Gravy & Biscuits

When I was a little girl, we would visit my Granny in Virginia.  Every morning she'd have "gravies and biscuits" for us.  She made them fresh every day.  My Granny always added a "meat" to the gravy.  She even made Bologna Gravy.  She'd cut slices of bologna in half and fry them in a skillet.  Here's the recipe for the gravy:

Gravy
3 Tablespoon oil, bacon grease, butter
3 Tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
dash pepper
12 oz can evaporated milk
4-6 oz water (I just fill up the can about half way with water)

Heat skillet over medium heat and add oil.  Add flour and whisk until smooth, cook for about 1-2 minutes.  While whisking, pour in evaporated milk.  Whisk until smooth.  Add water to thin it out for your desired consistency.  Enjoy over biscuits! I also love to eat this with fresh homegrown sliced tomatoes.  SO GOOD!

Variations:  You can add crumbled cooked sausage, bacon, chip beef or even fried slices of bologna.

Biscuits
4 cups all purpose flour
4 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter (1 stick) cold, cut into cubes
2 to 2-1/2 cups buttermilk

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.  Use a fork and mash cubed butter into the flour until it's been incorporated throughout the flour mixture.  Make a well and pour in the buttermilk.  Using the fork, mix together lightly.  Do not overwork the dough, you'll get hard biscuits.  The dough needs to be really sticky.  Think about canned biscuits, they are wet and sticky out of a can, so that's what you want with homemade biscuits.  Lightly flour a surface and carefully fold the dough over itself, pat into a circle and punch out biscuits.  Reroll dough and punch more biscuits until it's been used up.  Bake at 400 degrees F for 10-12 minutes.  If you want the tops to brown, broil them for a minute. 

Yum!