits were great; the packet gravy was not. Live and learn.
5 comments:
Made-from-scratch sausage gravy is about as close to actual magic as a man is likely to get in this life, if you ask me.
I've met some magic, now and then.
Grim, I'm honored that you tried the biscuits the way my Mom made them. I agree that they do not lend well to making sandwiches, but then, with two boys and a very physically active girl at the table, there were rarely any biscuits left after breakfast anyway.
As far as gravy goes, I fully admit to being a southern snob. I won't eat it out of a can or packet, period. And blue moon rare are the times when I will try a restaurant's gravy - which is usually from a can that they've tried to dress up with spices and such.
I'm glad you enjoyed the biscuits. 0>:~}
Oh, and that one big biscuit sitting at about 7 o'clock in the pan? My dad always called those "cat head" biscuits. lol They were the his favorite. 0>;~}
The honor is mine, since you trusted me enough to share your family recipe here. I’m sure I didn’t do it as well as your mother would have, but they turned out very nicely in spite of my inexperience
Post a Comment