May 7, 2006
RED-EYE GRAVY
Og's comment on my last post got me to thinking. Ever have red-eye gravy? That's the thin gruel you make from cooking ham in the skillet, and tossing some flour in as an afterthought. Not as thick or savory as brown gravy, but a treasure nonetheless. Greasy fucking stuff, but I love it.
Red-eye gravy also reminds me of an exclamatory the Senator used to bellow, with great humour. I never understood his proclamations, they seeming to be some kind of Tourette's Syndrome of the habitually enured, but it was
Scram gravy ain't wavy!!!
Now, what does that mean? I have no idea. But it seemed to cover a plethora of situations, and issues, to the old man. Covered, I say. Not cured. The issue was still there. You just had to deal with it compounded by the fact the Senator had invoked scram gravy. Problematic, I say.
Still would like some red-eye gravy. Does Cracker Barrel make that shit?
When my mom goes, some twenty years hence (the Fritz girls tend to live very long lives) I'm gonna tell her to look up your mom. They're gonna tell stories about you and me. They'll all be bad, and they'll all be true.
Meantime, I'm off to mom's for dinner. And I'm gonna remind her how much I love her.
Posted by: og at May 7, 2006 7:28 PMIf I'm not mistaken, red-eye gravy is made by adding black coffee to the pan drippings after you fry up some nice country ham. Thicken with a leetle flour if you want it with more "tooth."
Yeah, from Mr. Jew-Boy, the expert on Red-Eye Gravy. Also tasty on a corned beef sammitch.
Posted by: Elisson at May 7, 2006 7:44 PMBlack coffee instead of water with ham greese and flower.
I have a wife who cooks good. She makes greens and han hocks with cornbread and buttermilk. It is truely soul food.
Red Eye Gravy is indeed made with black coffee.
It must only be eaten on biscuits halved lying on their backs covered with the gravy then sorghum syrup drizzled over the top of them. Ideally you would save a little of the grease to fry a couple of yard apples over medium so the yellows are just runny. Sop the country ham in the egg yellow. Alternate bites between the eggs and biscuit. Enjoy.
I'm just a NE yankee but my Mom always put a can of Coke or Pepsi (actually back in da day it was a bottle) in the roaster with a baked ham. A few splashes of same in pan fried ham works the same. It gives the ham a sweeter taste and puts a little extra body in the red-eye gravy. In a pinch, I've used Sprite or Dr. Pep - works the same.
M
Posted by: M at May 10, 2006 8:09 AMwe calls that "browneye" gravy.
Posted by: Oomgala at February 5, 2007 10:49 AM