This Unique Old School Breakfast Gravy Comes Straight From The Johnny Cash Family Cookbook

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Music legends Johnny Cash and his wife, June Carter Cash, were country royalty. June was the daughter of Maybelle Carter, the "Mother of Country Music," who was part of the groundbreaking Carter Family band. "Ring of Fire" may have been a hit record for Johnny Cash, but it was also what the family needed to get cooking. Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash, and her mother weren't just talented musicians — they also knew how to throw down in the kitchen and whip up some delicious dishes.

Johnny was born in Arkansas, and June and her mother were from Southwest Virginia, so the family was familiar with some Southern classics. One of them was the lesser-known tomato gravy used to upgrade breakfast staples, such as sausage and biscuits. In 2018, John Carter Cash compiled "The Cash and Carter Family Cookbook." It brought together recipes from both sides of his family in one place for the rest of the world to enjoy, and it included Maybelle's tomato gravy among them. It's a fairly simple recipe that includes a roux made of rendered sausage fat, flour, milk, and canned tomatoes, and it's finished with sugar, salt, pepper, and breakfast sausage over biscuits.

Country musicians and food seem to have a natural affinity, like the Jimmy Dean Meat Company and its namesake, the 1960s country star and TV personality, Jimmy Dean. Dean's pal, Johnny Cash, had a different connection to food. Johnny Cash loved old school dishes like iron-pot chili, and food culture ran even deeper on June Carter Cash's side of the family. John Carter Cash recalled in his cookbook that Maybelle Carter loved to cook and that her tomato gravy was a go-to for the family.

"Grandmother Maybelle canned her own tomatoes after the harvest and used them for a number of her dishes, including this one," he wrote in the "Cash and Carter Family Cookbook." While sausage and gravy over biscuits typically has a thick, creamy gravy, this version is much lighter, with the bright, tangy summer flavor of tomatoes. Tomato gravy can also be used on other breakfast staples, such as scrambled eggs or grits. While the Carter and Cash families will always be synonymous with their trailblazing country music, their culinary skills — like Maybelle's signature tomato sausage gravy over biscuits — also deserve some recognition.