Biscuits and Chocolate Gravy
“Ladies, I do believe this is the finest chocolate gravy I’ve had the pleasure of eating. And you all know that I’ve eaten a bunch of biscuits and chocolate gravy,” Levi said.
“Every birthday of mine since I can remember,” responded Rihanna Jo. Reflectively she added, “This is one of my favorite traditions. Having breakfast over here with y’all every year.”
- The Piper & The Prophecy
We love a family tradition around here and one of our favorites is getting your favorite meal on your birthday. We’re celebrating Rhianna Jo’s favorite: biscuits and chocolate gravy!
These two recipes come from our very own matriarchs. Cathead biscuits from Nanny and chocolate gravy from Momaw. The biscuits are as perfect as I remembered and the chocolate gravy is wildly fun. It’s kind of like if you got to eat the chocolate cake batter!
It was a real special afternoon for me, making these beloved recipes for the first time on my own. I was also able to use the measuring cup and biscuit-cutting tin can that was passed down to me from Nanny to Monie, and then Monie to me.
Cathead biscuits got their name from the idea that they should be as big as a cat’s head, meaning a big biscuit! The recipe mentioned pinching the dough and also cutting it with the can. So you can see the difference here: the shaped and cut biscuits are uniform and gorgeous. The pinched dough allows you to pinch off a handful and drop it right in the pan. No counter mess! If you were in a hurry and slathering those biscuits with gravy anyhow, avoiding flour all over the counter was a plus.
To make;
Nanny's Cathead Biscuits
makes 8 large biscuits
4 cups self-rising flour
2 cups buttermilk
1/2 tsp salt
4 tbsp shortening at room temperature
I. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Work the shortening into the flour and salt mixture with your fingers until you get coarse crumbs. Add in the buttermilk and stir until it comes together into a ball in the bowl.
II. Grease the pan and put it in the oven for a few minutes before loading it up.
III. Pinch off a handful of dough and drop it into the pan or gently pat the dough to 1 inch thick on a floured counter, cutting with a three inch cutter. Set the 8 biscuits next to each other for baking.
IV. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown on top. Mine took 20 minutes.
* You can swap out butter or lard for the shortening. The butter will have more flavor, but won’t be as fluffy and will brown more. The lard adds flavor and cooks up the same as the shortening. People would use whatever fat they had in the house, often a mix of shortening and lard.
* You can make your own buttermilk by adding 1 tbsp vinegar to 1 cup of milk and gently stir. Let sit for ten minutes before using.
Momaw’s Chocolate Gravy
makes about 2 cups
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
pinch of salt
2 cups warm milk
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
4 tbsp chilled and cubed butter
Hot biscuits
I. Sift the cocoa, sugar, salt, and flour into a medium saucepan. Warm the milk in a small saucepan.
II. Turn the medium saucepan to medium heat and slowly pour the warmed milk into the dry mixture, whisking continuously until smooth. Continue to whisk until the gravy thickens and can coat a spoon, about 8 minutes.
III. Remove the skillet from the heat, add the butter, and stir until smooth. Pour over hot biscuits.
~ from the table of Summer crosby hennessy of acorn moon mercantile ~