Cooking with Shonte. Biscuits and Gravy.

Come and join our house chef, Shonte', nurse practitioner and farmer for her monthly live cooking sessions.  

She writes all of her own recipes, and adds her little tips and tricks to bring mouth watering flavors to her dishes.   

You can cook with her or just join to watch. 

Here is the recipe for December.   We hope you join us.  

Homemade Biscuits and Sausage Gravy

A comfy southern breakfast that will warm your heart and soul. Make the gravy as loose or thick as you prefer, add more butter or vegan butter if needed. It is often something we turn to when feeling overwhelmed or under duress. Comfort foods bring a sense of happiness, warmth and… comfort.

Ingredients

Biscuits

1 ½ cup All purpose flour or self rising flour - if using self rising flour omit the baking soda and baking powder

½ tablespoon of baking powder

½ teaspoon of sugar

½ teaspoon of baking soda

¾ cup of buttermilk- if you do not have buttermilk use regular milk and add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice which creates buttermilk

½-1 stick of unsalted butter (cold and cut into cubes rolled in flour, keep refrigerated until ready to use)

Sausage Gravy

½ pound of pork breakfast sausage, no casing or remove casing

2 tablespoons or ¼ stick of butter

1 tablespoons of all purpose flour

1 ½ cup of whole milk, plus more if needed

1 teaspoon of ground pepper

½ teaspoon of minced fresh or dried sage

½ teaspoon of of salt

¼ teaspoon of red pepper flakes 

Vegetarian/vegan substitutes - 

plant based meat, mushrooms such as chopped/minced shitake, chanterelles, or creminis. You also can use lentils as a pork replacement.

Buttermilk- you can use vegan yogurt, cream of tartar, or a nut cream such as cashews

Tools:

Cast iron skillet or skillet

Large bowl

Measuring spoons

Measuring cups

Flour sifter or metal strainer

Spoon

Chef knife

Meat mincer tool 

Baking dish

Food processor or handheld mixture using the dough attachment

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 F

Let's start with the biscuits

Put cold cubed cut butter in a bowl

In a food processor or in the same bowl as butter, combine flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and baking soda(remember if you're using self rising flour do not add baking powder and soda) Pulse until incorporated or mix by hand until incorporated. Do not overmix otherwise the biscuits will be tough. You can also use the hand mixture with the dough attachment.

Place dough on a floured surface and knead until smooth ( to knead fold the dough down into each other), if the mixture is too sticky add a little more flour, if its too dry add a little water 

Pat dough into the size biscuit you prefer, for larger make 8 inch circles or squares

Place in baking pan close together and brush with melted butter, if you desire it to be sweet add maple syrup or honey to the melted butter and brush top of biscuits

Bake biscuits until golden brown for 20 min and brush with melted butter again prior to removing from oven

Sausage and Gravy Directions

In a cast iron skillet or regular skillet but preferable cast iron, cook the sausage or meatless product on medium heat until browned and fat is rendered (melted) for about 4-5 min (use meat mincer tool to reduce chunks)

Reduce heat to low and add butter, sprinkle the flour and cook until well coated

Next add milk to sausage mix, continue stirring until thick

Next stir in black pepper, sage, salt, and red pepper flakes and cook for 2 min

If your mixture is too thick add more milk until its the consistency you prefer

Once everything is done, get a biscuit and pour the sausage gravy on top and serve hot and yummy too your tummy, don't forget to sop that gravy with the biscuit, sooo comforting 

Enjoy