Rosemary-Black Pepper Cheddar Biscuits With Bacon Gravy and Toma

This recipe is best at the height of summer when the tomatoes are huge, red, and juicy beyond belief. If it isn't tomato season, I'd recommend omitting them. I serve this for dinner with a sweet potato hash/fries, or sunny side up eggs and hashbrowns for breakfast...

• Ready In: 30 mins
• Serves: 8-10

Ingredients

• 1 1⁄2 cups flour
• 1  teaspoon salt
• 2  teaspoons baking powder
• 1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1⁄4 teaspoon black pepper, fresh ground
• 4  tablespoons shortening, chilled
• 3  tablespoons fresh rosemary, minced
• 1  tablespoon fresh parsley, minced
• 1⁄4 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1  egg, beaten
• 3⁄4 cup buttermilk
• 5  slices bacon (we like thick cut)
• 1⁄4 cup flour
• 2 -3  cups milk
•  salt and pepper
• 2  tomatoes, sliced thick
•  salt and pepper
•  chives, minced (optional)
•  parsley, minced (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450*.
2. Stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pepper. Cut in chilled shortening (or rub in with fingers) until pea-sized lumps form. Stir in herbs and cheese.
3. Whisk together buttermilk and egg and add to flour. Gently stir with a fork until just combined. Don't over mix or you'll end up with hard biscuits.
4. Turn dough out onto a floured work surface. Pat down gently to a 1/2 inch thick circle or square. Using a floured biscuit cutter, press down and cut out biscuits. ( Do not twist cutter to remove the biscuits. My mom always said that would make the biscuits not rise and she made the most amazing biscuits -- so that is still how I do it. Just straight down, and straight up with the cutter.) You can reknead the scraps to form more biscuits, but the will not be as tender as the first ones. I usually just kind of pat the scraps into little biscuit shapes. I get 8-10 out of this recipe total.
5. Place on an ungreased sheet pan and bake for 10-15 minutes until light golden brown.
6. Meanwhile, fry bacon over medium heat until just crispy. Remove from skillet and place on a paper towel. Reserve the drippings in the pan.
7. Add flour to the bacon grease and whisk til smooth. Cook for a minute or so to get rid of the raw flour taste. Do not burn the flour though --
8. Add milk all at once, whisking like crazy the whole time. Heat til bubbling and simmer 5-10 minutes until the gravy begins to thicken. Add salt and pepper to taste.
9. Cut open your biscuit and top each with a thick slice of tomato. Season liberally with salt and pepper--tomatoes ALWAYS need salt and pepper if you ask me -- Ladle over a heaping (or not so heaping) helping of your gravy. Crumble the bacon over the top, sprinkle with chives and/or parsley and additional salt and pepper as desired. Enjoy!