Bicuits and Gravy?!
Really, every time I try to make biscuits from scratch, they would be better used as projectiles than food. And my gravy ends up being kind of bland.
I want some biscuits and gravy that will take me near to face of God ... heaven!
Answers: Does anyone have a good recipe, or some tips for biscuits and gravy. (I know ... just pour some gravy on some biscuits!).
Really, every time I try to make biscuits from scratch, they would be better used as projectiles than food. And my gravy ends up being kind of bland.
I want some biscuits and gravy that will take me near to face of God ... heaven!
~Southern Biscuits~
2 cups all purpose flour
1 TBS baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
5 TBS chilled butter
1 cup milk, buttermilk can be used
1 TBS sugar
PreHeat oven to 425.
In large bowl sift flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda and sugar. Cut the butter into this mixture until it is coarse crumbs. Add milk, a little at a time and toss til you get a dough that sticks together. But not too sticky. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Gather into a disk shape and knead lightly a few times just til smooth. Pat the dough to 3/4 inch thick and cut . Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 425 for 12-15 minutes.
For the delicious gravy:
? pound ground breakfast sausage or bacon, depending on your taste
2 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons all purpose flour
3 cups cold milk
Salt and pepper to taste
Sauté the sausage or bacon until it is cooked and has released as much of its fat as possible. Remove it with a slotted spoon and do NOT drain the grease. You’ll need it to make the roux. (I said this was delicious, not health food). You should have about 2 tablespoons of rendered pork fat. Add the butter and melt it. Then add the flour a little at a time over medium heat, constantly whisking. Cook for about 2-3 minutes. Now start adding the cold milk a little at a time, whisking incessantly. Toward the end of the milk add the sausage or crumbled bacon back in. When you reach the desired consistency add salt and pepper to taste.
Sausage Gravy
INGREDIENTS:
3 cups milk
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
salt and pepper, to taste
8 ounces breakfast sausage, regular or spicy
3/4 cup milk
PREPARATION:
Whisk together the 3 cups milk, flour, and salt and pepper, until flour is dissolved. Pour into a skillet. Simmer, stirring constantly, for 15 minutes. Brown sausage in separate skillet, stirring and breaking up until cooked through; drain. Stir sausage into gravy. Mix biscuit mix with remaining 3/4 cup milk in bowl until soft dough forms. Drop by spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 450° for 10 minutes, or until nicely browned. Ladle hot sausage gravy over split biscuits.
Biscuits
Ingredients
2 cups flour , sifted
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
3-4 tablespoons shortening
2/3-3/4 cup milk
Directions
Sift flour with baking powder and salt.
Cut in shortening till mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Add milk all at once and mix till mixture follows fork around bowl.
Turn out on lightly floured board.
Knead gently for about 1/2 minute.
Roll or pat 1/2 inch thick.
Flour rim of glass or biscuit cutter and cut out biscuits.
Put on (ungreased) cookie sheet and bake at 450° for 12 to 15 minutes.
Brown & crumble some breakfast sausage, maybe add a few diced onions. Wehn cooked add some flour. When bubbly add a little water and some milk. Add pepper and salt to taste. A little sage can be good, but go very light on it. It is a strong flavor, and you can always add more.
edit-for your bisquits-don't over work the dough
homemade biscuits can be really easy.....
2 cups flour
2 tsps baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
6 tbs cold butter
1 cup buttermilk
mix all that in a food processor or with a pastry tool until crumbly
cook your sausage....remove from pan but leave the drippings
heat the drippings back up and make a rue with some flour until a paste forms, then add milk a bit ata time while stirring constantly.....add salt and pepper
Here are the biscuits...
2 cups all purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3 oz. cold butter, diced
8 oz buttermilk
Pinch of salt
Combine and sift the dry ingredients. Gently knead in the butter. Add the buttermilk and knead on a floured board just enough to bring the dough together. It is vital that you knead gently and no more than is necessary or you will develop the gluten in the flour and make the biscuits tough. Good biscuits are as much a function of technique as ingredients. Form a flat mass with the dough and cut out biscuits with a biscuit cutter. Don't make them too high or the outside could become over browned by the time the inside is cooked. Place them on parchment paper on a sheet tray and then into a preheated 400°F oven. Start the gravy immediately. It should be done close to the same time as the biscuits, which is when they are golden in color.
Here is the gravy...
1/2 pound ground breakfast sausage.
2 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons all purpose flour
3 cups cold milk
Salt and pepper to taste
Sauté the sausage until it is cooked and has released as much of its fat as possible. Remove the sausage with a slotted spoon and do not drain the grease. You'll need it to make the roux. You should have about two tablespoons of rendered pork fat. Add the butter and melt it. Then add the flour a little at a time over medium heat, constantly whisking. Cook for three minutes. Now start adding the cold milk a little at a time, whisking incessantly. Toward the end of the milk add the sausage back in. When you reach the desired consistency add salt and pepper to taste. Cut the biscuits in half, pour the gravy over them, and enjoy one of the most embracing and comforting taste sensations known to man.
A few points here. The perfect roux has equal amounts of fat and flour. If for some reason your sausage renders noticeably less or more than two tablespoons of fat, adjust the amount of flour accordingly. If you end up making more roux you will need more milk so have extra on hand. Make sure the roux is cooked on no more than medium heat. We do not want to burn or brown the roux, just cook out the floury taste. Four things are necessary to assure a smooth, lump-free gravy. You must constantly whisk the roux and the gravy throughout the process. You must add cold milk to the hot roux. You must incorporate the milk a little at a time. And finally, keep the heat at no more than medium. You can adjust the consistency however you like, but a thick creamy gravy is the target viscosity.
The key to making good biscuits from scratch is all in the shortening. It must be worked into the dough until the entire mixture resembles a cornmeal type texture. At the same time though, you can't let the mix become to warm, or the shortening will start to melt before baking, and thus rock like biscuits. Be sure the milk you add is very cold , too. Once i make the dough, i wrap it in plastic and let it sit in the fridge for ten mins or so. Before rolling out the dough, run cold water over your hands.
As for the gravy, start out with a flavorful fat for the roux. My favorite is to cook bacon first, and after removing the bacon add the flour to the bacon fat and let it cook for a while, until the roux is light brown in color. I also warm the milk a bit before adding it to the roux. Lots of salt and pepper. And then i chop up a little of the bacon and put it in the gravy.
I too have a deep love and affection for biscuits and gravy. It is one of the first things i learned to cook in my teens. It takes me back to Georgia, and Nanna's kitchen.
I have tried many a recipe for sausage gravy and have not been pleased with any of them. I make a lot of things from scratch, but when it comes to the sausage gravy, mine always fails.
I have found that this stuff is DELICIOUS
http://itsgooo-od.com/products/country-s...
I truly like this stuff more than my favorite restaurants
I've been making biscuits, perfect biscuits, for 30 years.
I don't need to type a recipe because Gracie M's already given you a good one with good technique.
There are a couple of tricks to making good biscuits:
1. Don't over work the dough. Work quickly. And, don't fuss with the dough to much.
2. Make sure the oven is hot when you put the biscuits in.
Pre-heating is essential. Do it before you gather the ingredients.
3. A hot oven is important. A short cooking time at 425 degrees makes tender biscuits. Bake them too long at less than 400 degrees and they'll be like rocks.
4. Biscuits should be lightly colored. The tops don't need to be dark. If you bake them long enough to be totally brown on top, again they'll be like rocks. (It took me years to figure out that the biscuits in the cookbooks are either overcooked to look pretty or the photographs are edited. Go to you favorite breakfast joint and order a biscuit. You'll see what I mean.)
4. Now, here's one thing I do that makes some people crazy. I never roll out the dough. I just pull off wads of dough and quickly shape them in my hands and put them in my biscuit pan just touching. You don't need them to be perfectly shaped. They'll sort of bake into shape. Don't fuss with the dough. Don't worry if you misjudge and a couple of biscuits are smaller or larger than the rest. You'll develop a feel for this method after a couple of tries.
5. I bake my biscuits in a square aluminum pan or a large cake pan. I don't use a cookie sheet.
6. The fat in your biscuits can be butter, shortening, solid bacon drippings, or lard. Or, any combination. I usually use shortening or a bacon fat and butter combination.
As for your biscuit gravy Gracie's got you covered there too.
I use butter and sausage drippings or butter and bacon drippings. I throw in a little minced onion too.
And of course there's nothing wrong with serving last nights leftover ham gravy, or pot roast gravy or fried chicken gravy with your biscuits.
Good luck and have fun.