Where There Is Bacon

there is life.

Brigid had a recipe up for bacon gravy a couple of days ago and I must admit that as big a fan as I am of sausage gravy it never occurred to me that bacon could be used in the same fashion. Nothing to do but try it!


The ingredients list is fairly simple, but mine is a little different. You need bacon, flour, salt, pepper and milk. I haven't tried the maple sugar, I'll have to pick some up for the next batch. I've never used half and half, but I'd bet it makes a really nice smooth thick gravy, I'll have to try it some time as well. I use the sea salt and peppercorn medley grinders from McCormick, the ones that Lawdog calls spice weasels (that one kicked over the gigglebox, so I call them that, too. My kids think I'm strange, for this and many other reasons), for the salt and pepper. I don't really measure anything so I can't give you exact amounts. Use this recipe for biscuits.

I cooked it up a bit differently as well. First I chopped 5-6 strips of thick cut bacon into 1" pieces and fried them up in a cast iron skillet until they were cooked all the way through. I took the skillet off the heat and stirred in two heaping tablespoons (not the actual measuring spoons, the large spoons that come in your flatware sets - Grandma always called them tablespoons and therefore so have I. The normal size ones are teaspoons) of flour to make a paste about the consistency of Elmers white glue.

This is a good time to put your biscuits in to bake. They will be done just about the same time as the gravy.

Once the flour had absorbed the bacon grease I returned it to the heat and poured in just enough milk to cover the top of the bacon. Stir that in with a wooden spoon over the same heat you cook the bacon in until it starts to bubble and thicken, then add more milk if necessary. Salt and pepper to taste, I use about 10 twists of the weasel on medium for the pepper and 6 for the salt. Take care with the seasonings, you can always add more later if you want but it is very easy to over-salt. Turn the heat down low and let it simmer for a bit while you take your biscuits out of the oven. Serve hot over fresh biscuits.

That's some good eatin'.

This recipe has received the Boots the Dog paw of approval.