Every so often Sweet Husband says, "I should start a breakfast blog." I always agree wholeheartedly. The man is one-hundred percent in charge of weekend breakfasts at our house, and is very good at experimenting and perfecting recipes until they're perfect. (I've resigned myself to being the principal taste-tester...it's a rough job!) We've even gotten so far as to give this hypothetical blog a name, "The Bad-Ass Breakfast Blog".
But, alas, Sweet Husband does not necessarily enjoy blogging on a regular schedule, and so the BABB has not been realized. Meanwhile, yesterday morning--after a particularly nice round of biscuits and gravy--I said, "I'm going to blog about this recipe, it's awesome."
S.H.: "You know, maybe I should get co-author rights on your blog?"
Me: "Um, if you want to be a co-author, you have to write mister."
S.H.: "Well, I could do that...every once in awhile."
Now how could I turn that down? Especially when he was plying me with gravy?
Without further ado....I give you Sweet Husband!
*****
My favorite type of food is breakfast food, so over the years I've spent time perfecting it. After many attempts at biscuits, I finally stumbled on to this recipe. My reason for settling on this recipe over others is the quick and simple procedure for mixing in the fat. Other recipes want you to cut the fat in with your fingers without getting it too hot. This never seems to work for me--I always end up with big clumps of fat, or over working the mixture to the point that my biscuits don't rise. This recipe solves that problem by having you melt the butter and pour it into cold buttermilk, stirring to break it up into tiny pieces. This is freaking genius!
So, now I have what I consider to be the perfect biscuits. But what about toppings?
Yes, there are jams and jellies, but everyone knows that the ultimate biscuit topping is gravy.
Mmmm gravy....Some call it "food of the gods". Some give it it's own food group. Whatever you want to call it, it's amazing.
My gravy is very simple--no real measuring, so these are just estimates. This weekend it went as follows:
- 1/2 pound of hot Italian sausage
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 heaping tablespoons of flour
- 1 quart of milk
- 1 tablespoon Herbs de Provence
- Salt and pepper
I start by cooking my sausage in a skillet until it's cooked through, and then I break it up into small pieces. Next, I pour in the olive oil. (I add extra fat because the sausage I use is very lean. If you have a lot of grease in the pan skip this step.) Next, I add a couple of heaping tablespoons of flour into the pan, and stir it all together until all of the oil is absorbed and the sausage is coated in the flour/oil mixture. At this point the pan should look pretty dry, and you shouldn't see any freestanding oil.
Let that cook for a minute or two, then pour in the milk. Keep the pan over medium heat, and stir constantly until the gravy starts to thicken and bubble. If it doesn't seem thick enough let it cook down a little, and remember that it will thicken as it cools as well.
Once it's thick enough, you can start adding your seasonings. I used about a tablespoon of Herbs de Provence and a teaspoon of salt or more. Measuring is for baking not making gravy! If you're using a milder sausage you might want to put in some pepper too.
Now break out those fresh biscuits and slather them in some bad-ass gravy!
