Biscuits and Sausage Gravy

When we lived in Virginia, our son-in-law, Blair, loved to go to the local diner for biscuits and sausage gravy.  I could never see the appeal of this gray-looking glop until I decided to make it at home as a special treat for him.  

Good sausage meat and a little hot sauce turned the dish an appetizing rosy color.  While it's not a dish I would recommend having on a daily basis, for a once-in-a-while treat it's a great change from bacon and eggs.

1 small onion, finely chopped 1 lb. sausage meat
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups milk
Hot sauce to taste
Buttermilk biscuits to serve.

Watch the video:

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Betty, Lucy, Anna & Liz

We recently spent a family weekend celebrating our great granddaughter's first birthday.  Our granddaughter, Anna, had prepared her Buffalo Chicken Dip - much better and less messy to eat than wings!

It takes no time at all to put together.  Then you simply bake it at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, give it a good stir to mix it well and return to the oven for a further 5 minutes.  Serve with tortilla chips, celery and carrot sticks.

She very kindly agreed to share the recipe with me and I am happy to share it with you.


Anna's Buffalo Chicken Dip

2 chicken breast halves, cooked and shredded
8 oz. cream cheese, cubed
12 oz. shredded cheddar/Jack cheese mix
1/4 cup hot sauce, or to taste.




Watch Anna prepare this terrific dip!

Reader Comment:

Kaho Fotyfar

What a beauty,lovely gathering, simple rich recipe and amazing city as well, thank u for sharing these special moments. 

Spinach Salad Dressing Old Family Recipe

Spinach Salad Dressing

This is a recipe I got from a co-worker many years ago. It was her mother's recipe so, according to my math, it would have to be about 100 years old. I have changed it very little, cutting back on sugar and salt and making it in a food processor instead of lots of chopping and whisking.

For the salad itself, you want baby spinach, stems removed, sliced mushrooms and crisp-cooked bacon, crumbled. The amounts depend on how many you are serving. To turn this into a main dish for lunch, just add some hard-cooked eggs.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

one bunch green onions
2 tablespoons lemon juice 
1/3 cup salad oil 
1/2 teaspoon salt 
1/8 teaspoon pepper 
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon sugar one 
egg yolk 
1/2 teaspoon dried mustard

Betty's Cole Slaw...Southern Style

Southern Cole Slaw

This is a recipe I learned while we were living in Virginia.  It's a little different in that contains no mayonnaise.  The dressing is boiled before pouring it over the cabbage mixture so you might think that this will be a very soggy salad.  Not to worry, four hours in the refrigerator restores all the crispness to this tasty side dish.

Viewer Comment: " I made it on Friday nite, we ate yesterday, one of the best yummy side dish, 🌺 it feels good knowing u did something good when my family asked me to make it again , thank u very much for a very amazing recipe"

Christopher Kimball of America's Test Kitchen Chicken Stock!

I saw this comment from Christopher Kimball of America's Test Kitchen fame regarding chicken stock.

"Instead of using Eurocentric techniques that rely on concentrating flavors through long applications of heat, Mr. Kimball is exploring ways to build dishes that rely on texture, spice and freshness. Instead of making chicken stock like a frugal French cook who simmers bones and scraps for hours, why not boil a whole chicken for just an hour like a Chinese cook, using ginger, scallions and herbs to elicit a more delicate flavor?" (NY TIMES)

While I do use this technique when making Asian dishes, the flavors don't work when making something like chicken pot pie.  For that you want a rich chicken stock which is best accomplished with long, slow simmering.  See my recipe for chicken pot pie which gives the instructions for the stock (video here).