A southern classic for breakfast (Though pretty gosh darn good just any time of day too I think) is Biscuits and Gravy. Though bacon makes everything better, right? So instead of sausage I use bacon for this, and lots of fresh ground black pepper. I made use of some of the chicken stock I made the other day as well.

Now, the reality of these particular biscuits is, when making them, I forgot the salt. So while they looked nice, they tasted rather like cardboard. BUT, with gravy, hey they were better and the gravy was awesome. The recipe I'll include here for the biscuits though WILL include the salt and shouldn't taste like cardboard.

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Biscuits:

These particular biscuits are a very basic biscuit recipe. It is very easy to modify this recipe by adding other seasonings, add some cheese, up the butter a little bit, etc. A good base recipe can lead to lots of new ideas.

Being this is baking everything is by weight, though I'll include estimated amounts for some of the smaller stuff.

We’ll be employing something called “The Biscuit Method” for mixing these. No joke, that is the technical name for the method. It involves working your fat into the dry, then slowly mixing in your moisture to form a semi-dry dough and then use immediately.

Dry Goods:
1 lb All-purpose Flour
1 oz Sugar (About 2 Tbsp)
.5 oz baking powder ( About 2 tsp )
.5 oz baking soda (About 2 tsp)
.25 oz salt (about 1 tsp)

Combine all the above ingredients in a bowl and sift together with either a sifter, or using a fork or whisk to combine and mix the ingredients together well. Mixing them together is very important to make sure the baking powder and soda is evenly distributed in the mix. Should you need to you can put this mix in an air tight container and keep around for a month or so. Though once you combine the moisture and butter you’re committed to making some biscuits.

Shortening:

6 oz unsalted butter, cold. (That’s a stick and a half)

Now we’ll basically be making pie dough here. You want to cut the butter into very small pieces and the easiest method to do that? Use a box grater or a grater of some type. Just grate the butter directly into the flour Dry goods and then work it all in with your hands. You want it to turn into small flakes and beads of butter in the mix.

Wet Goods:
9 ½ oz evaporated milk (Out of a 12 oz can, save the remainder to use to brush on the biscuits before putting in the oven.)
1 oz lemon juice.

Combine the above together, stir, and let sit for about five minutes. This will cause the milk to curdle and become thick, much like butter milk. You can use 10 oz of Buttermilk as well for this which is great too! I just didn’t have any nor often have it so I use this cheater method and it works out well.

Slowly pour the milk into the flour and butter mixture, mixing it with a spoon or your hand till it forms to a somewhat dry dough.

At this point you can either… Make small balls and place on a sheet pan for very tender biscuits that won’t have a lot of rise… Or…

You can knead the dough about ten to twenty times for about thirty seconds to develop the gluten. Shape it into a ball and roll it about a half inch thick on a floured surface. Use a round glass or biscuit cutter (I just use a glass myself) to cut out rounds and place on a baking sheet. Try to minimize scraps as biscuits rolled out a second time will be a little tougher.

Either way you go preheat your oven to 425 degrees and bake about fifteen to twenty minutes! When they come out rub a little butter on each one and enjoy with butter, honey… or…


Black Pepper Bacon Gravy

This is an excellent gravy to use on breaded chicken or pork cutlets, as well as biscuits, or sometimes just to eat… I’ll admit, I’ve eaten it just plain up with a spoon. It’s very tasty!

What you’ll need:

3 strips of bacon, cut into thin pieces
¼ yellow onion, chopped fine
4 tbsp flour
1 12oz can evaporated milk
2 cups chicken broth or stock
Lots of fresh ground black pepper to taste (At least a couple tablespoons)

Start by adding the bacon and onions into a hot sauté pan pre-heated on medium high. Cook until the bacon is mostly browned and onions are starting to brown. Mix in the flour and let cook for a couple of minutes, stirring often.

Whisk in slowly the two cups of chicken broth. Then add in the can of evaporated milk. Bring to a simmer and let simmer, stirring often, for several minutes or until gravy thickens to the consistency you want. Add in lots of fresh ground black pepper.

Enjoy over whatever you like! The gravy without to much additional cook time will be a little thin, but even a few minutes extra of simmering will thicken it, as well as once it cools it can be quite thick. To reheat you may want to add a little extra milk or water and heat on medium till it’s hot.

Enjoy!