February 13, 2011

Sunday Morning Breakfast - Alabama Style!

Have you ever heard of chocolate and biscuit for breakfast?  It is an old southern tradition in Alabama!  Some of the restaurants even serve it on their breakfast menu!!  Actually, while we were home for Christmas, we went to Jody's Restaurant and to my delight they had it on theirs so I had me some for Christmas morning!! yum yum! :)  And to top it off, they made it like my granny Ella always made it... dark, thick and rich!!  My mother made this for us on many mornings but she used more water and less cocoa... it was delicious but it was more like milk chocolate than granny's dark rich chocolate!

Granny made hers in an old black iron skillet and my mother had her own pan that she called the chocolate pan.  A few years ago mother was dividing some of the things she knew we kids wanted and when it came to the chocolate pan, she gave that to me.  My brother and older sister both wanted it but mother told them that I had asked way long before either of them had so it was mine!! I got some rather mean looks but I smiled and put it under my arm and walked away smiling wide!!

This was our chocolate pan...Nothing but a cast aluminum pan but loved and loved and loved... if my sister or brother either one comes to stay I will make them some chocolate for breakfast in mother's chocolate pan!  Wouldn't that be nice of me! :)
So...would you like a little lesson on making homemade biscuit??

Start with self rising flour and some Crisco...I like the butter flavor but the regular will do!
Add some good thick cream... Buttermilk is my favorite but I don't "keep" buttermilk in the house because I don't drink it.  But thanks to my hubby's coffee, there is always half and half here!
Stir all of this together until you have your dough.  You don't want it runny and you don't want it so thick that it comes out of the pan like a baseball either. :)
Then we can get messy!!  Sprinkle some flour on your "clean" countertop!  If you are one of those cooks who cannot stand making a mess, then you can lay down some parchment paper...but for those of us who are just plain country, our countertops will do!  Nothing a little soap and water won't clean up! :)
Next, you are going to spoon your dough out onto the flour!
Pat it and prick it and mark it with a B! ha!!
Grab your favorite size glass for cutting out your biscuit shape!
Now lookie here!!  Aren't they so pretty!! 5 beautiful biscuits!
WAIT!!!! Don't waste!!!
5 biscuits now are 7!!!  They are too good to waste!
 
Pop them into a 450 degree oven and keep a check on them until they are golden brown!
While they are baking, clean up your mess! ha!

As they say in the movie "Fried Green Tomatoes".... The secret IS in the sauce!!  And it is this morning too!  This is my choclate gravy just about finished waiting to be spooned over my crumbled up biscuits!!
Doesn't this look delicious!!!  Yes, it is an acquired taste...but don't knock it until you at least try it!

WHAT????  Where is the recipe for the chocolate sauce????... hmmm... That is for next Sunday morning!  Can you wait that long? ha!  And that will give me another reason to cook this again!  Seriously, I don't cook this but maybe twice to three times a year!  But I will cook it again next week just for ya'll!!  What IS a girl to do!!! :)

And for this week's trivia question:

What is a CAT-HEAD biscuit???

The first person who answers this just like my definition of a cat-head biscuit, will win a prize!!

Next Sunday, I will show you the difference in the biscuit I made this morning and a cat-head biscuit and announce the winner, if we have one!!


8 comments:

krisgray said...

I've never heard of cyclists biscuits but I am interested - anything for chocolate first thing in the morning. I have no idea what cat head biscuits are but I'll be waiting to learn the answer.

Apple Avenue Quilts said...

I'm just guessing but it seems to me a cat head biscuit is one that is cut too close to another biscuit and has part of a circle cut into it forming cat ears.

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

I have heard of chocolate gravy but have never had it! I will look forward to your recipe.
Karen
http://karensquilting.com/blog/

dortha said...

I always thought cat head biscuits were the bigest glass my granny had to cut the biscuits out with. It was a much bigger glass than the one you used. My sons still love chocolate and biscuits like their granny makes. Also there is a Jody's restaurant in Muscle Shoals, Al. I live in Florence. Just thought it was a coincidence

Michele T said...

A cat-head biscuit is light, fluffy and huge!!!

Marcia W. said...

Cat head biscuits are more of a dropped biscuit and larger, thicker, though sometimes my grandma would form them in her palms. Hers were so good with homemade cane syrup, and more filling. My mother likes thinner crisper biscuits - also with cane syrup. My cousin makes the syrup.

Merry said...

OH yum...what a terrific post Thearica....loved reading all about these biscuits. They sound a little like scones but now I can't wait for that chocolate sauce recipe. Never heard of Cats Head biscuits so shall be interested to find out what they are. Must ask what is crisco? Is it a margarine, lard???

Wendy said...

I make cat head biscuits all the time. My kids don't like the rolled out ones and they love them big! If its not dropped by the spoonful onto the pan they do not want them. Big and knotty as they say!