Biscuits

Links

• Good Eats - Southern Biscuits
• Good Eats - Sawmill Gravy

Sawmill Gravy

Ingredients

• 1 pound bulk breakfast sausage
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 cups milk
• Salt and pepper

Directions

1. Cook sausage in a cast iron skillet
2. When done, remove sausage from pan and pour off all but 2 tablespoons of fat
3. Whisk flour into the fat and cook over low heat for 5 minutes
4. Remove pan from heat and whisk in milk a little at a time
5. Return to medium-high heat and stir occasionally while the gravy comes to a simmer and thickens (Be sure to scrape up any brown bits that might be stuck to the bottom of the pan, that's where the flavor is)
6. Check seasoning
7. Add crumbled sausage
8. Serve over toast or biscuits

Biscuits

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons shortening

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt
3. Using your fingertips, rub butter and shortening into dry ingredients until mixture looks like crumbs (The faster the better, you don't want the fats to melt)
4. Make a well in the center and pour in the chilled buttermilk
5. Stir just until the dough comes together (The dough will be very sticky)
6. Turn dough onto floured surface, dust top with flour and gently fold dough over on itself 5 or 6 times
7. Press into a 1-inch thick round
8. Cut out biscuits with a 2-inch cutter, being sure to push straight down through the dough
9. Place biscuits on baking sheet so that they just touch
10. Reform scrap dough, working it as little as possible and continue cutting (Biscuits from the second pass will not be quite as light as those from the first, but hey, that's life)
11. Bake until biscuits are tall and light gold on top, 15 to 20 minutes