Breakfast for Dinner, Sausage Gravy with Biscuits

Sausage Gravy.  A little Sweet.  A little Spicy.  A whole lotta creamy.  And a whole lotta cheap.

I love Sausage Gravy.  I could drink it with a straw…if it’s done right.  Ever get a plate of the stuff and the white mound sitting atop the biscuits is so think it actually jiggles without losing its shape?  There’s a name for that.  It’s called Puddin’ Gravy.  I don’t like Puddin’ Gravy.  I like smooth, creamy, gravy.  Only Jell-O should jiggle without losing its shape.  Not gravy.  Definitely NOT gravy. 

And it’s got to be spiced right.  While the main attraction is sausage, milk is the predominant ingredient in this recipe.  Milk based gravies cry out for salt and pepper and any other herb or spice that will compliment the main attraction so don’t be shy!  Spicify with Gusto!

So, tonight I made Sausage Gravy.  DH is out of town and I planned ahead for a little comfort food.  This always fits the bill for me, no matter what time of day.  And I kind of lied a little in the title.  I really didn’t serve this with biscuits tonight even though I could have.  I went the frugal way and pulled out some pancakes that we stuck in the freezer last weekend so I could get them out of the way.  But it’s almost always biscuits, pinky swear.  And since I’m alone, I went a little light on the sausage.  As much as I love the stuff I just didn’t see a need to be, well, piggy about it.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 – 1 pound ground sausage (depends on how meaty you like it)
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 cups Milk (may need a little more)
• Salt and Pepper
• Hot Sauce (optional)
• Biscuits, Pancakes, Toast, Potatoes, Eggs, whatever vehicle  you choose as your delivery method

I buy our sausage in bulk every so often and partially cook it in patty form because it’s a time saver for us.  I freeze the patties and when we need some sausage we pull out what we need and either finish in a skillet or in the microwave.  Normally I use 6-8 patties for the two of us but tonight I only used 4 since it’s just me.  I crumbled them finely by hand and finished cooking them in a skillet.

Because the sausage was partially cooked there was almost no trace of grease in the pan but some amount of fat is needed to cook off the flour, so, add the butter and flour.  If you’re cooking fresh sausage and it’s a little greasier, feel free to reduce the amount of butter by a little bit.  Cook over medium – medium low heat until the mixture bubbles and you start to smell a nutty fragrance and the mixture is starting to take on a light peanut butter color.

I always pre-measure out a little more milk than I think I need.  This gives me the quick opportunity to add a little more if the gravy is too thick.  Tonight it was spot on, 2 Cups so the remaining milk was dumped back in the jug.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it starts to bubble and thicken up, about 5 minutes or so.  And now you start Spicifying!  Add a hefty pinch of salt and good grinding of black pepper and keep taste testing until you get it right.

 I served it with a red pear.

Comfort Food.  Any time of the day.

Want to print this recipe?  Click Here