Biscuits and gravy…

A true Southern American breakfast is biscuits and gravy. My Grandmother would make fried apples, grits and scrambled eggs to complete the entire rib sticking meal.

The gravy is not just any gravy. This is sausage gravy, or what some people consider white gravy. The mystery to good sausage gravy is the sausage. Do not use sausage, which you do not like the taste of. Also do not use a maple flavored sausage, unless you want maple flavored gravy.  I use a spicy sausage which gives a little heat to gravy and extra seasoning. I would also suggest not using link sausage, you will get more flavor from patty or ground sausage.

To make the gravy you need to cook 1 pound of sausage. I prefer to cook ours in small patties, others like to cook it like browning ground beef. Since I use a pan that has raised slots in it, I will remove the cooked sausage from the pan and reserve for later. I then pour the remaining contents (make sure you scrape all the little bits from the bottom) to a big sauce pan/skillet. Warm grease and add ¼ cup of white flour. Stir until flour dissolved and there are no clumps of flour; bring your grease and flour mix to a boil. Slowly, dribble in 2 cups of milk. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper to taste, gravy will thicken as it cools.

Biscuits and rolls are not the same thing. Rolls are yeast based and are meant to rise, and be light weight. Biscuits have no yeast and are suppose to be fluffy, filling (heavy) and great for sopping up liquids on your plate.

I like to use club soda in my biscuits, so they will pop up and rise a bit. The recipe I use should have buttermilk in it; most of us do not have buttermilk in our homes. Instead of going out to buy some for this recipe add ¼ teaspoon of white vinegar to your regular white milk.

This recipe will make about 18 biscuits, since there are only four of us. I will cut out all biscuits and cook what I need. I will then place the remaining uncooked biscuits on a sheet of wax paper, before placing in a freezer safe bag. When I need or want biscuits, I will cook what I need. Place biscuit on  greased pan, frozen and cook for 18-20 minutes.

You will need the following ingredients:

5 cups of Bisquick

¼ cup club soda

½ cup of butter

1 egg, beaten

¼ cup buttermilk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450°F

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, knead dough by until smooth

Flour a cutting board and roll dough out until ¾ inch thick.

Cut dough into 18 circles. I use a doughnut cutter with the center hole removed; a drinking glass makes a great cutter as well.

Place on greased baking pan and cook for 15-18 minutes.