Breakfast Essentials Bacon Buttermilk Gravy Recipes

CREAMY BACON GRAVY

Steps:

• Brown bacon in a large skillet until crisp.
• Remove bacon and leave 2 tablespoons bacon fat in the skillet.
• Whisk flour into the bacon fat and cook 1 minute.
• Add milk a little bit at a time, stirring after each addition.
• Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until thick and bubbly.
• Crumble bacon and stir into the gravy. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Spoon over biscuits for serving.

BREAKFAST ESSENTIALS: BACON, BUTTERMILK GRAVY

Steps:

• PREP/PREPARE
• For this recipe you will need a good skillet, saucepan, or Dutch oven.
• Do not have any buttermilk. No worries. You can substitute whole, or 2% milk. Just add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar per cup of milk and let sit for 5 - 10 minutes at room temperature. Then, use it as you would regular buttermilk.
• Gather your ingredients (mise en place).
• Dice the bacon into small bits.
• Add to a medium-sized pan, or Dutch oven over medium heat, and cook until the fat is rendered, and the bacon crisps, about 8 - 10 minutes.
• Remove all but 4 tablespoons of the bacon grease, then add the flour.
• If your bacon did not produce enough fat, you can sub some butter, or non-flavored oil.
• Stir over medium-low heat, for about 3 - 4 minutes.
• Stirring the fat and the flour for a few minutes will help get rid of that flour taste.
• Add the buttermilk, a bit at a time, and keep stirring, as you are pouring.
• Slowly bring the mixture up to a simmer and stir to make sure you do not have any lumps.
• Continue stirring until the gravy thickens, about 3 - 4 minutes.
• While the gravy is thickening, add some salt and pepper, to taste.
• PLATE/PRESENT
• Biscuits, scrambled eggs, country-fried steak... It is gravy, go for it. Enjoy.
• Keep the faith, and keep cooking.

DOWN-HOME COUNTRY BREAKFAST GRAVY

Steps:

• Place bacon in a large skillet and cook over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until evenly browned, about 10 minutes. Drain bacon slices on paper towels and crumble when cool enough to handle.
• Add flour to the bacon grease and stir until a paste forms. Cook and stir until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Gradually add evaporated milk and milk, stirring frequently. Add butter, sugar, pepper, and salt; continue to cook until thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in crumbled bacon and serve.

BUTTERMILK SAUSAGE GRAVY

Steps:

• Place sausages and bacon drippings in a skillet and cook over medium heat, breaking up sausage into bite-sized pieces, until golden brown, 4 to 6 minutes. Add flour, stirring constantly. Slowly add buttermilk and cook and stir until gravy has thickened, 3 to 5 minutes.

BREAKFAST ESSENTIALS: OLD SAWMILL GRAVY

Steps:

• 1. PREP/PREPARE
• 2. Chef's Note: Per one story, the origins of "sawmill" gravy comes from the fact that it was served to the lumberjacks working at the sawmills in the timber-rich mountains of the East. It was a simple dish using bacon drippings, and ground cornmeal; however, it was nutritious enough to keep the men on their feet until lunch. Sometimes, if the gravy was too thick, the men complained that the cooks must have put sawdust into the gravy.
• 3. Chef's Note: If you are curious, here is an original recipe for sawmill gravy from an 1867 cookbook: Sawmill Gravy • 1 tablespoon bacon drippings • 3 heaping tablespoons white cornmeal • 1/2 teaspoon salt • 2 cups milk • dash of pepper I have been told that this original recipe is still being served to lumberjacks up in the Pacific Northwest.
• 4. Gather your ingredients (mise en place).
• 5. Add the chopped bacon to a saucepan, over medium heat.
• 6. Cook until the bacon fat melts into the saucepan, about 3 - 5 minutes.
• 7. Add the crumbled sausage.
• 8. Continue to cook until the sausage begins to brown.
• 9. Chef's Tip: Keep the saucepan active by stirring regularly.
• 10. Add the flour.
• 11. Stir until completely incorporated into the sausage/bacon mixture, about 2 - 4 minutes.
• 12. Chef's Note: Cooking the flour for a couple of minutes, will help to eliminate that "flour" taste.
• 13. Add the milk and cream.
• 14. Bring the mixture to a simmer, and cook until it thickens, about 5 - 7 minutes.
• 15. Add the vinegar, and then season with the cayenne, salt, and pepper, to taste.
• 16. PLATE/PRESENT
• 17. Serve over a couple of freshly-made buttermilk biscuits, with a bottle of hot sauce on the side. Enjoy.
• 18. Keep the faith, and keep cooking.