I realized as I was finishing up the Chicken Fried Steak post that I should probably include a recipe for cream gravy as well, and I almost added it then. But as I started to think a little bit more about it, I decided that cream gravy deserved to stand on its own. Plus the CFS post had already gotten pretty long. I never knew I had so much to say about Chicken Fried Steak.
Cream gravy has its roots in poor folks' food. It's what people ate when they didn't have a lot of fancy pan drippings from roasting a large cut of meat to make brown gravy. And since its main ingredients are flour and milk, it's very filling as well – a great way to stretch a meal when you don't have much. So it's no wonder we Texans eat it on biscuits, french fries, fried chicken, chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, scrambled eggs, well, just about anything that hits the table can be made better with cream gravy.
Cream gravy is also known as white gravy or country gravy, and, in non-Southern locales it's called béchamel. The difference is that béchamel sauce is made with butter, and cream gravy is made with whatever fat you have handy, which, yeah, can sometimes be butter. If you have just made Chicken Fried Steak or fried chicken, you use the fat from frying. If you are making it with breakfast, you use the bacon drippings. You get the idea.
I decided to take a five minute tour of the internet, just to see how other people make their cream gravy, and I have to say, people have some very odd notions about it. First, let me say that there is no actual cream in cream gravy. Nor is there water. And it's not complicated either, so you don't need mason jars, sifters, double boilers, or any kind of special implements. It is a simple sauce. All you need is some kind of fat, flour, milk, salt, cracked pepper, and a skillet.
Yes, it is fine to fancy up your cream gravy, but there are limits. Here is a general guideline: chipotle is an acceptable addition. Orange juice concentrate is not.
Cream Gravy
3 tbsp. fat
3 tbsp. all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
salt
cracked pepper
In a skillet, heat fat over medium heat. Add flour and whisk together. Your mixture should still be a liquid. If it is dry or crumbly, add more fat. Otherwise you will end up with lumpy gravy. Continue to stir the flour mixture until the flour is cooked. The flour will cook in about a minute, but the longer you cook the flour, the better your gravy will taste. This is a trade off though. As the flour cooks, it browns, which results in a tan colored gravy. It's not as pretty, but it tastes good.
When your flour is cooked, pour in the milk all at once and whisk to mix. Then leave it alone. I mean it. Don't touch your gravy again until it starts to boil.
When the gravy starts to boil, whisk it together. If your gravy is a little thick, add some milk. If it is a little thin, boil it for a few seconds to reduce. Turn off the heat. Season with salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste.
A variation on cream gravy is sausage gravy, which is most commonly served over biscuits, but makes an appearance in other dishes as well.
Biscuits and sausage gravy is one of my husband's favorite dishes. I had a heck of a time trying to make an acceptable version once we moved here. Just in case you are wondering, the ubiquitous chorizo available at most tiendas makes a sausage gravy that not only tastes odd, but looks like pink dog food as well. Finally I discovered an Argentinian chorizo at Sams Club that works. Johnsonville Bratwurst has also been used in a pinch. I haven't yet broken down and made my own sausage, which would be very easy for this, as it does not need to be stuffed into casings.
Sausage Gravy
1 lb. sausage
3 tbsp. All-purpose flour
2 cups milk
salt
cracked pepper
Either crumble or dice sausage and brown in a skillet. When the sausage is cooked, add flour and continue to cook for 1-2 minutes more, stirring frequently. Pour the milk into the skillet all at once and stir to combine. Allow the mixture to come to a boil, then stir, adding more milk if necessary. Turn off heat and add salt and cracked pepper to taste.
With the last two posts, I have been trying something new, putting the recipes in with the blog stuff instead of simply relegating them to the recipe section. I am thinking I will still put a less chatty version of the recipes in with the rest of the recipes. I would love to year what y'all think about it all.
-
|201.132.20.xxx |m-d-Y H:i:s VikiWilson - You're on the right trackJennifer, I think including the recipes in your blog and then listing them separately in the recipe section is exactly the perfect thing to do! I enjoyed reading the past two posts tremendously (made me a little homesick though!), but when I want the recipes again, it's much easier to go to the recipe list. Glad you're a good cook, because your pointers help a lot!
-
|SAdministrator |m-d-Y H:i:s jenniferThank you for your input, Viki. I will add these to the regular recipes list as well.
-
|200.66.52.xxx |m-d-Y H:i:s SantiagoSure now my mouth is watering. Thanks gurl. Talk, talk,talk. I never seed none drop by my casa. The gravy is not a side dish. It's the main dish. So there! The other stuff ya all put in it, who cares. Biscuits and gravy and ya all are all in. Aint no more. Aint no better. Thanks
-
|65.161.188.xxx |m-d-Y H:i:s pat - homemage sausage recipeJennifer, if you have a meat grinder, try making your own breakfast sausage. I have made the one from Good Eats, Alton Brown's show, twice and it is good. Not difficult and you can make it spicy or sweet or both! Let me know if you can't find the recipe and I will send it to you. Love your blog.
-
|SAdministrator |m-d-Y H:i:s jenniferI do have a meat grinder. And a sausage stuffer. For some reason though, sausage always seems daunting. The sausage stuffer has never been used.
I loooove Alton Brown.I found this recipe on the food network site. Only problem is a few of the ingredients are a bit hard to find here, like brown sugar and sage. But I think maybe I will try a few substitutions. Piloncillo would probably be very good.
Overcast 63 oF • 17 oC