A BIG Breakfast.

I'm still full. We decided to take advantage of a lazy Sunday & the cold weather, by making a ginormous breakfast - well it was more of a brunch by the time we finished everything. On the menu: scrambled eggs, the husband's awesome fried potatoes, sausage & gravy and biscuits. Breakfast is probably my favorite meal of the day (especially when it's unhealthy) and this menu did not disappoint, we were definitely fat & happy after this meal. Though not exactly productive for awhile!

Sausage Gravy

1/2 lb. ground sausage
4-6 Tbs. butter
2 2/3 c. milk
4-6 Tbs. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

1. Brown sausage until completely cooked. Add butter to melt. Add flour and stir until mixed together.

2. Add milk, salt and pepper; stir. Boil over medium heat for 2 minutes or until thick; stir as needed. Add more milk if mixture becomes too thick.


Yield: 4-6 servings
Source: the Mother-in-law

My notes: This isn't the time to be healthy and watch your fat, you need a full fat pork sausage. The fat is what makes the gravy. Do not drain the fat off or buy a lower fat sausage, I did the first time I made this and it wasn't pretty. I reserve adding the salt & pepper until the sausage is fully cooked, it all depends on the type/flavor of sausage you get. Additionally, if you just get plain sausage feel free to add dried fennel & sage. Red pepper flakes are good too.


Biscuits

3 c. all-purpose flour
1 Tbs. sugar
1 Tbs. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
8 Tbs. (1 stick) unsalted chilled butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
4 Tbs. chilled vegetable shortening, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 1/4 c. buttermilk

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 450. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Pulse flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, butter and shortening in food processor until mixture resembles coarse meal. Transfer to a large bowl. Stir in buttermilk until combined.

2. On lightly floured surface, knead dough until smooth, 8-10 kneads. Pat dough into 9-inch circle, about 3/4-inch thick. Using 3-inch biscuit cutter dipped in flour, cut out rounds of dough and arrange on prepared baking sheet. Gather remaining dough, pat into 3/4-inch thick circle, and cut out remaining biscuits. (You should have 8 biscuits total.)

3. Bake until biscuits begin to rise, about 5 minutes, then rotate pan and reduce oven temperature to 400. Bake until golden brown, 12-15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool.


Yield: 8 biscuits
Source: Cook's Country, April/May 2008

Test Kitchen Notes:
*If you don't have buttermilk on hand, whisk 1 tablespoon of lemon juice into 1 1/4 cups of milk and let it stand until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes.

*Stamp, don't twist the biscuit cutter! Twisting the cutter when stamping out biscuits pinches the dough, resulting in an uneven rise. Using a well-floured cutter and pressing down with equal pressure on both sides of the cutter (not twisting) ensures that the biscuits will rise evenly.

My notes: This has just become my go-to recipe for biscuits. They were perfect - light, fluffy, thick & delicious. I don't have a biscuit cutter and didn't have any luck using a glass, the dough is too thick. I ended up using the cut-n-seal from Pampered Chef, which is a little larger than 3-inches. It worked out great, but only gave me 6 full sized biscuits and 1 randomly shaped one.