Grandpa, Grandma, dad and gary 1962Biscuits are one thing that I love to bake and eat.  I love  my grandma’s biscuits and gravy.  My grandpa would never let us eat “cold cereal” for breakfast.  He thought that was horrible.  He urged my grandma to make a hot breakfast pretty much everyday when I was young and stayed the night with them.  Biscuits and gravy, fried eggs and bacon was the best breakfast ever.  And may I make a suggestion to finish off your meal?  It is something my sweet, sweet grandpa taught me (I miss him so much).  He would take a plate and pour a good bunch of light corn syrup and then get a spoonful of butter and mix it around with his fork.  He then took one of my grandma’s hot biscuits and broke it in half and put the corn syrup and butter mixture onto the biscuit. Oh I can almost taste it right now.  How I miss my grandpa and my hot breakfast that grandma used to make.  Yet another reason to love southerners.

This recipe is from Paula Deen.  Please don’t tell my grandma, but I like this biscuit recipe better than her’s.  But the milk gravy recipe is the same as my grandma’s.

Ingredients

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
  • 1 cups buttermilk
  • 1/4 cup melted unsalted butter
  • Milk gravy, recipe follows

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut in the shortening with a fork until it looks like cornmeal. Add the milk, a little at a time, stirring constantly until well mixed.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead lightly two or three times. Roll out the dough with a floured rolling pin to 1/2-inch thickness. Cut with a 2-inch cutter.

Place the biscuits in a greased iron skillet. Gently press down top of biscuits. Brush the biscuits with half the melted butter. Bake for 14 minutes or until golden brown. Brush the hot biscuits with the remaining butter. Split the biscuits in half and ladle milk gravy over the hot biscuits.

gravy

Milk Gravy:

  • 1/4 cup bacon grease
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cups milk warm
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoons pepper
  • 2 tablespoons melted butter

Heat bacon grease in a cast iron skillet. Add the flour and whisk until smooth and bubbly about 1 minute. Add the warm milk slowly and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a low simmer and stir, until thickened, about 5 minutes, adding milk as necessary to control the thickness. Season the gravy with salt and pepper. Serve hot over biscuits.

gravy 2

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Okay, really, bacon grease, cast iron skillet – all wonderful memories from my childhood.  Should I admit I have quite a bit of bacon grease stored in my fridge right now?

To see what others are baking, please visit Life as a Mom’s Ultimate Recipe Swap.

And I just noticed how much my son looks like my dad in the picture above (he’s the younger one).