sisterfood

This recipe draws inspiration from three fabulous Atlanta-area restaurants I am delighted to share with you: The Flying Biscuit Cafe, Radial Cafe, and The Grit.   The Flying Biscuit is homey in a free-range, murals-on-the-wall kind of way, especially at the original McLendon location.  It is famously good, so go before 10am on weekends or you will be waiting for an hour.  Radial is a hip breakfast and lunch joint on Dekalb Ave in Candler Park.  The walls are a gallery space for interesting local artwork and the servers are good to look at too, though service can be slow (it may not be the best place to take a sister before she has to catch a plane back to Michigan, for example).  Radial is also a certified green restaurant, which I appreciate.  I’ve only been to The Grit a few times as it is located in Athens, GA, but those times were memorable.  If you are ever in Athens, go there immediately and order the Golden Bowl with a side of gravy.  If you are lucky, you may see Le Tigre there before their show because it is that cool.

Mmmmm, biscuits!  My biscuit intake definitely spiked when I moved to the South, making me a happy girl.  I was also pleasantly surprised to discover they are quick and easy to bake at home, perfect for a relaxing weekend breakfast.  Sometimes I make them just to have on the side of some eggs, with butter and strawberry jam.  Warm and fresh from the oven, they can start things off on the right foot.

I use the recipe from The Joy of Cooking for Quick Drop Biscuits with only a couple minor changes.  I like to replace a quarter to a third of the white flour with whole wheat flour, as I often do when baking.  It makes me feel healthier and adds some flavor without changing the texture.  I also sprinkle a little sugar on top of my biscuits before I pop them in the oven, a handy little trick I picked up from The Flying Biscuit, where the biscuits are large, fluffy, perfect, and lightly sweet on the top.  To be honest, I haven’t ever tried rolling my biscuits out to achieve perfect size and shape, but that extra effort seems so unnecessary after you’ve been reading in bed until your stomach is rumbling, which is how I enjoy spending weekend mornings.

Some vegetarians, including my sister Ashley, don’t enjoy fake meat products like Soysage.  In fact, when I told Ash I was sharing this recipe on sisterfood, I believe her reply was “gross.”  I try not to eat a lot of processed soy products, but sometimes a little soysage hits the right spot.  Nonetheless, the gravy by itself is finger-licking good.  Thanks to The Grit for the use of nutritional yeast and tamari in this recipe.  My friend Chloe, (interestingly the same friend who introduced me to The Grit gravy and the sighter of Le Tigre there – I miss you Chloe!) knew the owner or someone important at Radial and shared a secret to their savory herb-infused gravy: fennel.

Jonathan loves to go out for breakfast, maybe more than any other meal, and we clearly have some amazing restaurants to choose from.  But for those lazy weekend mornings when you don’t even want to get dressed, stuff yourself with so much homemade biscuits and gravy that all you can do is fall back into bed and finish your book.

Vegetarian Biscuits and Gravy

• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1/3 package Lightlife Gimme Lean Sausage Style, crumbled
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2-3 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups milk
• 2 teaspoons tamari
• 4 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed rosemary
• 1/8 teaspoon ground fennel
• fresh ground pepper to taste

Using a medium skillet or saute pan, cook the crumbled soysage in canola oil over medium heat until browned.  Set aside.  Without cleaning the pan, melt the butter then stir in flour to make a roux.  Cook, stirring continuously, for a minute or two until golden.  Whisk in the milk until smooth, then add the tamari, nutritional yeast, rosemary, fennel, and pepper.  Simmer 5-10 minutes until thickened.  Return the soysage to the pan, stir to combine, and spoon over warm biscuits.

Serves 2-4.