Gravy and biscuits. It’s a Southern thing. When I was growing up, our day started with my mother’s breakfast for our family of six. It consisted of eggs, bacon, homemade biscuits, and gravy. Every. Single. Morning.
All of us girls were trying to get ready for school in one bathroom. The chaos! But my mother expected us all to sit down and eat breakfast before we left for school. I sure wish I had appreciated her efforts then the way I most certainly would now.
She always made the biscuit dough, rolled it out, and cut them in to perfectly round circles the night before. The smell of breakfast cooking and the delicious taste of her efforts the next morning probably went less appreciated than they should have. Only if she were still here.
When we visited my family’s Tennessee farm after my mom left us, there’s nothing that my Daddy liked better than when my husband cooked breakfast. He knew I married a great cook. He requested the gravy be just right, not too thick and not too thin. Thankfully, my husband mastered that technique.
A southern tradition
The indulgent meal, beloved by people from all walks of life, is now a staple in the fabric of America’s breakfast and brunch culture. But its beginning was decidedly modest.
Biscuits and gravy in some form may go back as early as the late 1800s. Lumber was one of the main industries in the Southern Appalachians, which supports the story that sausage gravy was also called sawmill gravy. It was the ideal cheap and calorie-dense fuel for sawmill workers lifting heavy logs all day long, and the perfect tool for making the era’s biscuits tastier.
Today, gravy is still requested for breakfast, no matter what you call it.
Ingredients
1 Tbls vegetable oil
2 Tbls bacon grease or butter
2 heaping Tbls flour
1 and 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp paprika
*Dash of salt if using butter instead of bacon grease
Directions
Heat grease and oil in cast iron skillet on medium heat. Add flour and whisk to make a rue.
Whisk until the flour starts turning a golden brown. Add one cup on milk and whisk constantly to smooth any lumps. Turn up heat slightly until gravy starts to bubble.
If gravy is too thick, add a little more milk and continue to whisk. Add seasonings.
Turn heat down to low and continue to whisk until ready to serve.
The gravy is delicious over scrambled eggs and biscuits. My husband also makes the gravy to serve over rice with fried chicken and other vegetables.
It’s so good, it’ll make you want to slap ya mama, which is another Southern phrase for mighty delicious.
