Biscuits and Sausage Gravy

Few things say "Country Farm Fare" more than homemade buttermilk biscuits with sausage gravy! What was once a special treat has become a regular on our frugal menu...and there is such versatility to it, you can make it fit practically any budget!

To serve our family of 10, I made the biscuits large and plentiful. There were even a couple left over, so if you're a smaller clan, feel free to halve it! But these beauties are great toasted the next day, so don't feel like you have to!

SallyMolly Farms Buttermilk Biscuits

In a large bowl, mix the following:

6 cups flour

2 1/2 t. salt

2 T. baking powder

1 1/2 t. baking soda

Cut in 1 cup of butter until the flour mixture is coarse.

Add 1 stick melted butter

Gently mix in 2 cups buttermilk

On a floured counter or board, gently fold the dough into two balls, flatten (or roll) the dough into 3/4" circles. Cut out with a large (2-3") round cutter and place on parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 10-14 minutes, until the tops are golden brown and the biscuits are cooked fully through.

You're going to want to top these lovelies with delicious, caloric sausage gravy. We learned how to make this several years ago from dear friends, and it's been a family favorite ever since. The ingredients? Simple! Sausage, butter, flour, half and half, and salt/pepper!

Brown up 3 pounds of ground breakfast sausage, remove it with a slotted spoon to a bowl, and add about 5 tablespoons of butter to the remaining sausage...grease. There, I said it. Yes, you keep the grease, and you use it!

:-)

Melt the two together, and drop in 1/2 cup flour. Whisk until combined and then begin adding the half-and-half, one large splash after the other. Stir and stir, whisk and whisk, until you have added 3 quarts of half-and-half to the mixture. It should remain thick if you go slowly! Salt to taste, and add plenty of black pepper. Toss in the sausage, stir well, and taste. Is it good? Thick enough? If it's not looking thick, before I add the sausage in, I toss it with about 1/2 cup of flour...then add it in, and it does some thickening for you! If it's too thick (and this is a problem for you?) add more half-and-half!

Then split the biscuits in half, pour on the gravy, and have at it. You can always exercise in the morning!

Some variations:

• Buy the biscuits in a tube and just make the gravy.
• Use milk instead of half and half.
• Use less sausage and it will be a thinner, but still delicious gravy!
• We made this for dinner, but obviously it makes a perfect breakfast or brunch!

We had some fruit in our fruit cupboard, a pineapple that really needed to be eaten and some oranges, that we cut up into a sweet fruit platter. Trust me when I say that this meal cries out for something light to accompany it!

Until we journey together again...