Loudon Cuisine Part 2

First off, any one of you can probably make biscuits and gravy a lot better than I can, but I had to learn. A lot of places I’ve lived didn’t even offer it and you can’t always trust a restaurant to make it good enough. To me, Cracker Barrel’s gravy has no taste and Bob Evan’s looks burnt, so I do my own. Anyway, here it is.

To make the sausage gravy:
1 lb bulk or roll sausage, with a bit of fat in it. Nobody said it was healthy.
3 Tbsp oil or butter, if needed
3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
3 cups milk
Salt and pepper

Fry the sausage in a large cast iron skillet over medium heat, breaking it up into small pieces, until fully cooked. (Maybe it’s just the image of my grandma making gravy, but it has to be a cast iron skillet.) I only use about half the sausage and either freeze the rest for the next batch or make omelets or my sausage eggs with them.

After the sausage has fried, use a slotted spoon to take it out of the skillet, leaving the drippings behind. You should have about 3 Tbsps of fat, if not add enough oil or butter to make up the difference.

Stir in the flour a little at a time until you have made a roux. If it is too dry, add a touch more oil/butter. Cook the roux for 2-3 minutes.

Add the milk a bit at a time, stirring until well mixed, adding more as it thickens. When all the milk is used, turn the heat down very low and cook, stirring frequently, for a couple of minutes until thickened. If it becomes too thick, add a bit of water.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Biscuits

2 cups sifted flour
2 tsp. baking powder
4 tablespoons butter or shortening, I prefer butter.
1/2 tsp. salt
About 3/4 cup buttermilk or regular milk, I prefer buttermilk

In a large bowl sift flour, baking powder and salt together. Cut in shortening or butter. (From here on out I use my hands to make sure I get it all mixed together)

Add milk gradually, stirring until soft dough is formed.

Turn out on slightly floured board and lightly knead for a couple of minutes.30 seconds, enough to shape it.

Use a rolling pin to roll it out to about 1/2 inch thick and use a biscuit cutter or glass to cut individual biscuits. If desired, lightly brush some melted butter across the tops.

Bake on ungreased sheet in a 400 degree oven for 12-15 minutes. Makes about 12 biscuits.

Right here I have a confession to make. Most of the time I buy my biscuits from the store, especially if I’m feeling lazy, but also because Pillsbury has a very good frozen biscuit… not the ones in the cardboard can… but loose, premade biscuits in a bag in the freezer section. They’re not homemade, but they’re not far from it.

Another note. With the remainder of the sausage, if it’s small enough pieces, you can make sausage eggs. Not sausage and eggs, but sausage eggs. I know, it’s a matter of semantics, but you’ll see. Before frying the eggs, put a little extra butter or oil or bacon grease in the pan and then put in crumbled sausage, not a lot but enough to taste. Make sure the crumbs are close together and then drop the eggs into the sausage. If there is enough butter/oil the egg should stay intact and cook around the crumbs, sometimes the egg totally hides the sausage. Let it cook a few extra seconds before you turn it the first time and the yolk should not break. You can also do this with small bacon bits.