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Sunday Buttermilk Biscuits and Gravy

Source of Recipe

From "The Newlywed Cookbook" by Sarah Copeland


Recipe Introduction

"Where I come from, one cannot keep a home without a proper house biscuit. My recipe is made with whole-wheat flour because I love the texture and flavor, but it bakes up hot and fluffy with white flour as well. With hot biscuits smothered in your homemade sausage gravy on the table, your house will start to smell like home in no time. If you're feeding a crowd, bring a second hot batch of biscuits to the table for smearing with butter and jam after the gravy is gone and watch all adoring eyes turn on you."

List of Ingredients

Buttermilk Biscuits:
◦ 1 � cups white whole-wheat flour
◦ 2 teaspoons baking powder
◦ � teaspoon baking soda
◦ � teaspoon salt
◦ 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cubed
◦ � cup buttermilk

Sausage Gravy:
◦ 12 ounces bulk breakfast sausage or sausage patties
◦ � cup all-purpose flour
◦ 3 to 4 cups whole milk
◦ Freshly ground black pepper
◦ Kosher salt


Recipe

Preheat the oven to 425� F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

To make the biscuits:
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Add the butter and blend into the flour with your fingers or a pastry cutter until the flour is coated with fat and it is mostly incorporated with some pea-size pieces remaining. Stir in the buttermilk with a fork until just combined. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and turn over itself about 8 times to form a cohesive dough. Pat into a round about � inch thick. Cut into biscuits with a 2-inch cookie or biscuit cutter or a thin-rimmed glass. Transfer to the prepared baking sheets and set aside while you get the gravy started (so your biscuits and gravy can be hot and fresh at the same time).

To make the gravy:
Cook the sausage in a medium skillet over medium heat until evenly browned and cooked through, about 8 minutes. Remove the sausage to a plate and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm. Remove the excess fat from the pan, leaving just enough to coat the bottom of the pan with a thin layer.

Put the biscuits in the oven and bake until lightly browned, about 12 to 15 minutes. While the biscuits bake, sprinkle the � cup flour over the fat in the pan and cook until toasted and brown, about 3 minutes. Gradually whisk in 3 cups of the milk and stir until the liquid begins to bubble and thicken. Let the gravy bubble briefly over medium-low heat for a minute or two. Stir only occasionally, to keep it from scorching, until it thickens to a rich gravy consistency. Thin to your liking with more milk until the gravy just coats a spoon. Season generously with about � teaspoon black pepper and just a dash of salt.

Ladle over hot biscuits and serve with sausage patties on the side.

Serves 4






❧ The Big Nasty:
Made famous at the Hominy Grill in Charleston, South Carolina, The Big Nasty is a big ol' mess of goodness in the form of tender biscuits, crispy chicken, and rich gravy. To make it yourself, stack a piece of fried chicken (white meat, no bones) on the bottom half of a fresh hot biscuit, drizzle with sausage gravy, then cover with the biscuit top. It's so bad, it's good.

✰ Sausage Savvy:
Look for freshly ground breakfast sausage and form it into patties. Since it is harder to find these days, high-quality breakfast sausage links can be snipped from their cases and repacked into patties with clean hands. Vegetarians don't have to miss out. Soy sausage makes a fine substitution.