Though I grew up in the South, and my mother cooked in the southern tradition, I must admit that I gasped when Jay added a whole stick of butter to the pan of browning Jimmy Dean sausage. For years, Jay had been offering to share his mother’s biscuits and gravy with Steve and I. And finally last week we took him up on his offer. The basic recipe …
* In a cast iron frying pan, brown one pound of sausage.
* Once the sausage is nearly browned, add the stick of butter. Let the butter melt.
* Toss in some flour. The flour browns in all that buttery goodness. Pour in some milk.
*Add some spices (e.g. cumin or chili powder or whatever you want). Then, the secret ingredient is added. Molasses! Have you ever heard of such? Keep cooking until the gravy is thick and golden brown. Stir occasionally.
As the concoction bubbles, whisk up some drop biscuits.
Once biscuits have browned, split one open on a plate and ladle on the gravy. Simply delicious.
Two days ago I found myself in a Whole Foods hungry and in a mood where I guess I was open to trying new things. I passed the seafood counter and noticed large brown escargot available for 79 cents each. Never had ’em before. Never wanted ’em before. But that day I bought two. Not bad. I might try them again. I’ve been lucky throughout my life to have the opportunity to experience new foods. In Thailand I was served fresh jumping snake by hillside villagers. In Montana I had my first and so far only taste of bison. Currently I live adjacent to neighborhoods with restaurants representing just about every culture in the world. I can’t always afford to eat in them but I can certainly press my face to their windows. Window shopping is what I primarily do at one particular store in my area that is famous for its meats, cheeses, oils and pasta from around the world. I am used to viewing on its shelves kangaroo, Kobe beef, ostrich, rabbit, venison, bison, frog legs, duck and every now and then plain ol’ chicken. I have come to expect the “exotic” but I did not expect the lion. In fact, I thought the label on the package had a typo. But the butcher made clear that there had been no typo. The store was indeed offering up African lion by the steak.
Many of my current writing projects involve taking the basic ingredients that make up my clients’ programs and putting those ingredients together in a proposal or a report in such a way that they whet the appetite of a potential funder. Time will tell if I am successful in that endeavor. Meanwhile, Steve doesn’t seem to mind my morning experimentations.
