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Breaking biscuits and gravy, Part 1

I had been considering making my usual biscuits and gravy recipe ever since I started the small skillet year, but it seemed like a cop-out as it’s just sausage and a general white gravy with store-bought biscuits.

Thankfully, I found a twist on the traditional recipe that allowed me to make one of my favorites *and* try something new. Bless you, Bon Appetit.

Cornmeal biscuits recipe.

Even if I hadn’t been considering biscuits and gravy all along, this recipe had me from its name that implied to me a south by southwest mash-up.

In place of traditional flour biscuits, a cornmeal-based biscuit that very much resembled cornbread. In place of breakfast sausage, chorizo. In addition to all that, and if it wasn’t filling and unhealthy enough, the addition of cotija and avocado, as well as cilantro and scallions.

Of course, it was a delight.

I’m focusing this week just on the biscuits, as I believe each *could* be made individually, and I felt like throwing too much out at this point could be overwhelming.

Chorizo and/or gravy may not be for everyone, and I feel like it’d be possible to just use store-bought biscuits and use next week’s gravy recipe if one were not inclined to bake biscuits.

So, how did the biscuits turn out?

I was nervous that an 8-inch skillet wouldn’t be enough to separate the biscuit batter, and even using a 9-inch it was a single biscuit instead of distinct ones (however, placing them individually still made it easier to separate once baked). I think it must have been a typo. But a medium-skillet will work; even if you end up with a single biscuit, it’ll be possible to pull them apart.

The taste, though, was amazing. It really was like a cornbread in biscuit form. It’s not that they’re interchangeable, but it was the perfect combination of biscuit consistency with buttermilk cornbread flavors, and it worked really well with the particular gravy recipe. It’d also work as just a biscuit with butter, like I may have done with one leftover biscuit.

I used a little more buttermilk than the recipe called for but otherwise stuck to it, though I might recommend a slightly larger skillet (which may affect cooking time).

The giant singular biscuit still tasted like the perfect cross between biscuits and cornbread. So I don’t care, I love it.

Here’s what I did:

Ingredients 

  • 1 c. all-purpose flour
  • ¾ c. cornmeal
  • 1 T. sugar
  • 1 ½ t. baking powder
  • 1 t. baking soda
  • 1 t. salt
  • ¼ t. black pepper, freshly ground if possible (I did not measure but grinded generously)
  • ½ c. (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
  • ¾ to 1 c. buttermilk (I used it all but if your consistency is good and sticky after ¾ c., don’t add more)

Directions

Heat oven to 425 degrees.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Use your hands or a pastry cutter to work the butter into the flour until the pieces are chickpea-sized. Add buttermilk and mix to blend until dough is just combined and sticky.

Drop dough by heaping ¼ cupfuls into a medium cast-iron skillet, spacing if at all possible. Bake, rotating once halfway through, until biscuits are puffed, golden brown, and cooked through, about 15 minutes. Cool slightly and enjoy with butter or next week’s gravy recipe!

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Time for a slice of heaven

It’s a little early to be breaking out the icebox pies, but life’s too short (especially now) to wait for summer.

So, I took the chance in mid-April to enjoy some strawberry lemonade.

Thanks to the delightful series of pies I discovered on Taste of Home (I will be making more), I got to enjoy this wonderfully simple, extremely tasty pink lemonade pie.

Pink lemonade pie ingredients.

All the more delightful, and new to me, it was made with a saltine crust. Just a sleeve and a half of saltines, a bit of sugar, and some melted butter; it’s like a graham cracker crust only salty and savory and extra sumptuous. I will be using it again, in both savor and sweet pies.

Like most icebox pies, this was quick and easy. You’ll likely still need to brave the grocery store for some of the ingredients, though many items are household staples. Namely, most of us—I don’t think—have 2 packages of cream cheese, unflavored gelatin, or 2 cups of (frozen or fresh) strawberries on hand.

However, with just a handful of extra ingredients, a little work, and a few hours of waiting, you’ll be able to have a little slice of heaven, even in self-isolation.

Pink, pretty, perfect.

Here’s what I did, following the recipe with the exception of a little extra lemon:

Ingredients

  • ~60 saltine crackers (about a sleeve and a half), coarsely crushed
  • 1 c. sugar, divided
  • 1 stick (½ c.) butter, melted
  • 2 c. sliced strawberries (fresh or frozen, thawed if frozen)
  • Juice from 1 lemon (~2 T.)
  • Zest from 1 lemon (~2 t.)
  • ¼ c. cold water
  • 1 envelope unflavored gelatin
  • 2 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
  • ½ c. heavy whipping cream

Directions

Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, stir to combine the crushed crackers, ¼ c. sugar, and the stick of melted butter. Use the bottom of a glass or your hands or something flat-bottomed to press the saltine crust into and up the sides of a 9-inch skillet. Bake until set and golden at the edges, about 15 to 18 minutes. Cool completely.

Combine strawberries, ½ c. sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest, and let stand 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, sprinkle gelatin over the cold water, and let stand 5 minutes. When ready, transfer the strawberry mixture to a blender or food processor, and blend until smooth. Microwave the gelatin mixture for about 10 seconds, and then stir into the strawberry mixture.

Meanwhile, beat cream cheese and the last ¼ c. of sugar together until smooth. Gradually add in the cream, and then the strawberry mixture. Beat until well combined.

Pour the filling into the crust, and refrigerate covered until set, at least 2 hours and up to overnight, and then enjoy!!

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This is hell, time for purgatory eggs

Another week of self-isolation, another simple recipe for the end times.

My sweetie found this simple egg dish from the Add a Pinch blog that managed to use ingredients we mostly had lying around the house. We did end up needing to get more eggs by the time I worked up the energy to make it, but so much of the dish called “eggs in purgatory” includes household staples that make this a simple and tasty breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner.

Eggs in purgatory ingredients.

As is typical when I try to poach eggs, I overcooked them. I pretend that one day I’m going to solve this but I have eaten eggs where the whites aren’t quite done and I would rather eat hard yolks for an eternity than have to eat underdone eggs ever again. So, I will live with my choices.

However, for you dear reader, know that 9 minutes is likely waayyyy too long; three minutes definitely was still too short, so somewhere in between is probably good.

Other than that (not very) helpful advice, the only other key is to use a good tomato sauce as it makes up most of the flavor. I ended up using a straight up pre-made pasta sauce, particularly arrabbiata, so if you have that on hand, it’s even better. Oh, and a good bread to serve this with makes this dish go from good to great.

So simple, so good.

Here’s what I did, slightly adapting the recipe:

Ingredients

  • ~1 T. olive oil
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1 ¼ c. tomato sauce or pasta sauce (the more flavorful the better, but whatever you have on hand will work)
  • 2 large cloves of garlic, minced
  • ¼ t. red pepper flakes (I didn’t measure but did not use a lot as arrabbiata is already semi-spicy)
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • ¼ c. fresh parsley, chopped, divided
  • 4 eggs
  • ¼ c. grated Parmesan cheese
  • Toasted bread, for serving (optional)

Directions

Drizzle olive oil into a 9- or 10-inch skillet set over medium heat. Once the skillet warms, add the onions and cook about 3 minutes until tender. Add the garlic and cook another minute.

Then, stir in the tomato/pasta sauce, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper. Add about half of the parsley and cook for about 5 minutes to allow the sauce to thicken and flavors to meld.

Break eggs into each quarter of the skillet on top of the sauce (the recipe, of course, says to place it into a small bowl first, but I’ve never dirtied another dish *embarrassed face*). Top with the grated cheese and any additional salt and pepper, as desired.

Cover the skillet and cook until the whites are set and the yolks are done to desired level (see note above for how long-ish to do that). Remove from heat, sprinkle on the remaining parsley, and any additional cheese, and enjoy with a fancy bread!

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More meat and mustard

Again, it’s the end of the world as we know it (and I feel fine!), so I splurged again on a meat cut I rarely get: pork tenderloin.

Mostly I got it because I liked last week’s recipe so much that I felt like there had to be a good recipe that used Dijon and mixed it with pork tenderloin. I was right and happy to discover that Food & Wine had one, as did many others to varying degrees of difficulty.

I finally settled on the one that also included paprika and also Dijon, and not much else.

Dijon and paprika pork tenderloin ingredients.

I thought about trying to figure out a way to also make vegetables in the same skillet like last week, but I really just wanted to spend more time being anxious and horrified about the world today. So, I opted for easy. No problem to fit 1 lb of pork tenderloin (halved) into my skillet, and then just use a sheet pan to roast some veggies to serve on the side.

The recipe technically called for 2 lb of pork tenderloin but that’s still a little too rich for my blood, even in the end times; plus, you make some good veggies on the side, and 1 lb still serves 4. I still used the full amount of the rest of the ingredients; I like a strongly spiced meal, what can I say?

Again, it’s super simple in these times when your mind might be elsewhere, and this way, you can serve it with whatever you like. My choice this time (after supporting my local co-op) was romanesco and fingerling potatoes with garlic and lemon. But you do you.

Cooked to perfection.

Here’s what I did:

Ingredients

  • ~1 lb. pork tenderloin
  • 2 T. Dijon mustard
  • 2 t. smoked paprika (I mixed 1 t. each of smoked and hot, but adjust for your tastes)
  • 1 t. salt
  • 2 T. olive oil

Directions 

Heat the oven to 425 degrees.

In a small bowl, mix together the Dijon, paprika, and salt. Rub the mixture on the pork. Halve or cut the tenderloin as necessary so it all fits in your skillet, preferably as little as possible.

In a 9- or 10-inch skillet, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the tenderloin (halves), and cook until browned on the bottom, about 5 minutes.

Use tongs to flip the pork, and then transfer the skillet to the oven.

Roast for about 15 minutes, until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part reads 135 degrees. Transfer to a cutting surface, and let rest for about 10 minutes.

Slice the pork, and serve with preferred veggies or side dish, and enjoy!