Description:

Southern Milk Gravy

Source:

Sissy Wommack

Serves/Makes:6 or more

Ingredients

• 6 tbsp (90 ml) bacon grease (or more) or country pork sausage or fried chicken grease, including meat drippings
• 6 tbsp (90 ml) flour or more (doesn't matter if it is self rising or all purpose)
• salt to taste
• lots of black pepper
• 2 cups (475 ml) milk (or more)and 2 cups (475 ml) water (or more), mixed together

Preparation

• Cook enough bacon or sausage in a skillet to get your grease, then remove your bacon or sausage, or if you have cooked fried chicken use about this much grease from where you have fried the chicken and of course remove the chicken and just leave the grease.
• Turn the skillet up to medium high or if using an electric skillet,turn the temperature up to about 375 degrees (200 C.) to 400 degrees (200 C.).
• Into the grease stir the flour and add the salt and pepper.
• Let the flour mixture get to a medium to dark brown color (but do not burn). Note: do not stir too much at this stage.
• Stirring constantly, add the milk and water mixture to this about 1/2 of it at first.
• As it thickens add the rest of the milk and water mixture, still stirringconstantly, or play it by ear and see how it thickens, to see if you need all the milk and water mixture or if you need even more.
• Note: It gets thicker as it cools so don't hesitate to add a little more milk or water if it needs it.

Comments

The rule of thumb is equal parts fat and flour. Amount of liquid is according to how thick you like your gravy.

The secret in the taste of the gravy is the browning of the flour and the pepper, and making sure you don't get too much salt, but enough and not burning the flour mixture. If you do not brown the flour mixture enough, it is just flour and liquid, so make sure you brown it good.

Note: You can use all Milk instead of 1/2 and 1/2, but DON'T Use just all water. And use 2% or Whole Milk.

Here in the south, this is a staple food. We eat Milk Gravy (we just call it gravy or flour gravy) on and with Home Made Biscuits, Toast, Mashed Potatoes, Fried Chicken, Fried Floured Round Steak, Fried Squirrel, Fried Rabbit, Fried Potatoes. In other words if we kill it, we Fry it and we make and eat this Milk Gravy from the Grease we have left.

When we cook a Country Breakfast, and it may even be for Supper, we always include this gravy along with Fried Meat, eggs, Fried Potatoes, Homemade Biscuits, Butter, Jelly.

It is hard to tell you how much grease, flour and milk and water to use, because we just make it by feel.