Raley Gravy

My husband has a wonderful step-dad. Papa has been around since Jayme was very little and he and Jayme's mom were married when Jayme was 6 (I am pretty sure). Before we were even engaged Jayme had said that someday he wanted to name a child after him. When we were expecting our first baby, we decided to name him or her Raley in honor of Papa (it's his last name and as the last male in his family, the name goes with him). When we found out we were having a boy we tacked on the middle name of Michael (after my dad) and the rest is history.
Papa is fantabulous cook!! His specialty is ribeye steak but I have never eaten anything he cooks that I would change one bit. Perfection on a plate no matter what. One of the first things I ever ate at their house that I wanted to know how to make was this breakfast gravy. He finally showed me how to make it and I have been making it ever since when I want to slip into a food coma and dream happy dreams. In honor of the man who taught me to make it, I call it "Raley Gravy"
THE INGREDIENTS:

The Bisquick is for the biscuits, but the rest is for the gravy.
Milk
Sausage (you can also use cubed ham* but I have never done that)
hard boiled eggs (I use about 6)
flour (I use Kentucky Kernel)


I like to make Bisquick bicuits for this dish but Papa prefers toast. Either way, it's good, just depends on what you prefer.
Combine 2 1/4 cups Bisquick with 2/3 cup of milk and mix together.

You can make pretty bicuits but I like to just plop a spoonful down on the sheet (note the parchment paper, you won't be sorry!).

 Bake for 8-10 minutes or until they look like this:

Now for the gravy! Brown your sausage in a skillet. DO NOT DRAIN!!!! After it's browned, start adding flour, a little at a time and mixing. This is one of the few recipes I make where I don't measure. It makes me nervous because I am freaky like that but you can't really mess up with gravy, so it's okay. When all the meat has a nice flour coat and you can't see any grease** left in the pan, you are ready for the milk.

Just like the flour, you add the milk slowly, a little at a time. Stir until it starts to thicken, then add more. When there is enough liquid to call this "gravy" stop adding milk and let it simmer a minute or two. Gravy thickness is a personal preference thing, you be the judge.

Add in your chopped up boiled eggs. If it's too thick, add a little more milk. If it's too thin, turn up the heat a little and let it cook down some. If you use plain flour, now is a good time to season with salt, pepper, or whatever you like to use. Then go get your plates!!

Split your biscuit and pour on some gravy. This was the first time the boys tried this dish and they INHALED it. Made me very happy, and if you try it and like it I'll be happy too :)

I am writing this post a little later than I wanted to as this is an eggcellent excellent Easter morning dish to use up some of the Bunny's colored eggs. It takes a little while to make so it's good for a later breakfast or brunch and can feed quite a crowd which makes it good for company. It is obviously not a heathy thing to eat, but we don't have it often. It's good Southern comfort food though which is good for the soul and I like to eat it every once in a while to remind me where I come from.
*Like I said, I have never made this with ham but you can. You would start your gravy with either some bacon/sausage grease you saved for this purpose or you could use butter. When using butter, you can measure and for each Tablespoon of butter you will use 1 Tablespoon of flour and 1/2 cup of milk. Add your ham cubes with you eggs and adjust from there.
**If you are using a sausage that seems to have quite a bit of grease, you may want to drain some off. I use Jimmy Dean and there isn't really a lot of grease in the pan when it is done cooking.

Another Must Have

When Jayme and I first got married (almost 13 years ago) we were still in college and so we had NO money. Our school was about an hour from my parents and we saw them every other weekend or so. My mom had a lot of chickens back then and she had more eggs than they could possibly eat so every time we saw them, my parents gave us a flat of 5 dozen eggs. We ate a lot of eggs! We ate them fried or scrambled or in another recipe but mostly, we ate them boiled. We had gotten an egg cooker for a wedding gift and it was the greatest thing ever. We used that one until it died and have had several more in the years since, using each one until it no longer worked then hurriedly looking for another. Our most recent one is an Oster and it's still humming right along. You can poach/scramble up to 4 or boil up to 7 eggs at a time in it. It's very easy to use and clean, here's how it works:

Set up your cooker in a spot where escaping steam won't harm any other surface (trust me on this one...long story!).

Remove the poaching tray.

Fill the reservoir to the appropriate line with water. Filtered water is best for the life of your cooker. (You don't have to use a Snow White cup)

Put the boiling tray back in and place eggs in. Pierce the bottom of each egg with the small pin in the center of the tray, then place egg (bottom side down) in one of the openings.

Put on the lid and press the on button. This cooker takes about 10 minutes to cook. It doesn't have a buzzer but if you are nearby you can hear a loud click when it's done.

If possible, after the cooker finishes, place the eggs in a bowl (I use the lid of the cooker) and run them under cold water to stop the cooking process. This helps them peel easier, without portions of the egg sticking to the shell. Then you have boiled eggs to use for salads, snacks, or other recipes. Come back later this week for a breakfast dish using these eggs!











***SHAMELESS PLUG ALERT***
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