Maggie's Farm

I still make proper biscuits and gravy. (And whatever that hotdog gravy abomination is, I've never heard of it here in Louisville, Kentucky.) You can do it with sausage, but we tend to prefer "bacon" gravy at my house.

Recipe, such as it is: fry bacon in a cast iron skillet. While it cooks, preheat oven to a minimum of 450 degrees and start the biscuits: 2 cups all purpose flour, sifted with 4 teaspoons baking powder, a half teaspoon of baking soda, and a teaspoon of salt. Using a pastry cutter, cut in a handful (maybe half a cup's worth) of cold lard into the flour, til mixture resembles cornmeal in texture. Make a well in the flour mixture, pour in a cup of buttermilk (or soured milk, or even sweet milk if you're in a bind) and then toss in a big spoonful of sour cream. (The sour cream is insurance; it helps protect the tenderness of the crumb if you accidentally overmix.) Then, pull it together GENTLY mixing as little as possible. DO NOT USE A ROLLING PIN. Turn out onto lightly floured board, patting it flat with your hands, and cut with a floured biscuit cutter or a glass. (Those old metal cups from the fifties-sixties are ideal.) Bake biscuits 8-12 minutes in 450-500 degree oven, til tops are browned. (A hot, fast oven makes for tender biscuits.) To make the gravy- after removing bacon from skillet, sift some flour into the hot, rendered fat. You're aiming to dry out the fat almost completely with the quantity of flour you add; you want to make a paste of it, stirring quickly to avoid lumps. Brown the mixture over medium heat. (Remember, the more you brown the flour, the more flavor you'll impart to the gravy- but the more it browns the less it thickens, so a browner mixture needs more flour than a lighter, blond mixture does.) Pour in a little bit of water to keep the mixture from burning as it browns. When desired browning is reached, add milk, stir, and add salt and pepper to taste, and serve over hot biscuits.