I recently had a craving for southern style cream gravy (you know, that stuff where you add flour and milk to bacon drippings), and came up with a variation of a recipe that Michelle had posted some time ago (I think). I poured this over English muffins and Fantastic Foods veggie sausage, and had a great, comforting meal.

The key ingredients here are browned flour and hickory smoke flovoring- they really make the gravy. The archives have a recipe for browned flour that came out of The Joy of Cooking- basically, you slowly cook a cup of flour in a very dry frying pan until its brown and toasty looking (I use my cast iron skillet). It keeps very nicely in a plastic container in the cupboard, and I use it to thicken any cream sauce that I want to have a "hearty" taste.

I've also used browned flour and hickory smoke flavoring in my cream of potato soup recipe- I'll post it once I get the measurements down. I've also used browned flour in mushroom strogonoffs and to thicken hearty stirfrys, so let your imagination run wild.

Now, my request: I've been trying to eat fat free for a few years now with some success, but I have to change my diet *again* to eat low acid foods as well (due to chronic cystitis). I would be interested to hear privately by email from others who have tried to do both- right now I live off off tomatoes and oj, so this will have to change.

Ok, the recipe: Pour milk into nonstick pan and slowly stir flour into the milk (I shake it over the surface, then stir. You could also put the milk and flour in a closed top container and shake it before adding to pan). Add Butter Buds the same way, then add the hickory smoke, and slowly heat gravy, stirring constantly, until its thick, about 5 minutes. Add pepper to taste, add more hickory smoke or salt if needed, and serve over biscuits and vegan sausage. Makes approx. 1 cup gravy.

Fatfree Digest V96 #47

From the Fatfree Vegetarian recipe list. Downloaded from Glen's Mm Recipe Archive, http://www. Erols. Com/hosey.