Biscuits and Gravy

Oh yes, biscuits and gravy.  Comfort food at it’s finest. 

The past 48 hours have been pretty stressful for me.  Between having a scheduling conflict with my regular sheep shearer, trying to find a back up shearer, and applying for a business grant, I have to say I was left with my head between my knees trying not to puke. 

I am in desperate need of some good comfort food, which I made last night in an effort to try and feel better and not like life is crashing down on me at the moment. 

Biscuits and gravy was one of my Rob’s favorite things to make.  I don’t know how many times over the years it was something we made spur of the moment, or to feed visiting guests.  Sleepover folks for shearing, friends stopping for a night at the Wyoming house, and family all got Rob’s sausage gravy.

When I close my eyes, I can see Rob standing at the stove, left leg bent, left hand halfway in the pocket of his jeans, right hip cocked out as he stared intently at the gravy he was making.  Using both the fat left from cooking the sausage and additional butter, just the right amount of flour for the roux, and slowly adding milk as it heated up, swirling the gravy in constant circles with the smallest of whisks in his huge hand. 

Waiting…waiting for just the right moment for the gravy to be perfect.  Thin enough to dribble down the side of the biscuit and thick enough to create a mound of creamy sausage heaven just waiting to be devoured.

He never measured anything, it was all done by his practiced eye and how it felt in his hand.  And it was always perfect.

It was a dance only he could do.

And I miss watching him do that dance and me being the recipient of the skill he possessed in making it.

I’ve only made this twice since he left this life.  It took me a long time to feel ok making this without him.  My friend Laurette was here visiting the last time I made it.  She had both Rob’s version and mine.  She claimed I made it exactly as Rob did, but I don’t feel that I can match the amount of love and passion he put into his gravy. 

I was always the biscuit maker for this venture.  I don’t have a special recipe, just the one in my old Betty Crocker cook book.  Rob was very capable of making biscuits, but claimed mine were better than his.  It always made me happy to be able to make him something he really loved to eat.

Because Rob was a biscuit lover, I doubled my batch so he would have some for snacks later, usually he added strawberry preserves or honey on them. 

While my recipe is nothing special, my biscuit cutter is.  I asked Rob a couple of years into our marriage to make me one.  Gave him the diameter I wanted and asked him to add a substantial handle.  He came home from work one day with this beautiful piece of his craft.  Stainless steel, super sharp cutting edge, and the perfect handle on top.  I can toss this thing into the dishwasher without a problem. 

My cutter and Rob’s whisk

Over the years of use, the cutting edge has not dulled. 

Prior to this cutter coming into my life, I was just using a glass or plastic drink cup.  I found that all it really did was pinch the edge of the biscuit down and it was not getting a good rise when baking.  The super sharp edge makes a clean cut thru the dough, and the rise is fantastic now. 

Here's a side by side comparison of the Rob cutter and the glass I’ve used before.

 

That right biscuit came out pretty squashy. Sorry about the pics, don’t know why it cut them off so much. I didn’t crop them that way.

Here’s my attempt to recreate Rob’s gravy. I start by cooking the sausage. I couldn’t get the brand Rob usually used; the store was out of it at the moment. The brand I did get was a very good compromise, tasted just the same. I cook it long enough for the meat to get caramelized a bit.

Removed the meat and add the butter. I put in 1/3 of a cup. Let it melt and start to scrape up the bits left in the pan from the meat. Add enough flour to make a thick roux.

Slowly add the milk, stirring constantly until it is as thick as you want your gravy to be. Add ground pepper to your taste.

Add the meat back in and allow it to heat back up. More stirring involved.

Serve over your biscuits.

My gravy got a bit thicker than I had planned. The biscuits took longer in the oven because my timing was off last night. It was all good though. My son said it tasted exactly like Rob’s.

This was the emotional hug I needed yesterday, and I finally slept instead of sitting up worrying all night. Thank you Rob. I love you.

Blessed be.