Bacon Gravy

I’m not going to pretend like this is the healthiest thing you’ll ever eat, because it probably isn’t. I will say that it’s cheap, tastes good and is pretty filling. When you’re really poor there’s something extra special about a hearty satisfying meal, that you may not understand if you always have plenty to eat. This is a meal you can look forward to and really savor while you’re eating it. It doesn’t take much in the way of ingredients and it’s pretty fast to cook too.

I serve it over toast if I’m in a hurry, or homemade biscuits if I have the time to make them. It’s good over instant mashed potatoes too. Filling, cheap, salty and creamy. It’s country food at it’s finest.

Bacon Gravy

• 1 to 2 ounces bacon, cut into small pieces OR 2 tablespoons bacon grease (see note below)
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Goodly dash black pepper (to taste)
• 1-1/2 cups milk

Start out by cutting up your bacon into small pieces, about 1-inch wide. You can use bacon-ends-and-pieces, which are the cheapest way to buy bacon, to good effect in this dish. Place the cut up bacon into a skillet and fry it up until it’s brown and crisp. There will be a puddle of bacon grease in the bottom of the pan.

Stir the flour into the fat in the pan. When the fat absorbs all of the flour add the salt and black pepper. Slowly stir in the milk. Stir the milk with a fork or a whisk so you don’t get any pesky lumps of flour. Cook and stir the mixture until it boils and thickens. You’ll want to let it simmer for a good 5-minutes so the flour won’t taste raw. Serve over toast or biscuits or even instant mashed potatoes. Makes 2-hearty servings.

NOTE: If you don’t have bacon, or don’t want to use it for this dish, then you can use bacon grease instead. Simply heat 2-tablespoons of bacon grease in your skillet until it’s hot and bubbly. Stir in the flour as directed. Add the salt, pepper and milk. Stir it up and boil until thick.