We eat a fair bit of breakfast for dinner. It’s quick, it’s easy, it’s cheap, and it’s tasty. Last night’s dinner was homemade biscuits, country ham, and gravy.

Homemade biscuits are dead easy; there’s no reason to eat them out of a bag or a can. They do take a little practice, but not much.

My biscuits come out of Betty Crocker’s New Cookbook, which I refer to semi-constantly, along with How to Cook Everything. When a recipe they offer isn’t precisely what I’m looking for, I fall back on Google, recipes from friends, or other cookbooks, but these two are my big references.

Anyhow, the biscuits. As stated above, this recipe is not mine. It is by the lovely folks at Betty Crocker.

Baking Powder Biscuits

- 1/2 cup shortening (I use butter. Vegetable shortening would also work, as would lard, as does a mixture of butter and olive oil.
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup milk (Biscuits, waffles, and pancakes are a fantastic use for milk that has gone off for drinking but hasn’t turned into sour cream yet. It’s a frugal way to get the most out of your gallon of milk, if you’re one of those folks who will go through more than a half gallon before it goes back but can’t quite finish the gallon.)

- Heat oven to 450 (the toaster oven is great for biscuits, if you’re making a small batch. I halve this recipe for Jeff and I, and it’s perfect.)
- Measure the flour into the bowl. Add the other dry ingredients. Stir with a fork until things seem to be combined.
- Cut the shortening into the flour mixture. I usually just use one fork, and go until the pieces of shortening are about pea sized, or a little smaller. It’s easier if your shortening has been sitting out at room temperature for a bit.
- Stir in the milk until you have a softish, mildly sticky dough. If you’re using organic flour, you may need a little extra milk; my organic flour tends to run dry.
- Turn out dough onto a floured cutting board. Fold over onto itself once or twice, then pat out into a rough square. You can cut circles with a cookie cutter or glass, or you can just slice squares with a knife, which is what I do. Plot the biscuits onto a greased cookie sheet and put them in the oven. Set a timer for ten minutes.

Betty Crocker claims 10 minutes prep for these; it takes me fifteen.

Once you get the biscuits in the oven, get your meat cooking. If you’re doing country ham, it’ll take three minutes or so on each side in a medium skillet; sausage will take a little bit longer, and bacon depends on how crispy you like your bacon. Vegetarian sausage, follow the directions on the box. If the meat isn’t done before the biscuits, they’ll keep with the oven turned off for a few minutes.

While the meat is cooking, gather 2 tablespoons of flour, 1/2 a cup of beef, vegetable, or chicken broth (I use vegetarian “chicken” powdered broth from our local co-op), 1/2 a cup of milk, and your butter and olive oil. This will make making the gravy much easier. (By the way, the gravy recipe is also courtesy of Betty Crocker).

Once the meat is done, remove it to a bowl and put a lid or plate over it to keep it warm. Eyeball how much fat you have in the pan. If you don’t have about two tablespoons, then add butter and/or olive oil (I usually use half of each) to make 2 tablespoons. Turn the heat to medium and mix the butter/oil/drippings. Add in the 2 tablespoons of flour, slowly, stirring the flour in thoroughly after each addition. If you don’t, you’ll get lumps, and lumpy gravy is no good. Eventually, the mixture should be smooth and bubbly.

After you have the flour mixed in, slowly add the half a cup of broth. Stir constantly (see above about lumps.) You’ll want to add a bit at a time, stir it in, then add a bit more. After that, add in the half a cup of milk in the same way. Once the milk is in, stir constantly until it starts to bubble, and let bubble for 30 seconds or so.

Let people plate their own dinners, with biscuits, meat, and gravy piled up together.

This is a 30 minute meal - you can do this in 30 minutes (and I do regularly). However, it is 30 minutes of active cooking, so this isn’t necessarily something to do on a night that you’re in a major hurry. The crockpot is better for that, or casseroles that you can mix up quickly and throw in the oven.

This is not a healthy meal, by any stretch of the imagination; this is pure comfort food. Cut up some fruit to go along with it if you want to make it more healthy.