cmt, the biscuits eaten with gravy are not hard at all (unless overbaked). They are soft and are the same ones that you would typically put butter and jam/jelly on.

The gravy that I've always had on biscuits is cream gravy made with pan drippings, flour and milk. It is even better with bits of cooked sausage or bacon in it.

I agree that I've seen biscuits and cream gravy on the menu at many southern style restaurants across the US, but I think that as far as being homemade they're mostly something you'll get at your southern grandma's house. :) Definitely comfort food and definitely too many calories/fat to have very often.

Suki, I find it hard to believe that you grew up outside of Philly and never had biscuits & gravy. You find b/g all over Pennsylvania Dutch country.

This Englishman, who nows lives in Philly, loves both biscuits and scones. My mother used to make BIS-QUICK biscuits for as children. She would buy the boxes in the US, then take them back to the UK with her (and Spam too). We also used to LOVE cornbread with gravy.

and french fries with beef gravy!

"Biscotti" translates to "bscuits" in English. I know that's a different kind of biscuits from the kind that you eat as bread, or cover with gravy (something I've never seen anywhere), but I was just commenting on what automatic association is with the word "biscuits." Dog biscuits, too, are different, though I guess related to the cookie-type biscotti in the way their produced.

Statia, thank you for the explanation of the gravy. I'm actually not very up on gravy, even for use on meats. I grew up in a non-gravy eating family (we had it once a year on Thanksgiving, but found it rather off), and never quite developed a feel for how it's supposed to be made. It sounds like food for very active hardworking farmers and not exactly ideal for sedentary writers, secretaries, lawyers, architects, telephone operators, professors, etc.

Yes, ThinG! Bisquick is what all homemade biscuits I've always had have been made from.

I never thought about biscuits and gravy being big in Pennsylvania Dutch country.

cmt, I just saw your post. Yes, in my own family biscuits and gravy were mostly reserved for the hardworking men such as farmers and oil refinery workers. Those jobs that required a hearty breakfast for a long day's work outdoors.

We only have them now once in a blue moon on a Sunday. But, I sure would love to have them every Sunday if my waistline would afford it. :) What's the saying..."you can take the girl out of the south, but...."

Well, thinG, I grew up in Bucks County, not in the western suburbs.
I'm not sure I ever visited Lancaster County as a child.

Funny, that as an English child you would have BisQuick biscuits. My dad used to make dumplings for stew from BisQuick also. They were my favorite part of the stew.

I'm Pennsylvania Dutch and while we had biscuits, we always had them with butter, not gravy. Gravy was for waffles, mashed potatoes or filling (NEVER call it stuffing!).

Gravy on waffles? Wow, I learn something new every day. :)

jnn1964,
I'd expect if McDonalds in the U.K tried to market their sausage biscuit they'd find a different name for it. People would be expecting a banger sandwiched between two chocolate Hobnobs.

Growing up in New York and living since then in Chicago and Massachusetts, I never had biscuits that I can remember until I had one at McDonald's, and yes, I guess at Kentucky Fried Chicken too. This just isn't something that I saw in everyday use until national chains brought them. Maybe not just a Southern thing, but that's how I always perceived them.

Certainly when I travel South and West I see lots more biscuits on menus than I ever see at home. And I have never to this day seen biscuit gravy any place within a few hundred miles of home. It's possible that I saw it for the first time when I took a road trip to Colorado last month.

As for biscotti, I have just understood that to mean cookies.

We should have a Fodors get together where everyone brings something called a biscuit and see how many kinds of things show up.

To Daisy: I think there is a big difference between biscuits and rolls. Rolls are normally made from a yeast dough, while biscuits are "quick breads"--they use chemical leavenings (baking powder and/or soda) instead of yeast.

To Robespierre: why would an English muffin be called a "muffin anglé"? Every English muffin I've ever had was round, and not "anglé" at all. Surely it is we Americans who call them English muffins, to distinguish them from our American muffins, which are more like little cakes; I think in England they are just called muffins.

Simone1 is right. The frozen Pillsbury biscuits are wonderful - ALMOST as good as grandma's. In fact, an older woman at a Piggly Wiggly told me about them when shopping in the N GA mountains.

nytraveler - my Southern friend now living in the UWS can buy a frozen scone that is absolutely wonderful. I can't find them anywhere down here. I do love scones.

A biscuit slathered with jelly is just as sweet as a scone.

Also found "Moonshine Jelly" at a mountain produce stand just down the road from the Piggly Wiggly. NOW, we're talking :-)

Mayhaw jelly is a treat too!

Ah yes, chicken&waffles, that PA Dutch favorite. My father and husband always put gravy on theirs, Mom and I went the butter and powdered sugar route. Sounds weird if you're not a Dutchie, but a little taste of heaven if you are.
A restaurant in Harlem has claimed that they invented the combo in 1938, but it's been a PA Dutch dish for well over a hundred years, often noted in 19th century newspapers from central PA.

We've got a Gladys Knight's Chicken and Waffles down here. Glad to know where it orginated - didn't know that.

Was curious so I googled and found this recipe for Penn-Dutch chicken and waffles -

http://teriskitchen.com/padutch/chickwaffles.html

Which is waffles topped with chicken in GRAVY! :-) There's BTilke's gravy on waffles.

Thanks for the further info, BTilke. Never heard of chicken and waffles. Who knew?

Speaking of jelly, I thought jalapeno jelly sounded awful until I tasted it. It's wonderful. A perfect combination of spicy and sweet on those biscuits. And, I might suspect...another southern thing. :)

don't forget about chicken fried steak

a Popeye's biscuit - fresh from the oven is decadent - however if they've been sitting around for awhile the term 'butter hockey puck' might be more appropriate than biscuit (and their fried chicken is far better than KFC)

of course one of my favorites - crumbled corn bread in a glass drizzled with enough cold whole milk to make it mushy

Biscuits are not unusual in New England and are a cherished accompaniment to blueberries, blackberries or apples that have been simmered with water and sugar. Just drop the biscuits on top and add ice cream when serving. You can find many recipes using biscuits on Epicurious. While there you might check the recipe for blackberry slump.

Because the biscuits are unsweetened they can also be served atop a beef stew as Suki said or, for the effete, a Boeuf Bourguignonne.

Other than both being round, there is no great similiarity between an English muffin and a crumpet, the textures are very different. A crumpet has these wonderful little holes that fill with butter and then you top with Robertson's Golden Shred Marmalade. You have to lick your fingers afterward to get the real experience.

BTW, we had apples with biscuits for dessert last night and crumpets for breakfast this morning.

whole milk? my grandparents supper was cornbread in buttermilk!

As someone said before, biscuits and gravy are ideal for those putting in a long rigorous day.

My grandparents always ate a HUGE lunch with at least 1 meat - always fried - several vegatables, biscuits sopped in sorghum syrup, cornbread and "something sweet" for dessert.

And, then they went back out to work in the garden or fields.

And, at night they had crumbled cornbread in a glass of buttermilk.

No wonder we're so fat. We skip meals during the day and eat a big meal at night - and usually "after dark". :-)

How is the chicken prepared in chicken and waffles? Fried? Baked? Creamed???

I also love a tender biscuit with butter and jelly or jam, but the gravy thing never seemed right to me.

http://teriskitchen.com/padutch/chickwaffles.html

chicken in gravy is placed on top of the waffles

Hi Starrsville, I read that recipe but really, CANNED chicken broth? Tsk, tsk, all the real Dutchies I know always make their own broth...homemade stock/drippings are the base of homemade gravy to be put on homemade mashed potatoes (the ONLY "processed" food allowed at a real PD meal is Cope's corn). Some PD like the chicken chipped and creamed; we always had baked or grilled chicken.

Sounds a bit like chipped beef on toast to me. Same concept at least. Meat in gravy on starch.

Cheap and filling, I guess.

Starrsville, don't slag it off until you've tried the real thing. It most certainly is NOT cheap...done right, it's all homemade, high quality ingredients...and a small farm raised chicken the equal of any "poulet fermier" in France.
Filling yes, but it's not at all like chipped beef on toast.

starsville, I have an 80 year old uncle who still eats cornbread in buttermilk for dinner every night. :) I've never had it, but it sure was a staple around my grandmother's house after all the Cajun and southern cooking all day long.

No, I meant "cheap" for the farmers. My mom had to wring the neck of the dinner chicken as a girl. I'm VERY glad that all my chicken came nicely packaged from the store! :-)

Now, I HAVE had to dress dove, pheasant, quail, etc....but no backyard chickens!

Statia, how about prune juice in the morning?

They did something right...lived to ripe old ages!

Is poulet en croute also just meat in gravy on starch or is it okay because it's French?

Sorry, I was writing that while the clarification was being posted. Now I see....

Starrsville, you're assuming all PD are farmers. But many are artisans, etc. who have to buy their chickens and a good free range chicken from a small PD farm isn't cheap. So I don't get the "cheap and filling" bit--still sounds a little condescending.

Red Lobster in central PA serves hot cheddar biscuits - delicious! Or try biscuits at KFC - great with honey! Can also routinely get biscuits at Bob Evans in PA instead of toast.

Biscuits can be dropped by the spoonful to bake ('drop biscuits'), or rolled and cut with a round cookie cutter. We made them in Home Ec growing up on Long Island and I still use that recipe. They are nothing like rolls or bread, are not sweet, and really should not be dry or crumbly.

I've often heard of chicken and biscuits and chicken and waffles in upstate NY - chicken is baked or poached, cut into small pieces, put in a chicken gravy, and ladled over the biscuits or waffles. The sound of sausage gravy doesn't do much for me however!

No, I am so sorry. Did not mean any offense.

Someone said earlier that chicken and waffles originated 100 years ago in PD country. I didn't know that.

And, I've been talking about how my grandparents used to eat.

Also, been thinking about the "comfort foods" that I love so much (chicken pot pie, etc.) seem to be based on chicken in gravy.

Don't mean any offense at all regarding today's cost to prepare and serve. I agree that a good tender bird - particularly free range - can be very pricey.

Time for me to shut up tonight. :-)

Did somebody mention chicken fried steak? Just come to Texas. It's a staple here, on every menu in town.

And no, there's not a lick of chicken in it, either. Go figure.

Happy travels, y'all!

starsville, I forgot about the prune juice. :) My mother has also told me stories about having to wring the neck of dinner for the evening. Thank goodness she moved to the big city before deciding to have children because I don't think I could have done that. ;)

kwren, as silly as it sounds, those cheddar biscuits from Red Lobster are one of the things I like to have when I'm back in the US. I can get all the fancy French four star cooking I want here, but I can't find those darned cheddar biscuits. :)

kopp, that's another definite comfort food from home that I miss with having lived out of the country for so long. (Native Texas here, too). Of course, it has to have the mashed potatoes and creamed gravy accompaniment. I do manage to have it once each time I'm back in Houston, though. Sigh.

Well, BTilke, from what I understand there are three different kinds of PA Dutch: the ordinary people of German descent who live in the areas bordered by Lancaster, Lebanon, Reading, Mahanoy City, and Allentown; the Mennonite; and the Amish. My good friend, Amy, is Mennonite and she pours gravy over bisquits. I have been to dinner in her mother's kitchen many times. Her mother has also baked me Shoo-Fly pie, which I adore.

By the way, have you ever been to the Bloomsburg Fair??

Nimrod.."a nice hot one -- split and slathered in butter and jam is good sometimes on a cold winter's morning while having tea."
A perfect culmination of an afternoon also :)

Right-O! It's just that I so rarely have them. My Mom used to make them sometimes with Bisquick but I don't think I've ever made one. (I do remember using her Bisquick as a kid to make pigs-in-a-blanket).

Winter's setting in -- maybe it's time to buy a box of it and see what can be whipped up! They still make it, right?

Bisquick to make piggies???? Are you daft!!!!!!!!! You would be shot in the street in Philly if you ever made piggies with Bisquick. Proper piggies are made by rolling up ground pork with spices in cabbage leaves and placing them in a caserole dish filled with tomato sauce.

You are describing those little hotdog canapes that are served at weddings. Those are NOT pigs-in-the-blanket.