Gluten Free Fail.

Due to some auto-immune problems, I recently decided to go gluten free. I know its going to be a process, but it is something I am very excited about! Since making the leap, I have enjoyed several amazing new recipes (which I will share on another post) and am trying out a variety of gluten free products and substitutes.

All that being said, I thought today would be a great day to attempt gluten free biscuits and gravy. You all should know that I LOVE gravy. When we eat breakfast at a restaurant, I always get an extra side of gravy to smother my food with. Biscuits and gravy. Eggs and gravy. Hash browns and gravy. YUM. The bad part about this obsession of mine is that flour is a base ingredient in homemade gravy. Obviously I can't use standard flour on this new diet, so I decided to try out my new gluten free artisan flour blend. As for the biscuits, I tried gluten free Bisquick for the first time.

Ok, here it goes- (be warned that I am going to give you a step-by-step of my first gluten free failure.)

First off, I whipped up the biscuits using the recipe on the box. Nothing fancy. Bisquick, eggs, milk, and butter (it actually called for shortening but I didn't have any. Butter is yummier anyways.) Dropped the dough by spoonfuls onto a baking sheet and baked at 400 for 14 minutes. They turned out beautifully! 

While they were baking, I started on the gravy. My mom taught me long ago how to make homemade gravy. No powder mixes for us! And the key to good gravy is grease. Fatty, delicious grease. Anytime I cook bacon, I save the drippings left in the pan specifically for future gravy making. Just pour it in a little bowl and put it in the refrigerator. 

Anyways, I started with my refrigerated bacon grease and my new artisan flour.

Next, I added about half of the grease to my skillet (probably about 3 Tbsp).

Once it completely melted I added 1/3 cup of flour.

I worked the flour into the grease to make a nice roux. (This is about where I realized things didn't look quite like they usually do)

Then the milk went in. Probably about 1/2 cup to start with. When making gravy, always start small and add as needed so you don't have to overcompensate with more flour.

The next stage should have consisted in the rue dissolving into the milk. The spoon wasn't working, so I switched to a spatula, my mom's gravy tool of choice.

Well, the spatula wasn't working too well either. Maybe some more milk? And maybe a whisk...

Ummm... no. This is not what gravy should look like. After lots of stirring/whisking, I realized that sadly this gravy was a lost cause. Tragic, I know. I almost cried. Almost.

So, Charlotte and I had biscuits and jelly instead. Not as good as biscuits and gravy, but still yummy! The texture of the biscuits is a little different than normal, but they were still great!

They are Charlotte-approved! And also cat and dog approved. Both pets cleaned up her crumbs from the floor.

In the end, we had a yummy breakfast. Not what I intended, but good nonetheless. And that's what this journey is all about! Trial and error. Discovering new things that are great and giving up old things that aren't. For now, I will be gravy free. But for the love of God, if any of you know how to make gluten free gravy, HOOK ME UP! :)

-Whitney