Category: Sauces & Gravies

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Easiest. Hollandaise. Ever.

No double-boiler, no blender, and va-va-VOOM flavor! This extra-lemony Hollandaise is fantastic over asparagus or Eggs Benedict, and a great compliment to salmon or other fish. Gutsy enough to stand up to red meats for a variation on Steak Oscar, too!

Ingredients

  • 3/4 Stick of Butter (melted and clarified)
  • 2 Egg Yolks
  • 1 tsp. Water
  • 1-1/2 to 2 tbsp. Lemon Juice
  • 1/4 tsp. Finely Ground White Pepper (optional)

Directions

  1. Whisk egg yolks and water in a small saute pan over low heat for 3 to 4 minutes.
  2. Slowly add clarified butter, stirring constantly.
  3. Continue cooking over low heat until it just begins to thicken. Don’t stop stirring!
  4. Slowly add lemon juice (you can vary the amount based on just how lemony you want the sauce) and keep stirring. (This is the kind of sauce that will turn into a curdled mess on you in a split second, so keep it moving!)
  5. Optional: Add white pepper and stir.
  6. Remove from heat as soon as sauce achieves desired thickness and serve immediately.

Sneaky Trick: If you start to see little bits of cooked egg in your sauce, take it off the heat and lay the bottom of the pan in cool water for a few seconds. Then whisk like crazy before returning it to the burner. With luck, it will recover, and another kitchen crisis will be averted. 

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Dadgum Biscuits & Gravy

I spent a few years in Texas, and this dish is something that everyone is required to learn to make before they’ll issue you a Concealed Handgun License. These biscuits are freakin’ fantastic, and my gravy has a not-so-traditional twist or two that gives it a lot of savory flavor. Y’all are fixin’ to be full as a tick!

THE BISCUITS

This makes about six biscuits, so double the recipe if you’re hungry enough to eat the south end of a northbound mule.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups All-Purpose Flour
  • 1 tablespoon Baking Powder
  • 1 teaspoon Salt
  • 1 tablespoon White Sugar
  • 1/3 cup Shortening
  • 1 cup Milk

Directions

    1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
    2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar.
    3. Cut in the shortening until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
    4. Gradually stir in milk until dough pulls away from the side of the bowl.
    5. Turn out onto a floured surface, and knead.
    6. Roll dough out to 1/2 inch thick. Dust with flour and fold twice.
    7. Roll dough out to 1/2 inch thick. Dust with flour and fold twice.
    8. Roll dough out to 1/2 inch thick. Dust with flour and fold twice.
    9. Roll dough out to 1/2 inch thick. Dust with flour and fold twice.
    10. Roll dough out to 1/2 inch thick. Dust with flour and fold twice.
    11. Roll dough out to 1/2 inch thick. Dust with flour and fold twice.
    12. Roll dough out to a full inch thick. (Aren’t you glad I didn’t say, “Dust with flour and fold twice.” again?)
    13. Cut biscuits from rolled dough with a pint glass dipped in flour.
    14. Repeat until all dough is used.
    15. Place biscuits onto a foil-lined baking sheet very lightly sprayed with cooking spray.  (You can omit the cooking spray if you’re feeling lucky, but why risk it?)
    16. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until edges begin to brown.
    17. Remove from oven and set aside.

 

THE GRAVY

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp.  Cooking Oil
  • 3/4 cup Chopped Onion
  • 1 lb. Ground Beef
  • 1 tsp. Garlic Powder
  • 2 tbsp. All-Purpose Flour
  • 2 cups Whole Milk
  • Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Heat cooking oil in large skillet over medium-high heat.
  2. Add chopped onion and cook until slightly soft, just a minute or two.
  3. Add ground beef and cook until JUST brown, when the last bit of pink has barely disappeared.
  4. Do NOT drain fat from the ground beef mixture.
  5. Add garlic powder and flour and mix until all meat is well coated.
  6. Add milk and cook and stir until thick and bubbly.
  7. If gravy is too thick, add a little more milk until it’s just right.  (Keep in mind, this is no wimpy, runny gravy!)
  8. Season with salt & pepper to taste.
  9. Split biscuits in half lengthwise on a plate and smother with gravy.
  10. Say, “Gadgum!” when you taste them!
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