Southern Comfort: Biscuits and Gravy

Lately I have indulging in what I like to call struggle meals, Now I know what you,re thinking, biscuits and gravy is quite decadent, but I assure you it is. A struggle meal is when you create something from seemingly nothing because you haven't been able to go to the store.

For this meal the milk and flour were both past their expiration dates. I had butter from making desserts at Thanksgiving and sausage that had been in my freezer. Thus, biscuits and gravy were born and it came out delicious, especially for my first time making either. Both recipes were adapted from ones I found on foodnetwork.com. 

Biscuit Ingredients

4 cups self-rising flour, plus more for dusting
1 stick good butter, plus 3 tablespoons melted
2 to 3 cups cold buttermilk
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Biscuit Preparation

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Add the flour to a mixing bowl. Working quickly, cut 1 stick of the butter into the flour using the pastry cutter (or your fingers).

In batches, add in the buttermilk until the dough is cohesive yet still moist. 

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and lightly press into a 1-inch-thick round. 

Using a 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter or a dry measuring cup, cut out 10 biscuits. 

Place the dough rounds into a heated, round cake pan, right up against each other, and brush with the melted butter. Bake until golden brown, 15 to 25 minutes.

Gravy Ingredients

1/2 lb roll sausage
1 Tb flour
1 cup milk
Salt and pepper to taste

Gravy Preparation

Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage, break it up with a wooden spoon, and cook, stirring occasionally, until well browned and cooked through, about 7 minutes.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer the sausage to a bowl, leaving the rendered fat in the skillet. Whisk the flour into the fat and cook, stirring, for about 1 minute. While whisking, pour the milk into the skillet and bring the gravy to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer gently for 2 minutes. Stir in the sausage and season with pepper. Split the biscuits in half and divide them among plates. Top each biscuit with some of the gravy and serve immediately.