How To: Scones and Gravy

Good Morning! It's that time once again, here in Beervana. That's right. It's breakfast time! I got my coffee before getting on the laptop, so lets get right to it. Today, we're making Bacon Cheddar scones, and (as requested) a gravy to go with those biscuits from yesterday. I'm hungry, so let's dive right in.

First up on the prep list today is scones. They're really simple to make, and the recipe is so adaptable that with only minor adjustments you can make any kind of scone imaginable. With this particular recipe, we here in the kitchen have made White Chocolate Pistachio Sour Cherry, White Chocolate Walnut, Dark Chocolate Coconut, Maple Walnut, Maple Bacon, Bacon Cheddar, Olive Parmesan, Dark Chocolate Sour Cherry, Jalapeno Onion Cheddar, the list is damn near endless. It starts with...

8 oz AP Flour

1 oz Sugar (If you want to do a sweet scone, add 1 oz sugar)

2 oz Butter

1 tbsp Baking Powder

1/2 cup Half and Half

1 Egg

(Again, all oz measurements are by weight)

That's the scone dough, all on it's own, but what fun is that. So, let's add 4 slices of bacon and about a half cup of cheddar cheese, it can be shredded, grated, chopped, however you like it. (Smaller pieces will give you a better end product)

Step 1 - Chop up your bacon into real small pieces and throw it into a pan over medium-low heat and leave it there for a while (give it a shake every now and then), because you want to render out as much of the fat as possible. Save that fat though, every kitchen should have a bacon fat cup (we have an entire crockpot). 

Step 2 - While the bacon is rendering, mix your sugar and butter into a smooth paste (process is known as creaming), and then add in your egg, mixing with a whisking until it's incorporated, followed by the flour and baking powder, with half and half coming in right after, and the bacon and cheddar bringing up the rear. You'll want to abandon tools and get your hands in the bowl after the flour goes in.

Step 3 - Rest the dough for ~10 minutes.

Step 4 - Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, shape it, cut it, and bake it. 375 degrees, 12-14 minutes (in a convection oven, longer in a non convection). If you don't like timers, just watch til they get golden brown.

Now for some gravy to go with those biscuits from yesterday. Normally (and by normally I mean like 95% of the time) the gravy you get with biscuits and gravy is a pork sausage gravy. Unfortunately, we didn't have sausage in the kitchen. That didn't stop us though, any excuse for more bacon is a good excuse. 

16 oz Milk (volume = weight, so 2 cups)

4 oz Flour (roughly 1 cup)

4 oz Bacon Fat (but butter will work)

3 slices Bacon

Step 1 - Chop up the bacon as you see fit (I prefer small small pieces but that's just me), and toss it into a pot to start rendering over med-low heat. 

Step 2 - Once the bacon is rendered to your liking (the crispier the bacon the better, texture wise), add in your flour and bacon fat, whisking it together into a roux. You don't want to brown the flour at all, so don't hesitate about throwing everything in the pan. 

Step 3 - Pour your milk into the pot, give it a good mixing so it all comes together, and let it simmer for 10-15 minutes. You're looking for the taste of the flour to disappear, and for the gravy to thicken. I like a good bit of black pepper in my gravy, but spice/salt/pepper is all up to you. 

That'll be it from the kitchen today, if you've got a question or a request, drop it into the comments! Have a request but it's too vague? Give us an ingredient, we'll try to keep it interesting :P