Father’s Day, or Any Day Biscuits & Gravy

Biscuits and Gravy is a family favorite at our home. My wife has a restaurant and catering background and is from the south, so biscuits are a thing of love and debate in our home. She makes them to celebrate, for weekend brunch and they cheer us all up when something has gone terribly wrong.

Being a dad myself, Father’s Day is a perfect excuse to request those mile high biscuits smothered in sausage gravy with a side of my favorite starch, potatoes.

I hope you enjoy the recipes below and have an amazing Father’s Day, full of memorable family moments!

High Altitude Biscuits

4 cups AP Flour

Scant 2 tbs Baking Powder

¾ tsp Baking Soda

¾ tsp Kosher Salt

1 cup Cold and Grated Unsalted Butter

1 ½ cups Cold Buttermilk

Cold, cold, cold is the trick to flaky soft biscuits. Handle them as little as possible and always rest before baking. This recipe has been adjusted for baking over 5,000 feet.

1. Mix dry ingredients together with spoon in a large bowl.
2. Add grated very cold or frozen butter, stir until just combined. Do not over mix. *Tip you can freeze your butter the night before then grate with a box or cheese grater.
3. Pour in half the buttermilk, stir to combine. Pour the remaining buttermilk over any dry patches. Again, you do not want to overwork the dough.
4. Lightly flour a clean working surface, then pour the dough on top. It will be shaggy and crumbly, don’t worry.
5. Gently press the dough together, collecting into a rectangle shape about ½” thick. Either use a rolling pin or your hands, make sure to work quickly to keep the dough cold. Lift up the ends of dough and fold them back on itself, creating a book fold. Rotate to dough 90º and repeat this process 2 more times. The goal here is to create layers within the dough.
6. Roll dough into 1″ thick rectangle. Using a dough cutter or glass cup cut into 2″ circles. *Tip do not turn or twist the cutter, this could cause your biscuits to rise unevenly.
7. Place biscuits on a parchment lined baking sheet or 9×9 pan, just slightly touching each other. Let rest in fridge for 10-15 minutes.
8. While resting pre-heat oven to 400º. Bake biscuits on center rack for 10-12 minutes until golden brown on top. Remove from oven, cool slightly on tray before serving.

Sausage Gravy

¼ cup Chopped Yellow Onion

1 lb. Pork Breakfast Sausage, Bulk or Removed from Casing

2 tbs Unsalted Butter

2 tbs AP Flour

1 cup Low Sodium Chicken Stock

2 cups Whole Milk

Salt, Cracked Black Pepper and Cayenne to Taste

Making sausage gravy is not hard, but it does take a bit of time to reduce and develop flavors. I like to use some chicken stock or even beer (never IPA which will reduce and become very bitter) instead of all milk. I feel it gives a more savory depth of flavor. This recipe does involve making a rue in the pan. *Tip, a rue is always equal parts fat to flour, so you can scale it to any size recipe you are making.

1. Heat butter in a large frying pan (stainless or cast iron, not non-stick) over medium heat. Add chopped onion and sauté until soft and slightly translucent, approx. 3 minutes.
2. Add sausage and cook fully, should be 3-6 minutes depending on your stove.
3. Sprinkle AP flour over the entire pan, stirring constantly while cooking for 2 minutes. The flour will start to thicken and become a light brown color. Do not overcook or develop too much color, it will effect the final flavor.
4. Turn heat up to medium-high and pour in chicken stock, scraping the bottom of the pan with your spoon. This is deglazing the pan, releasing all those flavors into the stock. Cook until reduced by half.
5. Once reduced, return temperature to medium and pour in the milk. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens and coats the back of your spoon. Do not over reduce, the sauce will thicken even more as it cools. Just before serving, taste and season with salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper to your liking.
6. Serve over biscuits cut in half with a side of hash browns.