recipe wanted

[thedeeredude]

When we were on vacation in Ohio, in the Strasburg area, everybody and their brother sold biscuits with sausage gravy.  The only time I ate them was at the hotel, part of the breakfast, but they were DanG good.  Anybody got good recipes?  There is a local restaurant that does a pretty good rendition too, but I want to learn to make them.  Thanks.

[Norm]

Just use any good biscuit recipe for them. The sausage gravy is pretty simple. Depending on how many you are feeding will set the amounts you use, this one will feed 3-4.

1# of ground sausage browned in a medium size frying pan on medium heat. Depending on how much grease is rendered out you'll have to add some. I use olive oil but really any oil will work as long as it's good quality, like canola or peanut. I'd say a 1/4 cup would do. Stir in flour, about a 1/3 cup until if cooks for a minute or two. Add two cups of milk, preferably whole milk. Keep stirring with the heat at medium until the milk starts to come to a light boil. At that point it will start to thicken, turn the heat down to low and cook at a low boil until it is gravy consistency. You may have to add more milk if it's too thick but be careful not to add to much. Sprinkle in a good amount of pepper, no salt and slice the biscuits in half and slather on the gravy. To be honest I never measure anything when I make this. Hopefully it's close. :D

I used to make huge batches of this for our restaurant every Saturday and Sunday for the breakfast brunch. I'm guessing I could do it blindfolded still. :D

[JackSchaffer]

Norm,

Thanks for the recipe.  My grandmother would likely raise and eyebrow at the use of olive oil, ahem.  Growing up it was lard all the way!  I'm going to try this in about 15 minutes...

[thedeeredude]

Thanks Norm!  Got any good biscuit recipes? 

[Norm]

To be honest we always used a mix at the restaurant and the ones I make from scratch aren't really that good.

Bibby's Mary has a recipe in the knowledge base. I've not made them but how about giving them a go and let us know what you think. Keep in mind that Mary offbears at the mill and would most likely clean our clocks if we said anything bad. :D

[Polly]

    my openion if you dont use lard when baking or frying anything you just as well go to wal mart bakery and buy it already made it wont be fit to eat anyway most all ladr substitutes cause side effects for some people i am one of them i have came to the conclusion if f d a approver it it is not fit using i know all about chlestrol build up but you want something that is fit to eat or do you want something the goverment says will make you live longer today and then tomorrow post a recall on it my grandmother lived to be 90plus and she was on a strict diet she never ate a thing she did not like fried rabbit  fried squerl and gravey  fried potatoes she was a firm believer in using lard  also home made biscuts  some of the omish people keep lard in their freezers  just to bake with anyhow this is just my personal openion my advice to everyone is do what you personally think best and use what makes your tummy feel good  :D :D :D 8) 8)

[Norm]

I like cooking with lard if it's not the hydrogenated kind. Everything you will buy at the grocery store is hydrogenated. Go to your local butcher and see if he's rendering his own and that's the good stuff.

I used to make my pie crusts with lard when we did the farmers market. I didn't care about others' cholesterol levels. But for my own I use a recipe that's called pate brisee. It will knock the socks off any grandma's pie crusts. ;D


http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/delicious-pate-brisee

[james]

mom's recipe for baking powder biscuits

  BAKING POWDER BISCUIT   

  Sift together, (3 times into bowl)
  2 cups of flour
  1 tbsp. baking powder
  1/2 tsp. salt

  Measure into separate container"
  2/3 cp. liquid, (milk or water)
  1/4 cp. salad oil (if using solid shortening, cut into dry ingredients now with fork or pastry blender)
  Stir wet ingredients into the dry, stirring just enough to get them gathered. Turn out onto lightly floured board and kneed only until formed. Do NOT over work. Pat or roll into 1/2 in. flat and cut.
Bake in hot oven, 425 degrees, 12 to 15 min, until brown.
mmm mmmm good
james

[james]

moms recipe for corn bread
     

Measure and sift together into bowl:
1 3/4 cp. flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. sugar(optional)
stir in:
3/4 cp. corn meal

Measure into separate container:
3/4 cp liquid (milk or water)
1/4 cp. salad oil or melted shortening

Stir wet ingredients into dry JUST until moistened, (will be lumpy)
Pour into greased 8 X 8 pan, bake 35 min. at 350.

real good with a bowl of soup , or just out of the oven with lots of butter and honey
james

[ErikC]

  We render lard from bear fat and Sarah bakes with it. Seems like everything's better if she uses the bear fat instead of something from the store. The pie crusts are exceptional. She's good at it anyway, but the bear fat makes a flakier crust. People compliment her on them a lot.

[Tom]

I'm told that the bear fat makes boots pretty waterproof too. :D


Funny how the bear hunters around here want the fat cooked from the stew meat and not left to eat.  They say it makes the meat gamey and don't like fat bear meat.  I wonder what the difference is in the diet that wouldl make an Okeefenokee bear gamier than one of yours?

[DanG]

I know that this may come as a surprise, but I have an opinion on this. ;D  If them folks don't want anything that tastes gamey, why do they eat game? ???  They should just go to the grocery store and get something that isn't game, so it wouldn't be gamey.

If I had some bear fat, I'd DanG sure make some biscuits with it!

[Gary_C]

  If them folks don't want anything that tastes gamey, why do they eat game? ??? 

You have a good point there. The same is true for fish. The test everyone uses for how good the fish tastes is if it does not taste like fish. They will say it tastes just like chicken!    ;D ;D

Well why bother eating fish then, just eat chicken??      :D :D

[Polly]

 8) 8)their is a old man down in tenn. that has got fried cornbread on his resturant menue it is real good would anyone have this resepee  : : 8) 8)

[Tom]

We ate two types of fried cornbread when growing up.

Neither were much more than cornmeal and water.

The first one was the the more common and was an indication of my Grandmom's penchant for history.

Boil some water.  Put some water-ground (white) cornmeal in a bowl and put enough hot water in it to form a  thin dough.  Let it set until it begins to cool some (about 15-30 minutes)

Heat some bacon grease in a large skillet. (enough to cover the bottom of the pan)
Press the cornmeal dough out into the skillet till it is about 3/8" to 1/2" thick and is the size of the pan.

Fry this in the grease until the cornmeal is well browned on the bottom at a medium heat.

Use a plate to turn the cake over in the pan, adding more grease if necessary.

Turn the heat down to low and continue to cook the cake until the center is dry and both sides are rich yellow-brown.

It's good with ham and greens, mixed with buttermilk or just with butter. It also makes a pretty good dessert with some cane syrup poured over it.

Salt?  You can if you want. But Grandmom said "no salt!  The family didn't have salt in War Between the States".  :D   I've also found that a pinch or two of flour will help it hang together a little better.

The other one is prepared the same but is almost soupy, like a thin pancake batter, and will turn to lace in a skillet with 1/8" of grease in it. You just spoon it into the grease and get it as thin as you can without it falling apart.

It makes a crisp "cookie" with a bit of a cornbread center that is good with most anything, especially a breakfast.  Make them about the size of the palm of your hand and stack them on a plate put in the middle of the table. You can keep them in a warm oven as the whole batch is cooked, which allows some of the grease to run out.

You have to be careful about overcooking or the cornmeal will get bitter.  Yes you can use a vegetable oil, but it isn't nearly as good.

Granddad said that cornbread made with flour, salt, milk, eggs, etc and cooked in the oven, was really a corn cake.  He could get pretty specific about his table fare.  :D

[beenthere]

We ate two types of fried cornbread when growing up.
.......................

Use a plate to turn the cake over in the pan, adding more grease if necessary.
..........................

Sounds good.
About the plate, to turn the cake over in the pan....  just flip the cake out onto a plate, and then slide it off the plate back into the pan? Just curious.

[Tom]

Yeah, you need the plate or it will fall apart all over the place.  :D :D

Another of our favorites and one that Charlie and I would drool over, is Hoe Cake.

Grandmom usually made them the size of the skillet.  They are easy.

Make up some biscuit dough and press into a hot skillet until it is 1/2-3/4 inch thick.   Cook one side on a low-medium heat and then turn it with a plate.  Place the plate over the the skillet as a lid and cook it some more until it is just a great-big-biscuit with round spots of varying browning on its surface.  Put the steaming big biscuit on the table, on a plate, and let everyone break off a piece.   Yessir!  That's eatin'.

[Norm]

Great recipes Tom!

We only had cornbread made from the jiffy mix even as a kid growing up. Is the corn meal your Grandma would use a finer grind then what's used for grits?

Next time I buy grits I'll know what he looks like as I'm sure his pictures is on the sack. ;D

[Tom]

I'm going to be on the lookout for a Sack of  grit with Dave Shepard's picture on it.

Cornmeal is  a bit of a finer grind and hasn't been Hominized.  :D :D

I think that cornmeal has more hull and germ in it than  grits too.

We did most of our shopping at the A&P and the grits and cornmeal decisions were made on the base of it being Water (stone) Ground.  

Granddad said that corn, ground with steel wheels, would get burned and the little black spots in it were from overheated germ.  Water ground meal is made cooler and doesn't  burn as badly.

Dixie Lily and Martha White were two common brand names

Something we haven't discussed here much is that there is a Course Grind of grits.  They are really good.  If you can find some, get'em.  I doubt you will find them in an Instant or Quick package.  Expect to cook them for at least a half hour or more.

Granddad was fun to be around. His sense of humor was rural and you had to be pretty quick or you'd end up believing everything for the truth.   The A & P was just a couple of blocks away and he liked to take us boys with him when he would run down there for a handful of groceries.  He and Grandmom shopped together for the staples and big purchases, but he liked to be sent for stuff that Grandmom needed right away and didn't have.  He was the master of the Pause.   He would look at me and Charlie and say Boys........  Want to go with me to A................ and P?

Grandmom would fain horror!!  Flem!! she would say, every time.  That was his name, Fleming Charles Dame Sr.

I've told this before here but never get tired of the story.  Granddad knew the butchers.  He knew everybody.  I used to go with him to the Sunrise Grocery on Ave A and 5th.  He'd march in and order a Left Ham.  He and the butcher would always go through a bunch of shenanigans discussing the Left Ham.  The argument, of course, was that most pigs, like most people, are right footed.  So, the left ham is only used for support, while the right ham gets worked pretty thoroughly as it drives the foot when the pig scratches.  Naturally the Left Ham would be the most tender. ;D

[Norm]

You were lucky to have him Tom. My Grandpa on my Mom's side died before I was  born but I was told he and I would have hit it off as he hunted and fished as much as possible. On the other side my Grandpa was how is a nice way to say it....an ash tree with a hole in it.  :D

[ErikC]

 Rendered bear fat has no smell and no taste. It is as snow white as Tom's beard. The same bear, cooked meat with a lot of fat on it can be strong tasting. They used to hunt bear in a lot of places for the fat and not care much about the meat.

Now carry on about that corn-flour or whatever your talkin about.

[pigman]

Another of our favorites and one that Charlie and I would drool over, is Hoe Cake.

And I thought my father made up that name. When I was about 8 and my mother was in the hospital for a couple days my dad cooked for us. He fixed something called Hoe Cake that his mother use to fix. I don't know whether I missed my mother's cooking or my dad did not know how to cook, but all I remember is that I did not like Hoe Cake.