Sausage Gravy and Biscuits is stable across the southern United States. The origins date back at least to the end of the Revolutionary War. Using ingredients available in the Southern States (pork, milk, and flour), a portion of inexpensive and calorie-dense breakfast food was made. This simple concoction could fuel the lumberjacks or the farmers as breakfast was their most substantial meal of the day. It just tastes so good endeared it to the American palate across the United States.
Ingredients
- 1 pound bulk country sausage
- Two tablespoons butter
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 ½ cups milk, or more as needed
- Two teaspoons hot sauce (optional)
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Six hot biscuits, split
Directions
- Heat sausage in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook, crumbling with a spoon and often stirring until browned and cooked through 5 to 7 minutes.
- Add butter to the skillet and melt. Sprinkle flour evenly over skillet and stir for 1 minute. Whisk in 2 1/2 cups milk and scrape up any bits off the bottom of the skillet. Bring mixture to a simmer.
- Reduce heat to low and cook, often stirring, until thickened, about 10 minutes if mixture becomes too thick, thin slightly by adding more milk or water. Season with hot sauce, pepper, and salt; cook for one more minute.
- Serve immediately over hot biscuits.
For the Biscuits
4 cups self-rising flour
Two tablespoons white sugar
⅔ cup shortening
2 cups buttermilk
Directions
- Sift together the flour and sugar in a large bowl. Cut in the shortening until the mixture has a fine crumb or cornmeal texture. Stir in the buttermilk with a fork until a soft dough forms.
- Gather dough into a ball and knead about 20 times until smooth and elastic. Turn the dough onto a floured surface, pulling off any pieces sticking inside the bowl. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
- Working on a floured surface, roll or pat the dough out to 1-inch thickness. Cut into rounds with a 2-inch biscuit cutter, or the floured rim of a glass, by pressing straight down and up. Twisting the cutter will prevent the biscuits from rising as high. Place biscuits about 1 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet and allow to rest a few minutes.
- Bake in preheated oven until lightly brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Serve warm.