# Biscuits and gravy...mmmmmm **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 8, 2006, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biscuits-and-gravy-mmmmmm/375729 "2006-10-08T18:19:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biscuits-and-gravy-mmmmmm/375729/21 "2006-10-09T00:55:58Z")
[QUOTE=Unintentionally Blank] Sfunny, 90% of the meal is flour…flour sauce on top of baked flour, with a little bot of sausage, pepper, butter, etc. But mostly flour. Nice and low carb. Perhaps it’s what’s for dinner! [/QUOTE] I don’t know what your notion of gravy is, but there is very little flour in this dish (or in any gravy I make). Lots o’ meat and onions, and a couple cups of milk, but it only takes about three tablespoons of flour to thicken. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biscuits-and-gravy-mmmmmm/375729/22 "2006-10-09T02:04:18Z")
[QUOTE=Chefguy] I don’t know what your notion of gravy is, but there is very little flour in this dish (or in any gravy I make). Lots o’ meat and onions, and a couple cups of milk, but it only takes about three tablespoons of flour to thicken. [/QUOTE] Literalist. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biscuits-and-gravy-mmmmmm/375729/23 "2006-10-09T02:07:51Z")
What? No love for bacon gravy? ---
**Author:** ![Gleena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b3f665/32.png) [@Gleena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gleena)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biscuits-and-gravy-mmmmmm/375729/24 "2006-10-09T02:13:31Z")
Hush, all of you. Biscuits are cookies here, the sausage is awful, and I haven’t had a proper buiscuit & gravy artery hardening feast in three years. Cheers, G ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biscuits-and-gravy-mmmmmm/375729/25 "2006-10-09T07:35:27Z")
For the Europeans here, keep in mind that the sausage we’re talking about here isn’t your German-/Polish-/Italian-style tube sausage. This is bulk ground pork seasoned with sage and assorted other spices, broken up into small chunks while it’s cooked (fried, not boiled!) and mixed into the gravy with all the melted grease. The grease is where all the flavor comes from 🙂 I don’t cut my biscuits. I make “drop” biscuits, using a 4-ounce ice cream scoop to place big balls of dough on the sheet pan, all pressed up against each other, and then brush the tops with melted butter. When they cook, the only direction they can go is up, so they’re tall and light and moist and fluffy. I make the dough somewhat wetter than you would want for cut biscuits. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biscuits-and-gravy-mmmmmm/375729/26 "2006-10-09T07:43:15Z")
Yeah, another one here suffering the perils of being “separated by a common language.” Then I remembered something about “biscuits” being different to 'merrikuns. Cos, Oreos and gravy… well… ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biscuits-and-gravy-mmmmmm/375729/27 "2006-10-09T07:43:36Z")
Hey, looky what I found: The Biscuits & Gravy Quarterly ---
**Author:** ![scareyfaerie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scareyfaerie/32/3135_2.png) [@scareyfaerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scareyfaerie)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biscuits-and-gravy-mmmmmm/375729/28 "2006-10-09T08:36:59Z")
[QUOTE=One And Only Wanderers] ah, so not rich tea & oxo then.. [/QUOTE] Shame, I was just beginning to think that might actually work… ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biscuits-and-gravy-mmmmmm/375729/29 "2006-10-09T09:16:14Z")
To my shame, I still haven’t eaten biscuits and gravy. I understand that biscuits are not what we (in the UK) call biscuits - apparently they’re more like scones, but ‘gravy’ is only tangentially similar to our gravy, and to make matters even worse, I have to hold suspect any recipes proffered, because ‘sausage’ isn’t the same thing on both sides of the pond either. So, perhaps there is an opportunity for ignorance to be fought here (as well as for me to try eating something new). Could perhaps someone _ **with detailed experience of foods available in the UK** _ post a recipe describing how I can make passably authentic biscuits and gravy _with ingedients available to me, here_. ---
**Author:** ![scareyfaerie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scareyfaerie/32/3135_2.png) [@scareyfaerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scareyfaerie)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biscuits-and-gravy-mmmmmm/375729/30 "2006-10-09T09:29:30Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] Could perhaps someone _ **with detailed experience of foods available in the UK** _ post a recipe describing how I can make passably authentic biscuits and gravy _with ingedients available to me, here_. [/QUOTE] I foudn this one which will tell you how to make the gravy bit of it: [Recipe](http://www.ehow.com/how_13823_make-biscuits-gravy.html) and I think someone’s already posted up a fairly straightforward biscuit recipe. Having looked at the biscuit recipe, it looks very much to me like the same kind of recipe I use to make the topping for fruit cobbler, only with less sugar. ---
**Author:** ![scareyfaerie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scareyfaerie/32/3135_2.png) [@scareyfaerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scareyfaerie)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biscuits-and-gravy-mmmmmm/375729/31 "2006-10-09T09:31:03Z")
BTW, you can get buttermilk quite easily over here, I recently bought some from Morrison’s - they hide it in the cold cabinet with the milk and cream. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biscuits-and-gravy-mmmmmm/375729/32 "2006-10-09T10:13:33Z")
Thanks; I think the biscuits are probably do-able; I think I even have a measuring device for ‘cups’. It’s the sausage that remains the bugbear, I think. We have a huge range of sausages and sausagemeats here; surely _one of them_ must be reasonably similar to American breakfast sausage? ---
**Author:** ![scareyfaerie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scareyfaerie/32/3135_2.png) [@scareyfaerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scareyfaerie)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biscuits-and-gravy-mmmmmm/375729/33 "2006-10-09T10:37:19Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] I think I even have a measuring device for ‘cups’. [/QUOTE] I go with the rule that 8ozs is equal to one ‘cup’ for both wet and dry ingredients. I can’t help with the sausage question 'cos I’m one of those pesky vegetarians! I’m guessing you’d just have to try various different ones until you found one you liked. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biscuits-and-gravy-mmmmmm/375729/34 "2006-10-09T10:48:18Z")
I’ve never had this “sausage gravy” of which you speak. My “gravy” is from the drippings of the roast, or the turkey, or what have you, mixed with some spices, sometimes cream, or thickened with a little flour. am I missing something monumental here? But I’ve had lots of poutine, so my arteries are probably on par with the best (worst?) of yours! ---
**Author:** ![Cheez\_Whia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@Cheez\_Whia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheez_Whia)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biscuits-and-gravy-mmmmmm/375729/35 "2006-10-09T12:51:29Z")
**Mangetout** , you can substitute hambuger meat for the sausage. It won’t be the same; what you will have is called SOS (sh!t on a shingle). Usually served over bread, it it wonderful over biscuits or potatoes. If it tastes pasty, add more salt and black pepper! ---
**Author:** ![Cheez\_Whia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@Cheez\_Whia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheez_Whia)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biscuits-and-gravy-mmmmmm/375729/36 "2006-10-09T12:52:39Z")
Hamburger, even. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biscuits-and-gravy-mmmmmm/375729/37 "2006-10-09T13:00:28Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] Thanks; I think the biscuits are probably do-able; I think I even have a measuring device for ‘cups’. It’s the sausage that remains the bugbear, I think. We have a huge range of sausages and sausagemeats here; surely _one of them_ must be reasonably similar to American breakfast sausage? [/QUOTE] Hm. The bangers I get taste a little like American breakfast sausages. But I don’t think it’s greasy enough, and it has the fillers. I fould this [sausage recipe](http://www.cooks-recipes.com/86/35015/Sage_Breakfast_Sausage.html). Seems easy enough. Or you can make bacon grave (perhaps with a bit of ham). ---
**Author:** ![scareyfaerie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scareyfaerie/32/3135_2.png) [@scareyfaerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scareyfaerie)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biscuits-and-gravy-mmmmmm/375729/38 "2006-10-09T13:05:54Z")
Mangetout - if you’re having trouble with the sausage part of it, you might find that Scottish “square sausage” is a good substitute because it’s quite spicy and is more like the consistency of ground beef etc. There are quite a few places on t’interweb you can order it and I think some of the larger branches of Asadstan sell it (they used to do it in a sort of breakfast pack thing, you get to know this when you share a house with Scots folk who are constantly pining for the comforts of home)… ---
**Author:** ![scareyfaerie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scareyfaerie/32/3135_2.png) [@scareyfaerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scareyfaerie)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biscuits-and-gravy-mmmmmm/375729/39 "2006-10-09T13:06:59Z")
Bum! Of course I meant that well-known cheap supermarket, Asdastan… ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biscuits-and-gravy-mmmmmm/375729/40 "2006-10-09T14:39:22Z")
For you furriners attempting this: look up a good sausage recipe on the web and make your own. All it takes is a grinder and a dream. Or buy your local product that passes for sausage and spice it up. **WARNING:** If you are going to visit the U.S., for Og’s sake do NOT order biscuits and gravy in an American restaurant unless someone absolutely vouches for it. Most restaurant “chefs” couldn’t make decent gravy if their lives depended on it, and what you will receive is a tasteless goo reminiscent of library paste in both flavor and texture. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biscuits-and-gravy-mmmmmm/375729.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biscuits-and-gravy-mmmmmm/375729.md?page=3)