Tuesday Night Supper

Here's my Tuesday night menu, using two items from the CSA bag - red, ripe tomatoes and fresh zucchini.

Tomato Gravy with Buttermilk Biscuits

Crispy Bacon

Grilled Zucchini

Pineapple Ice Cream Sandwiches

I tried a new buttermilk biscuit recipe, this time from Treasury of Southern Baking by Prudence Hilburn, one of those books I look through a lot and rarely cook from. Her biscuit technique is interesting - using self-rising flour, buttermilk and lard (I subbed Crisco), she mixes all three ingredients together by hand simultaneously. I need to work on my technique, but the biscuits were indeed tender and tasty.

I topped the biscuits with tomato gravy, which is a perfect pantry meal in the wintertime, using canned tomatoes, but heaven in the summer with fresh tomatoes.

Tomato Gravy

from Gift of Southern Cooking by Scott Peacock and Edna Lewis

2 tbsp. bacon fat
1 cup diced onion
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 pound tomato, fresh or canned, peeled, seeded, and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces to yield 3/4 cup
1 cup milk

1. Heat the bacon fat in a heavy nonreactive skillet and add the diced onion. Saute over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, stirring often.

2. Add the garlic, 1/2 tsp. of the salt, the pepper and thyme, and cook for another 5 minutes.

3. Sprinkle the flour over and cook, stirring well, for another 2 minutes.

4. Stir in the chopped tomato and the remaining 1/2 tsp. of the salt and cook 5 minutes longer. Slowly stir in the milk and cream and bring to a simmer. Gently simmer for 5 minutes. Taste carefully for seasoning, adding more salt and pepper as needed. Serve hot.