Biscuits and Gravy

During quarantine, I’ve been doing a lot of baking, and experimenting with recipes I’ve wanted to make, but just haven’t. Today I decided to make biscuits. Now I don’t begin to believe I’m a biscuit maker, since all of my In-Laws live in the south, I would never compare my biscuits to theirs!

After reviewing quite a few recipes, watching a few videos, several failed attempts years ago, I think I finally get it.  I had been overworking the dough.  Here’s what I came up with....

Buttermilk Biscuits

Ingredients

• 4 cups bread flour, plus more for the work surface 
• 2 tablespoons baking powder 
• 1 teaspoon baking soda 
• 3 sticks salted butter (¾ pound), cold, cut into ½-inch pieces or grated 
• 2 large eggs, beaten, plus 1 large egg for brushing 
• 1½ cups buttermilk, or as needed, plus 1 tablespoon for brushing 
• Pinch flake salt

Directions

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Add the butter and use a pastry blender to cut the butter into the flour until the pieces are even and about the size of peas.
2. Stir in the beaten eggs with a wooden spoon until combined. Stir in 1½ cups buttermilk until the dough comes together into a sticky mass. If it is too dry, add more buttermilk 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing after each addition, until it reaches the correct consistency. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to overnight.
3. Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
4. Scrape the dough onto a floured work surface. Use your floured hands to press it into a round roughly 14 inches across and about ½ inch thick.
5. Use a floured 2¾- inch round cutter to cut out about 20 biscuits. If necessary, collect and pat out the scraps to cut more biscuits.
6. Transfer the biscuits to the prepared baking sheet, arranging them so that they all are touching.
7. In a small dish, beat together the remaining egg and 1 tablespoon buttermilk. Brush the mixture on the top of the biscuits. Very lightly sprinkle with flake salt.
8. Bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool slightly in the pan on a rack.
9. Biscuits are best the day they are made (and ideally fresh out of the oven!). Serve with strawberry jam or sausage gravy, if desired. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Oh, yeah....here’s the Sausage Gravy

Sausage Gravy

Ingredients

• 4 oz Sausage (I had frozen patties, so I chopped up 2)
• 2 oz Butter, cut up 
• Flour
• 1 cup Milk (give or take a few ounces)
• Pepper to taste

Directions

1. Fry up the sausage. Once browned, add in the butter, stir until melted. 
2. Reduce temp to med/low. Sprinkle in the flour, and whisk until combined. Mixture should be dry. If it’s not add more flour and continue to stir. You’ll want to continue to cook the flour/butter/sausage for a few minutes to reduce the flour taste. 
3. Slowly add in the milk, and stir to combine.  As the mixture thickens, add in more milk to “thin” the mixture out, until desired thickness.
4. Add pepper to taste. 

  

Oh and a gratuitous picture of Zoey, my sons chef, taster, sniffer and kitchen companion.