Ham & RedEye Gravy

My Mama Jean (who y’all all met earlier when she made me eat a crow) used to always make Ham and RedEye Gravy. Now, many of you probably have never heard of RedEye Gravy. Redeye Gravy is a type of gravy primarily prepared in the South. Other names for this sauce include poor man’s gravy, bird-eye gravy, bottom sop and red ham gravy. Another popular way to serve red-eye gravy, especially in parts of Alabama, is with mustard or ketchup mixed in with the gravy. Biscuits are commonly dipped the the gravy (“sopped”). Now, I know y’all can’t wait to make this so, without further ado, here is how you do it.According to Wikipedia, Red Eye Gravy’s name likely comes from the appearance of the gravy. Prepared traditionally, when coffee and grease are not combined until the end  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. Mama Jean’s Red-Eye Gravy never looked like an eyeball. In her recipe, the coffee is mixed with the grease on the pan to create a homogeneous mixture. I always thought the the term “Red-Eye” was because it had coffee in it, and maybe folks used to eat it to wake themselves up. Oh, what active imaginations we Southerners have!

To make this delicious treat you will need the following:

2 cups of strong coffee

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1 pound country ham

Start by stirring your coffee and sugar together in a side bowl. Pan fry the ham in the skillet until it is nice and browned. Remove from the pan, leaving the grease. Add the coffee and sugar mixture to the pan to deglaze the pan. Raise the heat and boil for 10-15 minutes until reduced by half and mixture coats the back of the spoon.

I actually prefer to serve this meal at night. Red-Eye gravy is a great gravy to serve when doing “Breakfast as Supper”. When I recently made this for my roommates, i let the gravy go about 2 minutes too long. It ruint and tasted like motor oil. (They still ate it anyways. They are so sweet.) Now, be careful. Don’t burn this. Right before your good sense tells you it is done, go ahead and turn it off. Otherwise, you might as well crack open the Penzoil.

Enjoy!