[thechat] New Taste Treat

[deacon b.]

> Oh baby!  The thing I miss most about Texas is the chicken fried
> steak. Yankees just don't know how to do it.  Up north (Massachusetts)
> it's often served with chicken gravy.  *ug*  It's only chicken-fried.
> It's not chicken; it's steak.  So it's properly served with white, or
> sausage, gravy. Why?  Cause that's the way it is, I suppose.

> When you make poultry or meat gravy--start with pan-drippin's and
> thicken with flour or corn starch--well, sausage gravy is the same
> deal.  A typical recipe: http://pork.allrecipes.com/AZ/SsgGrvy.asp

> *tummy grumble*  I wonder if the boss will mind if I swing by Austin
> on the way to work?

Typically, you use corn starch and water with
chicken or turkey fat. It gives you a transparent
gravy.

When you make gravy from pork or beef, you
typically use flour and milk, and you end up with a
white gravy.

If you make gravy from *ham*, you typically use
flour and leftover *coffee*, and it's called "red eye
gravy".

There are other thickening agents mentioned on the
cooking groups, but they're for effete snobs.

And you don't need much in the way of seasoning if
you seasoned the meat correctly. It's nice to add a
little pepper on the top of the gravy bowl, but that's
more for looks than for taste. You should have
added the salt and pepper (I kinda favor lemon
pepper with beef or pork) when you were cooking
the meat.  Good sausage contains nothing but
ground hog - maybe fresh side, maybe whole hog,
whatever turns you on - salt, and pepper. (If you
have bad meat, you can use sage to hide the flavor,
but everyone knows what you're up to.)

It's hard to imagine a bad meal if there's good gravy.
And despite all the ads on TV about bad gravy, it is
*easy* to make. What you do is mix the starch or
flour with the cold water/milk/coffee and mix it
thoroughly *before* you add it to the hot drippings,
and you won't get any lumps.

And the ads on TV promote bad gravy. It makes
Campbells soup look like a salt-free product. I don't
mind risking a heart attack from salt if the salt
makes things taste good, but when it makes things
taste *bad*? Sheesh!

Bacon gravy tends to be *awfully* salty. I'd think
chicken-fried bacon would be, too. I use bacon
drippings to fry eggs, and then add what's left to
make the next loaf of bread.  You can use clarified
bacon oil for anything you use olive oil for, with
better results. Solid olives work better in martinis
than a strip of bacon, though.

If you make gravy from butter or oil, it's not called
gravy, it's called white sauce, and it's used on
veggies like asparagus and broccoli, but every cook
knows that it's really gravy.

deke













--
What does the Bible clearly say about dieting?
You shouldn't do it:
 "Therefore I say unto you,
 Take no thought for your life,
 what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink;
 nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on."
                          - Matthew 6:25