If there's a quintessential American Christmas song, this is it! I adore Nat King Cole.
Our son Jason has to work through the holidays, so we're having our traditional Christmas Eve feast today. We're gonna slide a ham (glazed with brown sugar, mustard, and pineapple) into the oven, and serve it with mashed taters/red-eye gravy, veggies, yams, and homemade biscuits. We'll top it off with an apple/raisin pie.
Then the fun begins as the munchkin attacks the pile under the Christmas tree. :)
Fay, it's a gravy that's made with ham drippings. Sometimes I make it the traditional way, which is ham drippings and a cup or two of coffee, simmered for a few minutes and then poured over the meat and taters. Today though I'm browning minced onions with the drippings, then adding a little flour before I stir in the coffee.
The men in the family shower me with love when I have homemade biscuits and any kind of gravy on the dinner table, and that's the best gift of all. :)
Hmm...I've never pondered the name origin, but it makes sense! I use fairly weak coffee in mine, because there's generally kids at the table. Zoom zoom zoom! :))
"Red Eye Gravy's name comes from an American slang term for its principal ingredient: coffee i.e. "red-eye". Prepared traditionally, when coffee and grease are not combined until the end (see Preparation, below) the coffee and grease form a heterogeneous mixture, with the water-based coffee sinking to the bottom and the oil-based grease forming the top layer. In a round bowl, therefore, the mixture looks much like a red eye, the coffee giving the red hue and the grease looking like a human iris."
I think I'd prefer this version:
"The Mississippi variation uses red wine in the place of coffee." ;)
If there's a quintessential American Christmas song, this is it! I adore Nat King Cole.
ReplyDeleteOur son Jason has to work through the holidays, so we're having our traditional Christmas Eve feast today. We're gonna slide a ham (glazed with brown sugar, mustard, and pineapple) into the oven, and serve it with mashed taters/red-eye gravy, veggies, yams, and homemade biscuits. We'll top it off with an apple/raisin pie.
Then the fun begins as the munchkin attacks the pile under the Christmas tree. :)
Have fun lady red! Dinner sounds great, what is red eye gravy?
ReplyDeleteFay, it's a gravy that's made with ham drippings. Sometimes I make it the traditional way, which is ham drippings and a cup or two of coffee, simmered for a few minutes and then poured over the meat and taters. Today though I'm browning minced onions with the drippings, then adding a little flour before I stir in the coffee.
ReplyDeleteThe men in the family shower me with love when I have homemade biscuits and any kind of gravy on the dinner table, and that's the best gift of all. :)
Thanks lady red, wow, I've never heard of gravy made with coffee before. So it's called "red-eye" 'cos the caffiene keeps you awake?
ReplyDeleteHmm...I've never pondered the name origin, but it makes sense! I use fairly weak coffee in mine, because there's generally kids at the table. Zoom zoom zoom! :))
ReplyDeleteHere's another explanation from Wiki:
ReplyDelete"Red Eye Gravy's name comes from an American slang term for its principal ingredient: coffee i.e. "red-eye". Prepared traditionally, when coffee and grease are not combined until the end (see Preparation, below) the coffee and grease form a heterogeneous mixture, with the water-based coffee sinking to the bottom and the oil-based grease forming the top layer. In a round bowl, therefore, the mixture looks much like a red eye, the coffee giving the red hue and the grease looking like a human iris."
I think I'd prefer this version:
"The Mississippi variation uses red wine in the place of coffee." ;)
A red eye staring back at you from the gravy boat? Yikes!
ReplyDeleteI'll bet wine would be an excellent substitution, but VERY rich.