English image of Biscuits & Gravy

Martin Milner · Post by **Martin Milner** » Mon Oct 11, 2004 9:25 am

amar wrote:
Ro3b wrote:Hey, I had biscuits and sausage gravy for breakfast this morning! And a pot of really good strong black coffee. No evil can touch me today.
looking at your avatar i'd say evil has touched you already.

A good day to have Lucky Charms for tea then...

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Mon Oct 11, 2004 9:34 am

Getting back to the black humour, someone once remarked: it wasn't all those drugs that killed Elvis; it was breakfast.

Pat Cannady · Post by **Pat Cannady** » Mon Oct 11, 2004 10:07 am

and them peanut butter and fried 'nana sandwiches, thankyouverymuch.

BTW Martin you brits have a few culinary treasures of your own...for instance, what in God's name is "Toad in the Hole"? "Lancashire Pudding"? "Bubble and Squeak"? Last but not least, is "Jellied Eel" exactly what it sounds like? Inquiring minds want to know.

Martin Milner · Post by **Martin Milner** » Mon Oct 11, 2004 10:18 am

Pat Cannady wrote:and them peanut butter and fried 'nana sandwiches, thankyouverymuch.

BTW Martin you brits have a few culinary treasures of your own...for instance, what in God's name is "Toad in the Hole"? "Lancashire Pudding"? "Bubble and Squeak"? Last but not least, is "Jellied Eel" exactly what it sounds like? Inquiring minds want to know.

Toad in the Hole - Sausages baked in a pan surrounded by batter (yorkshire pudding style batter) yum!

Lancashire Pudding - hmm, never heard of that!

Bubble & Squeek - mashed potato & cabbage (I think). I know it sounded mre interesting than it was.

Jellied Eel - yup, eels in jelly. Not lime jelly, but some savoury sort.

btw, I wasn't taking the rise, this was just the image the name conjured up for me! I've eaten REAL Amerival biscuits & gravy (once was enough), though maybe IHOP wasn't the best place to try it.

Walden · Post by **Walden** » Mon Oct 11, 2004 10:34 am

Pig in a blanket- a frankfurter stuffed with American cheese, wrapped in biscuit dough, and baked.

Pat Cannady · Post by **Pat Cannady** » Mon Oct 11, 2004 10:35 am

Thanks. You're right about IHOP not being the best place to try American biscuits and gravy...or much of anything else. I may be spoiled by the relative abundance of quality, family-owned 24-hr diners in my neck of the woods; in other parts of the country the IHOPs may be quite a bit better than the ones around here.

Walden · Post by **Walden** » Mon Oct 11, 2004 10:43 am

I've never eat at International House of Pancakes, but I assume it is similar to Denny's. My mother says the gravy they use on the biscuits at Denny's is pretty sub-par. Nevertheless, she likes that Denny's serves breakfast foods at night.

michael_coleman · Post by **michael_coleman** » Mon Oct 11, 2004 10:46 am

I miss digestives...dipping a chocolate (not milk chocolate) digestive into a nice cup of warm tea and eating it is second to none. I found some overly priced hobnobs over the ocean and thats keeping me going...now if I can just find some decent fish and chips with garlic mayo I would be set.

izzarina · Post by **izzarina** » Mon Oct 11, 2004 10:49 am

Martin Milner wrote:Bubble & Squeek - mashed potato & cabbage (I think). I know it sounded mre interesting than it was.

Sounds a bit like Colcannon, which uses mashed potatoes and cabbage as it's two basic ingredients.

I've eaten REAL Amerival biscuits & gravy (once was enough), though maybe IHOP wasn't the best place to try it.

Ewwww...no way. You just can't get the real thing at some fast food breakfast type place. Gross! My grandmother made the BEST biscuits and gravy this side of the Mississippi (and no one had better even try to challenge that!

). I wouldn't dream of even alluding to her's being the same as the ones found at IHOP of Denny's.

kga26 · Post by **kga26** » Mon Oct 11, 2004 12:27 pm

Well,I live in Wiltshire, just down the road from a place called 'The Lock Inn', it is now very famous for it's Boatmans Breakfast. I have never seen anybody eat a whole one! It's something like Sausages, Smoked sausage, Baked Beans, Fried Tomatoes, Black Pudding, Bacon, Fried Potatoes, Fried Bread, egg and stands about a foot above the plate! Good for Sunday Mornings with the Newspaper, and before you say anything about furred arteries. .....you can Canoe, Row, Cycle, Run or just enjoy a good long canalside walk from there, providing you can still move that is.

Talking of fried bread, my father used to eat his smothered in black treacle! He is 70 now, and yes, he has had an angioplasty!

Redwolf · Post by **Redwolf** » Mon Oct 11, 2004 1:35 pm

Hereabouts you can actually buy vegetarian red-eye gravy mix. I don't know how good it is, not being a huge gravy eater (other than brown gravy on my cornbread dressing at Thanksgiving), but for veggies who miss biscuits and gravy, it's probably worth a try.

I LOVE good old baking powder biscuits...especially with a good, big dollop of honey or raspberry jam.

Redwolf

kga26 · Post by **kga26** » Mon Oct 11, 2004 1:49 pm

Jellied Eel - yup, eels in jelly. Not lime jelly, but some savoury sort.

Because I am now concerned about things that translate transatlantically (if that is a word) Jelly is not Jam, Americans for Jelly think 'Jello' .

Either way, Jellied Eels are disgusting. Pie and Mash is better. In our house, bubble and squeak is ALL the left over veggies, mixed into patties with mashed potato, and fried, not just cabbage. Then, I do come from a generation who had parents who grew up in war time, and nothing was wasted. My mother dines out on Turkey rissoles for months after Christmas, and my aunties Turkey Pasties get frozen and produced at summertime picnics!!!!!!

P.S. Do you have corned beef hash in the states? Oh gastronomical treat, especially with a fried egg on the top!

Darwin · Post by **Darwin** » Mon Oct 11, 2004 2:11 pm

Martin Milner wrote:Black humour is a typically English type of behaviour - making light of a serious situation, to show that nothing gets us down for long.

Reminds me of the lion tamer whose arm was bitten off by a tiger. He was rushed to Casualty, where, before giving him any injections, they asked "Are you allergic to anything?"

"Only tigers..."

Was he the same guy who said, "Only when I laugh." when asked if it hurt?

(What's a lion tamer doing monkeying around with tigers in the first place?)

Walden · Post by **Walden** » Mon Oct 11, 2004 2:19 pm

kga26 wrote:
Jellied Eel - yup, eels in jelly. Not lime jelly, but some savoury sort.
Because I am now concerned about things that translate transatlantically (if that is a word) Jelly is not Jam,

In American usage, jam has bits of fruit in it.

Americans for Jelly think 'Jello' .

Gelatine?

fancypiper · Post by **fancypiper** » Mon Oct 11, 2004 2:34 pm

kga26 wrote:
Jellied Eel - yup, eels in jelly. Not lime jelly, but some savoury sort.
Because I am now concerned about things that translate transatlantically (if that is a word) Jelly is not Jam, Americans for Jelly think 'Jello' .

<snip>

P.S. Do you have corned beef hash in the states? Oh gastronomical treat, especially with a fried egg on the top!

Not quite. Here in the mountains of North Carolina, these are the meanings:

Jello is made from flavored gelatin (my dad called it "nervous pudding")

Jelly is made from fruit juice. Jelly is clear and firm enough to hold its shape when turned out of its container.

Jam is made from a blend of crushed pieces of fruit and fruit puree.

Preserves (my favorite, why waste any of the fruit?) contain whole or large pieces of fruit, making them thicker and more fruit-filled than jams or jellies. Think lumpy jam.

Marmalade means the same in the UK as in the US.

It's the car parts that confuse me. It took me two weeks to find the "hooter" on the Austin Mini that I rented in Scotland once. I managed to scrape one of the "wings" as well.

I couldn't fly in it, so I had a long discussion with the insurance rep.

Yes, we do have corned beef hash. It is made from the pickled brisket of the beef.