I love making breakfast, and when I get the chance I go all out. I always knew it was a special Saturday when I would wake up to the smell of breakfast. My dad was an awesome cook and I'm so glad he passed on his love of food to me. He loved biscuits and gravy. I love them too. My biscuits are a bit fluffier than dad's traditional 'drop' biscuits, but we make our gravy just the same.
 |
Biscuits
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 Tbs sugar
4 Tbs butter, diced and chilled
1/2 cup milk
Cut the butter into chunks and place it in the freezer while preparing the rest of the dough. Preheat oven to 450 F. Mix flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Add cubed butter and mix together with a pastry blender or two knives till dough looks crumbly. Add the milk and mix until just combined. Tip out the dough onto a floured surface and lightly knead the dough, adding more flour if too sticky, until you have a soft, well mixed dough. Roll out to your desired thickness--I like them thick so its usually about half an inch. Cut with your biscuit cutter and place on a greased cookie sheet. Bake in the oven for about 12-15 minutes. Keep an eye on them and adjust cooking time to your oven. My oven stinks so the time is always different.
Gravy:
4 Tbs butter
4 Tbs flour (you might need more)
Milk
1/2 cup Sausage, cooked
pinch of Salt
pinch of Pepper
pinch of Onion Powder
pinch of Garlic Powder
If you know how to make a Rue, this is exactly that. Melt the butter in a pan on the stove over low heat. Once completely melted add the flour until it absorbs all the butter, you may need more than 4 Tbs before it's all soaked up. It should now look like a paste, or as my husband affectionately calls it, playdough. Let the paste cook a bit, you should be able to hear it sort of sizzle, but do not let it burn. Begin to add the milk slowly, about 1/4 cup at a time. With each addition of milk, mix until all the milk has been incorporated, or until the mixture is smooth again. Keep adding milk until you feel you have as much gravy as you need. Let the gravy come to a simmer for while to cook out the flour taste. Add the sausage and seasoning to taste. I never want to say how much seasoning to add because everyone has different tastes, but I generally start with 1/4 tsp or a generous sprinkle and go from there, adding more if need be. Also, if my husband gets his way, there's like 2 cups of sausage in our gravy. He usually wins and I don't complain.
Notes:
- The little bits of butter are what help make your dough flakey and light when you bake it.
- You don't want to over knead, you should still see bits of butter throughout the dough.
- Dip your biscuit cutter in flour before cutting to keep the dough from sticking to it.
- You can brush a beaten egg white on the top before baking for a pretty finish, just don't let it drip down the side or it wont rise up when it bakes properly.
- You can also sprinkle sugar on top after the egg wash for a sweeter biscuit.
- You can use whatever you want to cut biscuit; cookie cutter, cup, make them square. Doesn't matter.
- I never grease my cookie sheets. I hate dishes so I use a silpat mat or cover my trays in aluminum foil and spray that
- These are absolutely delicious with jam, jelly and honey