Did I tell you that I have southern roots? My family roots go back to Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee and West Virginia. One thing southern people like is their biscuits! I remember my mothers biscuit bowl. A good southern woman will have a large bowl just for biscuits. This bowl always has flour in it. A good southern woman will curl her hand into a fist and make a little well in the middle of the flour. Into this well she will add her shortening, lard or butter. If she has any self respect the next thing she will add is buttermilk. My mother, the good southern woman that she is, would then pinch off just the right amount of dough and roll it in her hands as she curled under the edges making a perfectly round little bit of biscuit dough. If you can't picture that don't worry, I've spent 50 some years trying to figure out how she does that and I've come up with my own version. Mom bakes her biscuits in a cast iron skillet and this is a tradition I faithfully and/or stubbornly stick to. Mom also uses a cast iron skillet to make her gravy. You can use any skillet you have on hand but I swear it will taste better in cast iron and any good southern woman will have at least two. Thanks to my loving husband who loves to collect old kitchen ware we have at least 6 or 7 cast iron skillets of varying sizes. Some day I'll get them all in one place and show you a picture of them.
Back to the southern roots. I woke up this morning with a hankerin for biscuits. If you are from the south you know what this is. If your not it's an incredible craving for something you just have to have. Since I've been wanting to try gluten free gravy I decided to do both.
Biscuits
2 cups Gluten Free flour blend + a little for your board (I used Pamela's)
8 oz. cold butter cut in about 8 pieces
2/3 cup cold buttermilk
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. If you're a transplanted southern woman like I am you will next plug in the food processor. Place the flour in the tub of the processor with the cold butter. Pulse till you have pea size flour/butter bits. With the processor running pour the buttermilk through the feed tube. Process just till blended. Use your flour blend to flour a cutting board. Scrape the dough onto the flour. Kneed gently just till it will hold together well. Do NOT over kneed or you will have heavy biscuits. It is at this point that I gather the dough into a round and flatten slightly. With a sharp knife I cut the dough into 8 equal wedges. You could places these wedges in your greased cast iron skillet or on a baking sheet but I don't. In an attempt to still be a respectable southern woman who can still look herself in the mirror after baking her biscuits, I take each wedge and roll it slightly in my hand with a little flour till I get an a round that resembles my mother's biscuits somewhat. I then place my rounds in said greased cast iron skillet. I have my respect still in tact as I place the pan in the oven to bake for 20 minutes.
Tomato Gravy
4 oz. butter
4 - 6 T Gluten Free flour blend (again with the Pamela's)
Pinch of salt and pepper
1 can chopped tomatoes (drain and keep liquid)
1 cup milk
Over medium heat melt your butter in a cast iron skillet or seriously in anything you have that will heat butter. Sprinkle the flour blend, salt and pepper over your melted butter and let brown for a minute or two being careful not to burn. Pour the juice from the tomatoes over the butter and whisk quickly. Pour in the milk as you continue to whisk. Add the tomatoes and continue stirring till mixture is slightly thickened. Serve over buttered biscuits if you want them Southern style.
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