Biscuits and Sausage Gravy....with a Kick!

It's Saturday morning after a long week....two 12 hour days at work with parent teacher conferences.  I roll over in bed....don't want to get up this early (it's 8:00.... lol) but the dogs are getting increasingly impatient to be let outside and Juno kitty is in my face purring loudly..... staring at me from his perch on my chest.  I curse the animals under my breath and then I remember.......oh wait!  I bought stuff to make biscuits and sausage gravy for breakfast!  Well, now I'm up, with a spring in my step......gotta feed the animals so I can get my biscuits and sausage gravy on!

I grew up in the South where biscuits and gravy is a breakfast staple but, quite frankly, I was never a big fan.  Then one day a friend made me some homemade sausage gravy with Jimmy Dean HOT sausage..... Eureka !  That's the missing element.......some spicy sausage to give that pile of SOS (sh!t on a shingle) some bold flavor. 

I have been making this recipe for breakfast ever since on a regular basis.  It's especially good on a Fall or Winter lazy morning at home with a mimosa or two!  I hope you try it and enjoy.....it's really easy so don’t be intimidated.  It goes perfectly with some fluffy scrambled eggs and homemade biscuits!

Sausage Gravy

Ingredients:

1 lb Jimmy Dean Hot Sausage (bulk roll)

3 tbsp all purpose flour

1 tbsp butter or vegetable oil

1 cup milk to 1 ½ cup milk (use more milk if you like your gravy thinner)

Salt and pepper to taste

Gravy Preparation –

Place the sausage in a pan over medium heat and cook until browned and no longer pink.  Make sure to break up the sausage as it cooks, breaking it up into crumbles.   After the sausage is browned, push the meat to the side and tip the pan to get all the delicious grease over to the opposite side of the pan so that it can be used to brown the flour.    Once you have the grease on one side and the meat on the other (more or less) place the butter or oil in the pan and turn the heat up to medium high.  Put the flour in the oil when it is hot and brown the flour with a fork or a whisk . 

Turn the heat down to medium and when the flour is a nice golden color, then whisk in the milk until you achieve the desired thickness.   At this point, stir the sausage into the gravy mixture to combine everything.   You can still add more milk if the gravy is too thick…….just whisk it good to keep it nice and smooth.

 

I like to add lots of fresh ground pepper when the gravy and sausage are all combined and then a little salt until it’s perfect!   

Drop Biscuits

Ingredients:

To make 18 biscuits, you will need-

2 cups self-rising flour

½ cup shortening (I used Crisco)

¾ cup milk

I halved the biscuit ingredients and ended up with 7 biscuits.

To make 7 biscuits, you will need –

1 cup self-rising flour

¼ cup shortening

1/3 cup milk

Drop Biscuit Preparation:  

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Place the flour and shortening in a large mixing bowl.  Using a pastry blender (pictured), or two knives, cut the shortening into the flour until a coarse meal is formed. 

Stir in the milk just until blended.  Don’t over-stir the mixture…….your biscuits will turn out like tough hockey pucks..lol.  Been there, done that!  Drop mixture by heaping tablespoons onto an ungreased baking sheet.  Bake for 10 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. 

Next, cut a biscuit in half, put it on your plate with some fluffy scrambled eggs and pour the sausage gravy over your biscuit.  Top it all off with a few grinds of fresh ground black pepper!  Cheers!