Biscuits and Mushroom Gravy (Vegan)

New Year's Eve. The tradition: Mama and Daddy fall asleep by 10:30, deny it in the morning. Black-eyed peas at midnight. MawMaw Shirley's 12:01 a.m. phone call. This year the peas were mine — I made them from scratch, the full version with smoked sausage and the Trinity and a bay leaf, and I timed them so they were ready at 11:55, which is five minutes before midnight, which is MawMaw Shirley's requirement: "The peas must be ready before midnight. You eat them AT midnight. If the peas are late, the luck is late." I have never tested this theory. I do not intend to. The peas were on time.

Kayla stayed up with me. We sat on the couch and watched the countdown and ate black-eyed peas at midnight and Kayla said, "2024. I am going to be twenty." I said, "I am going to be twenty too." She said, "You first." This is the older-sister dynamic: I go first. I test the waters. I report back. She follows at her own pace, in her own way, with her own path. The path has been different but the destination is the same: a life built from the education that Marcus and Tanya Robinson insisted upon and that each of us has taken and shaped into our own form.

MawMaw Shirley called at 12:01. "Did you eat the peas?" Yes, MawMaw. "Were they ready before midnight?" Yes, MawMaw. "Good. Happy New Year, baby." Happy New Year. The call lasted forty-five seconds. It contained a year's worth of love, compressed into the efficient format that MawMaw Shirley has used for every phone call since the invention of the telephone. She does not waste words. She does not waste peas. She does not waste time. MawMaw Shirley is the most efficient communicator I know, and I love her for it, and the forty-five-second call is, as always, exactly enough.

New Year's Day spread: black-eyed peas, collard greens, ham, cornbread. The menu does not change. The cook changes — I made the cornbread this year, MawMaw Shirley's cast iron skillet version, and Mama made the greens, and Daddy provided the ham, which he considers his domain because it requires only heat and cloves and the patience to check it every hour, which is the level of culinary involvement that Marcus Robinson is comfortable with. The meal was perfect. The year has been set. 2024. Sophomore spring semester. Organic Chemistry II. Two more years until medical school applications. The peas were on time. The luck is mine.

Making the cornbread this year — MawMaw Shirley’s cast iron skillet version — was the moment I understood that these traditions don’t just get inherited, they get handed over. I’m not yet the one who makes the greens or tends the ham, but I’m the one who goes first, and going first in the kitchen means practicing the kind of from-scratch, intentional cooking that turns a meal into a ritual. These vegan biscuits and mushroom gravy aren’t the cornbread from our New Year’s spread, but they hold the same spirit: something warm, built by hand, worth doing right — the kind of dish Kayla will probably make her own version of someday, in her own time, at her own pace.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 30 min | Total Time: 45 min | Servings: 5

Ingredients

For the Biscuits:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp fine salt
1/3 cup cold vegan butter (such as Earth Balance), cut into small cubes
3/4 cup unsweetened oat milk or almond milk, cold
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
For the Mushroom Gravy:
2 tbsp olive oil or vegan butter
1 small yellow onion, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
8 oz cremini or baby bella mushrooms, thinly sliced
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
1/2 cup unsweetened oat milk
1 tsp soy sauce or tamari
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp black pepper, plus more to taste
Salt to taste
Fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

Preheat the oven. Heat oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Make the biscuit dough. Stir the apple cider vinegar into the cold oat milk and let it sit 2 minutes to curdle slightly (this acts as a vegan buttermilk). In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the cold vegan butter cubes and work them in with your fingertips or a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles coarse, pea-sized crumbs.
Combine and shape. Pour the curdled oat milk into the flour mixture and stir with a fork until just combined — do not overmix. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gently pat to 3/4-inch thickness. Cut into rounds using a 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter or the rim of a glass, pressing straight down without twisting.
Bake the biscuits. Arrange biscuits on the prepared baking sheet so edges are just touching. Bake 13–15 minutes until risen and golden on top. Remove and keep warm.
Sauté aromatics. While biscuits bake, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the diced onion and cook, stirring occasionally, 4–5 minutes until softened and translucent. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more until fragrant.
Brown the mushrooms. Add the sliced mushrooms in a single layer (work in batches if needed) and cook undisturbed for 3 minutes, then stir and continue cooking 4–5 minutes more until deeply browned and most of their liquid has cooked off. Season lightly with salt and pepper.
Build the gravy. Sprinkle the flour over the mushroom mixture and stir well to coat. Cook 1 minute to remove the raw flour taste. Slowly pour in the vegetable broth while whisking constantly, then add the oat milk and soy sauce. Add dried thyme. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook, stirring frequently, 5–7 minutes until the gravy is thick and creamy. Taste and adjust salt and pepper.
Serve. Split warm biscuits open and ladle the mushroom gravy generously over both halves. Garnish with fresh parsley if desired. Serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

Biscuits and Mushroom Gravy (Vegan) — When the Kitchen Becomes Yours to Steward