Biscuits in Gravy
If you have never been to Louisiana or the Carolinas you are unlikely to have come across this simple dish, I came across Biscuits and Gravy when working on a ship in the Gulf of Mexico which sailed out of Port Fourchon, the American men on-board requested Biscuits and gravy for breakfast, I was bemused by this request as I have never came across Biscuits and Gravy, and their description of the aforementioned biscuit was not familiar to me, but I said we would look at making them? A few days later I stopped at a gas station come dinner for fuel, it was then I discovered what this dish was. The biscuits were not Biscuits as we know them in Europe, they were in fact a type of raised scone, I can go further than that, I can say quite categorically they are in fact a buttermilk scone, and the gravy was in fact a white sauce.
To the unacquainted or health conscious this dish may not appear very appealing, especially the sausage gravy version, and I’m sure not all Americans would find the visual aspect of this dish inviting? Needless to say after this our American friends did get their Biscuits in Gravy.
Some years later and on the opposite side of the globe I had several Americans on-board 2 of whom came for the south, I decided this might make an interesting change to revisit this Biscuits in Gravy theme as a lunchtime dish. The variations of this dish includes Biscuits and Sausage Gravy, Biscuits in White Gravy, and the another version with what is a thickened Chicken broth, which is what I have gone for here, so here is my interpretation of Biscuits and Gravy, I have used my enriched scone mix but with the sugar reduced down to a couple of table spoons and served with a tasty but very simple thickened chicken broth with chucks of dice chicken breast. And I can tell you the combination is both unusual and interesting but very tasty, My advice is to make sure you have lots of sauce to dip the lovely light biscuits in. This is Southern home style comfort food.
| Prep Time | 1 hour |
| Cook Time | 90 minutes |
| Servings |
portions
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Ingredients
The Chicken Gravy
- 4 kg Chicken Breast Cut into Chunks
- 3 litres Chicken Stock
- 150 grams Butter
- 4 tbsp Cornstarch Or you can use a roux
- Salt and Pepper to taste
The Biscuit
- 900 grams Self Raising Flour
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 150 grams Butter
- 1 tsp Salt
- 2 tbsp Sugar
- 4 Eggs
- 450 ml Milk
Ingredients
The Chicken Gravy
The Biscuit
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Instructions
- Choosing a suitable size pot prepare your chicken stock using Chicken bouillon powder. (Unless you have fresh chicken stock available)
- Season your chicken with salt and pepper and fry in the butter or you can oven bake as I have here, in a hot oven set at about 190°C for about 10 minutes until slightly browned.
- Add the browned chicken to the hot stock and the stove and allow to simmer.
- Check the chicken is cooked using a food probe, if the chicken is cooked use and spider and transfer the chick to a clean pot and keep warm, while you make the sauce.
- Strain the chicken stock to remove any scum and using a roux or cornstarch thicken your sauce to a coating consistency.
- Allow the sauce to simmer for several minutes over a low to medium heat to allow the thickening agent to fully cook out.
- Return the chicken to the sauce and check the seasoning and consistency again, and keep your chicken gravy hot ready for service .
- Sift the self-raising flour, baking powder and salt together in a suitable container for hand mixing, add the butter and rub in to a sandy texture and add the sugar.
- In a jug mix the eggs milk together, then add the rubbed in flour and lightly mix, it is important not to over-mix the dough should be wet and slightly sloppy, over mixing will develop the gluten and regard the lift of your biscuits.
- Place the mix on a lightly floured bench and pat down ten just light roll with a rolling pin to smooth out.
- Greased and floured trays
- Using a 6 cm round cutter cut your biscuits out and place on a greased and floured tray and lightly milk wash the tops only.
- Baked for 15 minutes in a preheated oven set at 165°C.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a cooling wire.
- When the biscuits have rested slice in half horizontally.
- Remove the tops of your biscuits and place a generous portions of your Chicken gravy on each Biscuit replace the biscuit tops and sprinkle with chopped parsley.
- Place just 6 biscuits as a time on the counter so that the biscuits are freshly presented during the course of the service period.
- The biscuits could be made in advance of the chicken gravy and warmed up prior to service.
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