Apparently we have put the jinx on LSU by adopting them this season. The defending national champions lost to winless Missouri this past Saturday and are now 1-2 so far this season. It won’t get any easier this week as they travel to Gainesville, Fla. to face the Florida Gators.
In my research about Gainesville, I struggled to find anything to cook for this week’s Tailgate Tuesday that was relevant to that area. The easy choice would be to cook gator, but we did that a few years ago when Michigan played Florida.
I texted my buddy Trace Scarborough of Thunderbird Wings, who is a Florida grad, and he suggested doing something with a tomato gravy.
“The people who fill the stands who are multi-generational Floridians grew up with rice and tomato gravy,” Trace said. “I don’t know that it’s a gameday thing, but it’s definitely a part of rural Florida food heritage.”
Challenge accepted.
Instead of serving the tomato gravy over rice, I turned it into what could be a gameday tailgate food. Everybody loves a good breakfast fatty, which can certainly be made at a tailgate, so why not add the tomato gravy to that and make it a breakfast taco?
A Brief History
I haven’t found anything that attributed tomato gravy to rural Florida, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a staple of folks growing up there. One thing is for sure: it’s a southern thing.
Turning tomatoes into gravy is a great way to use over-ripe tomatoes that have too much liquid to be used traditionally.
Southern Living equates red tomato gravy to “lean times, slim pantries, [and] hungry mouths” and calls it a “desperation gravy, something that cooks could make with the foods they had at their fingertips, no special ingredients and, perhaps most importantly, no spending any more money.”
According to Foodtimeline.org, the earliest mention of tomato gravy in an American cookbook is in 1905 and labeled as a Spanish recipe. In 1955, Hunt’s advertised its tomato sauce as a “savoury tomato gravy” perfect for “busy homemakers and career girls.”
It also notes that late 19th century dietitian Ella Eaton Kellogg of Battle Creek, Mich. wrote about a tomato gravy combined with cream in an 1892 article.
Regardless of where it came from or how it came about, it’s important to note a distinction between this tomato gravy, traditional Italian tomato sauce, and New Orleans red gravy.
What sets tomato gravy apart from Italian tomato sauce (that you would eat on pasta) is that the recipe begins with the juices (and bits) of cooked meat, whereas tomato sauce doesn’t. Sure, you can add meat to a tomato sauce, but it doesn’t originate from its juices.
From Nola.com, “New Orleans-style red gravy is richer and thicker and derives its flavor from the low-and-slow cooking of vegetables, such as onions and garlic, and meat.”
The more you know.
What do you eat tomato gravy on?
As mentioned above, it can be eaten over white rice. Others eat it on biscuits just like one would with a sausage gravy. Still others eat it over fried chicken, mashed potatoes, scrambled eggs, or grits. It’s so versatile it can span breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
The recipe
The first thing we’re going to do is smoke the breakfast fatty since it will take an hour or two. Then, while it’s getting a smoke bath, we’ll make the tomato gravy.
First, fire up your smoker to 250 degrees indirect, using your choice of wood. I went with pecan on this one.
Open your breakfast sausage and place it into a gallon sized Ziploc bag. Zip it mostly closed, leaving a small opening so air can escape as you use your hands to flatten out the sausage to fill the bag. Get it nice and even, but be careful not to let it get too thin in any one spot to where you can’t roll it around your filling.
In a bowl, whisk together 8 eggs, half of an onion, diced, and some mushrooms. Scramble them just as you would any scrambled eggs. Season with your Fire & Smoke Shiitake Rub. Once cooked, put in a bowl.
Lay down some saran wrap, then carefully turn out your sausage onto it. You will need to cut the Ziploc bag open on a couple sides and be careful the sausage doesn’t stick to the bag.
Now, place your scrambled eggs in a line down the middle of it. Lift one side of the sausage, using the saran wrap, and roll it over the eggs, then carefully keep rolling until you have it completely rolled around the eggs. Wrap it fully in saran wrap and twirl the ends to tightly pack it in. Set aside.
On a cutting board, lay out about 6-8 strips of bacon in the same direction, long enough to match the length of your sausage roll. Lift up every other piece, lay down a perpendicular piece starting at the top, then lay back down the pieces you lifted up. Repeat with the other pieces and keep alternating like this until you reach the bottom.
Unwrap your sausage roll from the saran wrap and place onto your bacon weave toward the bottom half. Lift up the bottom half of your bacon weave and wrap it around the sausage roll. Roll it until your bacon weave covers the entire roll. If you have any overlap, use some scissors or a knife to cut your bacon weave at the point it overlaps. Otherwise, it will be hard to crisp up multiple layers of bacon. Save the scraps you cut off.
Sprinkle some more Shiitake Rub over the top, place the whole thing onto your grill grate, and let go while you start making your gravy. You will want to flip it after about 45-60 minutes.
In a cast iron pan, fry up your bacon scraps along with any other bacon you have left. Leave the bacon grease in the pan and sauté the other half of your diced onion. Crumble up a couple pieces of bacon into tiny bits and add those to the pan. Now, add 1/4 cup of flour and stir for a couple minutes until it’s all combined into a roux and slightly browned but not burnt.
Add in a half cup of chicken stock and mix well until your roux is incorporated. Finally, add in your can of diced tomatoes. Mix well and let simmer until it thickens up. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Once the bacon on your breakfast fatty is crispy on all sides and the internal temperature of your breakfast sausage is at least 165, it’s ready to pull off the smoker.
Slice it into inch-thick pieces, then cut those in half. Place into a flour tortilla and spoon some of your tomato gravy over top.
These are easy to cook, serve, and eat at a tailgate and you can do several fatties at a time depending on the size of your tailgate. These are great for an early morning tailgate for a noon game, but they’re just as good any time of the day. Wash down with some Woodford Reserve Double Oaked.
Breakfast Fatty Tacos with Tomato Gravy
Perfect for the early morning tailgate or breakfast for dinner, these breakfast fatty tacos combine sausage, bacon, scrambled eggs, and a rich tomato gravy on a flour tortilla.
- 1 package Bacon
- 1 package Breakfast Sausage
- 8 Eggs
- 1 Onion (diced and halved)
- Mushrooms
- Fire & Smoke Shiitake Rub
- ¼ cup Flour
- ½ cup Chicken stock
- 28 oz Diced tomatoes
- Salt & Pepper to taste
Start by firing up your smoker to 250 degrees indirect
Open your breakfast sausage and place it into a gallon sized Ziploc bag. Zip it mostly closed, leaving a small opening so air can escape as you use your hands to flatten out the sausage to fill the bag. Get it nice and even, but be careful not to let it get too thin in any one spot to where you can’t roll it around your filling.
In a bowl, whisk together 8 eggs, half of an onion, diced, and some mushrooms. Scramble them just as you would any scrambled eggs. Season with your Fire & Smoke Shiitake Rub. Once cooked, put in a bowl.
Lay down some saran wrap, then carefully turn out your sausage onto it. You will need to cut the Ziploc bag open on a couple sides and be careful the sausage doesn’t stick to the bag.
Now, place your scrambled eggs in a line down the middle of it. Lift one side of the sausage, using the saran wrap, and roll it over the eggs, then carefully keep rolling until you have it completely rolled around the eggs. Wrap it fully in saran wrap and twirl the ends to tightly pack it in. Set aside.
On a cutting board, lay out about 6-8 strips of bacon in the same direction, long enough to match the length of your sausage roll. Lift up every other piece, lay down a perpendicular piece starting at the top, then lay back down the pieces you lifted up. Repeat with the other pieces and keep alternating like this until you reach the bottom.
Unwrap your sausage roll from the saran wrap and place onto your bacon weave toward the bottom half. Lift up the bottom half of your bacon weave and wrap it around the sausage roll. Roll it until your bacon weave covers the entire roll. If you have any overlap, use some scissors or a knife to cut your bacon weave at the point it overlaps. Otherwise, it will be hard to crisp up multiple layers of bacon. Save the scraps you cut off.
Sprinkle some more Shiitake Rub over the top, place the whole thing onto your grill grate, and let go while you start making your gravy. You will want to flip it after about 45-60 minutes.
In a cast iron pan, fry up your bacon scraps along with any other bacon you have left. Leave the bacon grease in the pan and sauté the other half of your diced onion.
Crumble up a couple pieces of bacon into tiny bits and add those to the pan. Now, add 1/4 cup of flour and stir for a couple minutes until it’s all combined into a roux and slightly browned but not burnt.
Add in a half cup of chicken stock and mix well until your roux is incorporated. Finally, add in your can of diced tomatoes. Mix well and let simmer until it thickens up. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Once the bacon on your breakfast fatty is crispy on all sides and the internal temperature of your breakfast sausage is at least 165, it’s ready to pull off the smoker.
Slice it into inch-thick pieces, then cut those in half. Place into a flour tortilla and spoon some of your tomato gravy over top.