One of my very favorite things when I first started travelling to Texas was Ruth's biscuits and gravy. I had never had anything like it. Being an umami girl, it changed breakfast for me forever. Until I became vegetarian.
One of the things I missed most during that 11 year stint was that divine meal. And even though I've since re-incorporated cow and fish, the fact that I still don't eat swine means I steer clear of traditional gravy. A couple of years ago I was introduced to Pine State Biscuits in Portland and more recently The Wandering Goose in Seattle, both of whom have vegetarian gravies. (Pine State wins, btw). But since Los Angeles has not yet figured out what they're missing, I knew I had to figure out a scalable solution to my frequent craving.
Today I set out to master vegetarian gravy. I'm happy to say, I've found a really great recipe. I tried this one. I made a few substitutions, partly because I had to and partly 'cause that's what I do. I substituted fresh mushrooms for dried, leak for shallot, heavy cream for light cream (what is light cream, anyway?), red wine for sherry, and tamari for soy sauce (which is technically kind of the same thing). It turned out delicious!
Now to master the biscuits...