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Buttermilk Biscuits

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KarinaGW

KarinaGW

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The problem with biscuits in a buffet, is that it doesn't take long for a heat lamp to dry them out....and, because they were there specifically to accompany the gravy, they were under the heat lamp by proximity. The biscuits on Enchantment were quite good IF you got them when they were first set out. The other breads (which were not under a heat lamp) were utterly yummy.

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hunnypot1

hunnypot1

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Same problem on the Monarch...

I decided to cheat on my diet and eat some biscuits & gravy. The biscuits were downright nasty....blech!

The next day while going through the breakfast line at the WJ, I tapped the top of a biscuit with the serving tongs, heard the "thud" from the hard biscuit, and left that hockey puck for the next customer.

May I suggest eggs and gravy as an alternative?

 

 

Or perhaps you would have better luck obtaining a fresh biscuit from room service.

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celle

celle

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Same problem on the Monarch...

 

I decided to cheat on my diet and eat some biscuits & gravy. The biscuits were downright nasty....blech!

 

The next day while going through the breakfast line at the WJ, I tapped the top of a biscuit with the serving tongs, heard the "thud" from the hard biscuit, and left that hockey puck for the next customer.

 

May I suggest eggs and gravy as an alternative?

 

 

Or perhaps you would have better luck obtaining a fresh biscuit from room service.

 

Ok. Now I'm really confused :confused:. Coming from New Zealand, I understand that what I would call "biscuits", US people call "cookies".

 

So, "biscuits" to US people are probably something like small pancakes? Flapjacks? So far, so good. I think I get it.

 

But - gravy??? You mean that brown stuff that goes over roast meat? For breakfast? And over pancakes? With eggs?

 

Would some kind person please explain this huge cultural gap for me?

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busted knuckles

busted knuckles

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Ok. Now I'm really confused :confused:. Coming from New Zealand, I understand that what I would call "biscuits", US people call "cookies".

 

So, "biscuits" to US people are probably something like small pancakes? Flapjacks? So far, so good. I think I get it.

 

But - gravy??? You mean that brown stuff that goes over roast meat? For breakfast? And over pancakes? With eggs?

 

Would some kind person please explain this huge cultural gap for me?

 

This is a biscuit. Best with butter and your favorite jam, jelly, or honey.

 

biscuitee3.jpg

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jmom5

jmom5

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the biscuits are ok, nothing to write home about, but it's the gravy that is weird imo. the gravy they serve at breakfast has a lot of garlic and parsley in it....it's more of a dinner gravy, it's not like good old fashioned sausage or bacon gravy that is supposed to go on biscuits in the morning. my dh's favorite breakfast is biscuits and gravy and he is not a picky eater and he won't eat the biscuits and gravy on the ship.

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lady_cruiser

lady_cruiser

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Ok. Now I'm really confused :confused:. Coming from New Zealand, I understand that what I would call "biscuits", US people call "cookies".

 

So, "biscuits" to US people are probably something like small pancakes? Flapjacks? So far, so good. I think I get it.

 

But - gravy??? You mean that brown stuff that goes over roast meat? For breakfast? And over pancakes? With eggs?

 

Would some kind person please explain this huge cultural gap for me?

 

I was born in Connecticut and live in Louisiana and I still can not get use to "gravy" over biscuits. Gravy in our family goes over roast beef or rice. Butter goes in-between the two halves of a biscuit. Different parts of our country (USA) has different ideas about how to serve food so trying to explain biscuits and gravy might be hard for some of us. A biscuit is in the bread family, is round and soft and usually served for breakfast.

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KarinaGW

KarinaGW

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Ok. Now I'm really confused :confused:. Coming from New Zealand, I understand that what I would call "biscuits", US people call "cookies".

 

So, "biscuits" to US people are probably something like small pancakes? Flapjacks? So far, so good. I think I get it.

 

But - gravy??? You mean that brown stuff that goes over roast meat? For breakfast? And over pancakes? With eggs?

 

Would some kind person please explain this huge cultural gap for me?

 

So, now that you've seen the bicuit picture, what do you call them? And here's an explanation of gravy from wikipedia:

 

Sausage and gravy is a traditional Southern breakfast dish. After loose pork sausage is cooked in a pan and removed, a roux is formed by browning flour in the residual fat. Milk and seasonings, such as salt and pepper, are added to create a moderately thick gravy, to which the cooked sausage is added. Occasionally, ingredients such as cayenne pepper or a spicy sausage are used to make a more spicy gravy.

 

Sausage gravy is traditionally served over buttermilk biscuits, and accompanied by other typical Southern breakfast items such as fried eggs, sliced tomatoes and bacon

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IMNiles

IMNiles

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Ok. Now I'm really confused :confused:. Coming from New Zealand, I understand that what I would call "biscuits", US people call "cookies".

 

So, "biscuits" to US people are probably something like small pancakes? Flapjacks? So far, so good. I think I get it.

 

But - gravy??? You mean that brown stuff that goes over roast meat? For breakfast? And over pancakes? With eggs?

 

Would some kind person please explain this huge cultural gap for me?

 

lol, I love these cultural differences! What a boring world we'd live in if everybody did things the same way! Anyway, someone else kindly posted a picture of a biscuit - I suppose it must look a bit like a scone, but the texture should be a lot lighter and moister. Biscuits typically come in two varieties - a "crumbly" variety which has a kind of salty soft cake-like texture (this is what you'd get if you bought a biscuit at KFC, or made them at home with "Bisquick") and a "flaky" variety which is more like pastry (the pillsbury biscuits in the round cans in the dairy aisle would be of this variety).- most biscuit lovers I know have a strong preference one way or the other MY opinion is that a biscuit should be moist, a bit crumbly, and slightly salty.

 

As for the gravy, well this is where the rubber meets the road. When people talk about biscuits and gravy they're talking primarily about either a sausage gravy or a white pepper gravy (again, my preference would be the former). It is very very easy to make nasty gravy - significantly less so to do it well. I'm not a fan of the plain white pepper gravy, preferring instead a rich sausage gravy. The best examples would be made with a good flavorful crumbly breakfast sausage that flavors a nice thickish white sauce, and the worst would be slices of links suspended in a gloppy white paste. In my experience the gravy onboard RCCL ships is highly variable and the biscuits are almost always bad. I've taken to having my gravy on half an english muffin instead. :)

 

At any rate, this "breakfast gravy" is a different animal (usually) from your typical brown dinner gravy, though even the latter can be pretty good atop a bowl of breakfast potatoes and some eggs.

 

Now I'm getting hungry.

 

:)

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dwdwnurse

dwdwnurse

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Ok. Now I'm really confused :confused:. Coming from New Zealand, I understand that what I would call "biscuits", US people call "cookies".

 

So, "biscuits" to US people are probably something like small pancakes? Flapjacks? So far, so good. I think I get it.

 

But - gravy??? You mean that brown stuff that goes over roast meat? For breakfast? And over pancakes? With eggs?

 

Would some kind person please explain this huge cultural gap for me?

 

Hello Celle - Neat to have someone from New Zealand on our board and I understand your questions! Listed below is a great buttermilk recipe from Alton Brown (foodnetworktv.com): Also, below that is a recipe for sausage gravy. I usually add 1 to 2 tsp. minced onion while cooking the sausage. Let me know if you make them!

Southern Biscuits Recipe courtesy Alton Brown Show: Good Eats Episode: Cable in the Classroom spacer.gif

spacer.gif 2 cups flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons shortening

1 cup chilled buttermilkPreheat oven to 450 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Using your fingertips, rub butter and shortening into dry ingredients until mixture looks like crumbs. (The faster the better, you don't want the fats to melt.)

Make a well in the center and pour in the chilled buttermilk. Stir just until the dough comes together. The dough will be very sticky.

Turn dough onto floured surface, dust top with flour and gently fold dough over on itself 5 or 6 times. Press into a 1-inch thick round. Cut out biscuits with a 2-inch cutter, being sure to push straight down through the dough. Place biscuits on baking sheet so that they just touch. Reform scrap dough, working it as little as possible and continue cutting. (Biscuits from the second pass will not be quite as light as those from the first, but hey, that's life.)

Bake until biscuits are tall and light gold on top, 15 to 20 minutes.

Sawmill Gravy Recipe courtesy Alton Brown Show: Good Eats Episode: Cable in the Classroom spacer.gif

spacer.gif 1 pound bulk breakfast sausage

1/4 cup flour

2 cups milk

Salt and pepperCook sausage in a cast iron skillet. When done, remove sausage from pan and pour off all but 2 tablespoons of fat. Whisk flour into the fat and cook over low heat for 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat and whisk in milk a little at a time. Return to medium-high heat and stir occasionally while the gravy comes to a simmer and thickens. (Be sure to scrape up any brown bits that might be stuck to the bottom of the pan, that's where the flavor is.) Check seasoning, add crumbled sausage and serve over toast or biscuits.

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alphakitty

alphakitty

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Just to confuse things a bit more :p.....here in RI some call spaghetti sauce gravy. ;) Sunday dinner, Italian style, is gravy on macaroni. LOL

 

I like the biscuits and gravy on board the Majesty recently. I must have gotten a fresh batch of biscuits, cause there were pretty good. :)

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sherin65

sherin65

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I didn't care for the biscuits and gravy we had on our cruises. I don't think the biscuit they serve is a buttermilk biscuit at all. It was very yellowish in color and seemed to have a strong cornmeal presence. They were the same on both the Grandeur and the Legend. I don't know if there is a difference among other ships in the fleet.

 

Sher

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rclcruzer

rclcruzer

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Hi. Your bicuits look like our scones lol We have them with jam and cream yummy! ( not for breakfast though) cant imagine having gravy for breakfast:eek:

See?? this is why I want to travel to England. Your food sounds so yummy to me!! So different. I love all the different food customs. That's what make the world go 'round! My waiter knew I loved papadan so much on my cruise last week he gave me an entire plate one night during dinner with a yogurt cream dipping sauce. Papdan is from India I believe and is like a fried, thin, potato chip, seasoned yummy ..........thing!!! OMG it is so good and never would have found it if it weren't for the Windjammer last year on my Alaskan cruise on Serenade.

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sherin65

sherin65

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cant imagine having gravy for breakfast:eek:

 

The gravy meant here isn't a brown gravy like you would have on a roast. It's a thick white gravy made with sausage or bacon, milk, flour, butter or other fat, and pepper. It is more for breakfast although I have seen it served over a fried chopped steak for dinner at some restaurants.

 

Sher

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