Chaz's Tres Facile Biscuits & Gravy 1/2lb (1/2roll) Jimmy Dean or other sausage 1/4 flour 2 1/2 cups milk 2-4 tblsp butter 1 tblsp cornstarch pepper as desired additional milk/cream if necessary. Cast iron skillet. Cook sausage on medium. try to retain 2-3 tblsp of fat/grease/drippings in pan. Remove most of sausage and set aside, leaving a couple of tblsps sausage in pan. Slowly add flour to pan and add butter if there's not enough fat drippings already. Cook & whisk for up to five mins & the mix is brown & frothy bubbly & nutty smelling. Slowly add 2 cups of the milk - slowly while whisking in, scraping sides/bottom of pan. Let cook over low/med heat for a bit, while stirring cornstarch into 1/2 cup milk. Gravy should seem thin-ish, so add slowly the cornstarch and milk mixture. Whisk. Cook additionally, check thickness, more milk/cream may be added if necessary. Add pepper as desired....stir.... Serve over Damn Good Biscuits. Makes enough to spill over 6-8 biscuits halved. Biscuits and gravy is a popular breakfast dish in both the southeastern and northwestern regions of the United States. It consists of (American-style) biscuits covered in thick "country" or "white" gravy made from the drippings of cooked pork sausage, white flour, milk, and often bits of real sausage, bacon, ground beef, or other meat. The gravy is often flavored with black pepper. In some parts of the South this is also called sawmill gravy. The dish is best eaten soon after it is prepared, and is always served piping hot. Biscuits and gravy is generally served as either a full order ("full boat") containing 2 biscuits, cut in half and covered in gravy, or a half order ("half boat") containing 1 biscuit, cut in half and covered in gravy. While biscuits and gravy generally refers to sausage gravy (as described above) there are regional variations on this gravy. Egg gravy is one variant popular in southern Indiana. It is made by scrambling eggs in bacon grease, then adding flour and milk to make gravy, and adding crumbled bacon back to the mixture. ---------------------------------- Sawmill Gravy Recipe courtesy Alton Brown Show: Good Eats Episode: Gravy Confidential 1 pound bulk breakfast sausage 1/4 cup flour 2 cups milk Salt and pepper to taste Cook sausage in a cast iron skillet. When done, remove sausage from pan and pour off all but 2 tablespoons of fat. Whisk flour into the fat and cook over low heat for 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat and whisk in milk a little at a time. 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.) Check seasoning, add crumbled sausage and serve over toast or biscuits. ------------------------------------------------- Biscuits and Gravy Recipe courtesy Donna Dismore Show: FoodNation With Bobby Flay Episode: Indianapolis 12 ounces hot bulk sausage 12 ounces mild bulk sausage 4 tablespoons flour 1/2 gallon milk Salt Pepper Biscuits, store bought or homemade In a large pot, add sausage and cook until browned and cooked through. Drain grease and add flour to sausage. Cook over medium-high heat until the sausage is well-coated with the flour. Add milk and stir until desired thickness and add salt and pepper, to taste. Serve with biscuits. This recipe was provided by professional chefs and has been scaled down from a bulk recipe provided by a restaurant. The FN chefs have not tested this recipe, in the proportions indicated, and therefore, we cannot make any representation as to the results. ------------------------------------------------------------------- This will serve 4 or so 4 cups whole milk 4 tablespoons Corn Starch 1/2 stick of butter 1/2 of a pound roll of Jimmie Dean Regular Sausage Little salt and a little pepper. But those Grands biscuits in the oven first, or whatever you do for biscuits. They will be done at about exactly the right time. Next, start cooking the sausage - I put it all in as a huge thin patty, then brown one side. Medium, medium high heat. Flip it like a burger when it is ready and after it is almost all the way cooked, I chop it up in the pan into bite sized pieces. Use a cast iron pot if one is available. Melt the butter in the microwave or in a pan if you want too, whatever, melt the butter. Take the milk and blend in the corn starch while the sausage is cooking and the butter is melting. Mix the corn starch in well, but do not get the mixture too "foamy". Once the sausage is cooked and chopped up into those perfectly sized pieces, stir the milk/corn starch up again and pour in it with the sausage. Yes, leave all the delicious pork fat in there, do not drain it, seriously. Start stirring. Pour in the melted butter, keep stirring. Stir until the mixture comes to a boil, never stopping for long. Once it starts to boil, keep cooking about a minute or so, then it should be ready to serve. Add your salt and pepper, stir and serve over those biscuits. Ummmmmmm -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Another option is to use a whole lb of a spicy sausage, crumble up into skillet(preferably cast iron) and brown. When the sausage is brown add a couple of heaping tablespoons of flour. Allow the flour to brown, then add the milk.(I ususally use fat free but whole milk would certainly enhance this already nummy gravy.) And, yup, this is a once in awhile meal. .........I have generally always used plain old flour for gravy but corn starch gives it a lighter texture as well as a nice glistening shine. .........Corn starch must be mixed into cold liquid to disolve properly. The mixture then needs to be poured a little at a time into boiling liquid and stirred constantly to keep it from lumping up. .............More of the original cold corn starch liquid mixture can be added to achieve the thickness desire. ..............When using flour always be sure to bring it to a boil which eliminates the flour tast. ..............Corn starch sprinkled over any meat with a little soy sauce on to make it stick before stir frying is a tenderizer and will make the difference between the meat turning out like little bits of leather or a tasty tender morsel. Even chicken. ................I have generally always used plain old flour for gravy but corn starch gives it a lighter texture as well as a nice glistening shine. ...............Corn starch must be mixed into cold liquid to disolve properly. The mixture then needs to be poured a little at a time into boiling liquid and stirred constantly to keep it from lumping up. ...............More of the original cold corn starch liquid mixture can be added to achieve the thickness desire. .............When using flour always be sure to bring it to a boil which eliminates the flour taste. .......................Corn starch sprinkled over any meat with a little soy sauce on to make it stick before stir frying is a tenderizer and will make the difference between the meat turning out like little bits of leather or a tasty tender morsel. Even chicken. ------------- This also works well with subbing Italian sausage that is ground like hamburger meat, and making homemade buttermilk biscuits from scratch. Also flour, well seasoned with salt and pepper works much better than the corn starch, when you are want creamy gravy that is not so textured. Just put the seasoned flour in the sausage, after it has been browned. Then, when the flour mixture starts to brown, add the milk slowly and stir until needed thickness is achieved. (Some people prefer water added in instead of milk.) Easy breakfast. ------------------------- Here are two of my all time favorite recipes for biscuits. I featured this first one back in June of 2002, but here it is again. These come out so light and fluffy I call ‘em Angel Biscuits. Angel Biscuits 5 cups flour 3/4 cup shortening 1 TBSP baking soda 3 TBSP sugar 3 TBSP baking powder 2 cups buttermilk 1 cake or package of yeast dissolved in 1/2 cup of water Mix dry stuff. Cut in shortening. Mix in buttermilk and yeast. Turn out and knead some. Roll out and cut biscuits. Cover and let rise for 15-20 minutes in a warm place. Bake at 400º F until nice and brown. < These make the lightest biscuits you’ll ever have! They are absolutely heavenly with butter and homemade Apple Butter on ‘em too! This recipe is great for company because it makes a lot of biscuits! ----------------------------------------------- I can’t remember where I got this next recipe for biscuits. I think I cut it out of a newspaper some 10-12 years ago. I usually write the origin of each recipe in the corner of the card, but I failed to do so on this one. But, wherever it came from, I’m glad I’ve got it to share here with you folks. Since the recipe came from North Carolina, I know that John Murphy will probably lay claim to it, but he only wishes he could make biscuits this good! North Carolina Buttermilk Biscuits 3 cups flour 1 tsp. Salt 1 TBSP baking powder 1/2 tsp. Baking soda 1/4 cup shortening 1 1/4 cup buttermilk 1 egg white, beaten Mix dry stuff together. Cut in shortening. Mix in buttermilk. Turn out on a floured surface and knead lightly. Roll out 1/2" thick, cut and place on a lightly greased pan or skillet. Punch tops with a fork lightly and brush with egg white. Bake at 450º F for 8-12 minutes or until golden brown. Now there is some real North Carolina redneck, gourmet eatin’! ----------------------------- Here are two of my favorite Gravy recipes of all time. This first one is one that I’ve cooked over a campfire more times than I can remember. I know for a fact whenever I’d cook this for the boys in our hunting camp I never wanted for firewood or water! They’d fetch all I needed. All I had to do was fix ‘em some biscuits and gravy. Deer Camp Gravy 3 or 4 TBSP bacon drippings or lard 4 or 5 TBSP flour 1 12-oz can evaporated milk, plus 1/2 can water Salt and pepper to taste Heat the drippings in a heavy cast iron skillet over the fire. Stir in the flour and cook until browned nicely. Add milk and water; cook, stirring with a spatula, constantly or until thickened to suit. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve right now! You take about four Buttermilk Biscuits; tear ‘em up just right. Then slather some of this "redneck sauce" over ‘em, and son you have pure "Manna" from heaven! I’d be willing to bet that this is what the Lord fed the Israelites on those 40 years they wandered in the wilderness. That’s why they were so healthy! The Lord fed ‘em on Biscuits and Gravy! -------------------------------------------- This next recipe for gravy is probably the best doggone gravy recipe that you’ll ever taste! It is the creation of Mr. Grady Spears, the author of the cookbook "A Cowboy in the Kitchen". It is reprinted here with his permission. This has got to be my favorite cookbook of all time and I use it constantly. I’ll tell you folks how to get a copy, but first, here’s how to make some: Cracked Pepper Gravy 1/4 cup unsalted butter 5 TBSP flour 2 1/2 cups milk 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt 4 tsp. Cracked pepper* *Crack each peppercorn into 8 to 10 pieces Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan or skillet. When the foam goes down, whisk in the flour. Continually whisk until the flour cooks, becoming a fragrant, light brown. Slowly add the milk, continuing to whisk to keep lumps from forming. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer gravy for 10 minutes to cook and reduce. Serve not. Makes about 3 cups. Now this is real Cowboy Chuck! This is what Grady calls his jazzed up version of old-fashioned Cream Gravy. ----------------- White Sausage Gravy From Food Network Kitchens One 12-ounce tube bulk pork sausage 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 2 cups milk Freshly ground black pepper, to taste Baking Powder Biscuits, recipe follows 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. Baking Powder Biscuits Biscuits: 2 cups all-purpose flour (about 8 ounces), plus more for dusting 1 tablespoon baking powder 1 teaspoon sugar 1 teaspoon fine salt 7 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, sliced 3/4 cup milk Glaze: 1 tablespoon heavy cream 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted To make the biscuits: Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 450 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with two layers of parchment paper. Set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Rub 2 tablespoons of the butter into the flour with your fingertips until completely absorbed. Work the remaining butter into the flour until it is in even pieces about the size of a pea. Gently stir the milk into the flour mixture to make a loose dough. Lightly dust a clean work surface with flour and turn the dough out onto it. Pat the dough into a 1/2-inch thick rectangle. Fold the dough in thirds like a business letter. (For a flakier biscuit repeat the folding a second time.) Pat the dough into a 5 by 8-inch rectangle about 3/4-inch thick. Use a 2- to 3-inch round cutter to make 6 biscuits, and transfer them to the prepared baking sheet. Press together the scraps of dough and cut 2 more biscuits. To make the glaze: Mix the cream and melted butter together in a small bowl. Lightly brush the tops of the biscuits with the glaze. Bake until lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Cool on a rack for 5 minutes before serving. Yield: 8 biscuits ------------------- Southern Biscuits Recipe courtesy Alton Brown Show: Good Eats Episode: The Dough Also Rises 2 cups flour 4 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 3/4 teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons shortening 1 cup buttermilk, chilled Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. 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.) Make a well in the center and pour in the chilled buttermilk. Stir just until the dough comes together. The dough will be very sticky. Turn dough onto floured surface, dust top with flour and gently fold dough over on itself 5 or 6 times. Press into a 1-inch thick round. Cut out biscuits with a 2-inch cutter, being sure to push straight down through the dough. Place biscuits on baking sheet so that they just touch. 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.) Bake until biscuits are tall and light gold on top, 15 to 20 minutes. --------------- For the biscuits: 2 cups all purpose flour 4 teaspoons baking powder ¼ teaspoon baking soda pinch of salt 3 oz. cold butter, diced 8 oz buttermilk Combine and sift the dry ingredients. Gently knead in the butter. Add the buttermilk and knead on a floured board just enough to bring the dough together. It is vital that you knead gently and no more than is necessary or you will develop the gluten in the flour and make the biscuits tough. Good biscuits are as much a function of technique as ingredients. Form a flat mass with the dough and cut out biscuits with a biscuit cutter. Don’t make them too high or the outside could become over browned by the time the inside is cooked. Place them on parchment paper on a sheet tray and then into a preheated 400-degree oven. Start the gravy immediately. It should be done close to the same time as the biscuits, which is when they are golden in color. For the gravy: ½ pound ground breakfast sausage. 2 tablespoons butter 4 tablespoons all purpose flour 3 cups cold milk Salt and pepper to taste Sauté the sausage until it is cooked and has released as much of its fat as possible. Remove the sausage with a slotted spoon and do NOT drain the grease. You’ll need it to make the roux. (I said this was delicious, not health food). You should have about 2 tablespoons of rendered pork fat. Add the butter and melt it. Then add the flour a little at a time over medium heat, constantly whisking. Cook for about 2-3 minutes. Now start adding the cold milk a little at a time, whisking incessantly. Toward the end of the milk add the sausage back in. When you reach the desired consistency add salt and pepper to taste. Cut the biscuits in half, pour the gravy over them, and enjoy one of the most embracing and comforting taste sensations known to man. ------------------------- A few points here. The perfect roux has equal amounts of fat and flour. If for some reason your sausage renders noticeably less or more than two tablespoons of fat, adjust the amount of flour accordingly. If you end up making more roux you will need more milk so have extra on hand. Make sure the roux is cooked on no more than medium heat. We do not want to burn or brown the roux, just cook out the floury taste. Four things are necessary to assure a smooth, lump-free gravy. You must constantly whisk the roux and the gravy throughout the process. You must add cold milk to the hot roux. You must incorporate the milk a little at a time. And finally, keep the heat at no more than medium. You can adjust the consistency however you like, but a thick creamy gravy is the target viscosity. ------------------------ BISCUITS AND SAUSAGE GRAVY 8 buttermilk biscuits 3/4 pound of sausage (fatty sausage works best for this) 4 cups of milk 4-6 tablespoons of flour Prepare biscuits as instructed on package. Brown sausage in skillet. As soon as sausage is completely brown, turn to medium heat. Add flour by the tablespoon, stirring constantly. Let the flour turn BROWN before adding another tablespoon (if you don't, your gravy will taste like flour). After you have added enough flour to mske the gravy as thick as you like, add milk and stir with whisk. Serve over biscuits. ------------ BISCUITS AND SAUSAGE GRAVY 1 can Pillsbury lg. biscuits 1 stick butter 3/4 lb. sausage 2 tbsp. black ground pepper 2 c. flour 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper 1 qt. milk Cook biscuits according to package. Fry sausage into small pieces. Melt butter in a separate skillet. Add black pepper, stir. Add flour by tablespoons until thick. Whisk in milk. Whisk until smooth and hot. Add sausage, stir. Put sausage gravy on open-face biscuits. ------------- BISCUITS AND SAUSAGE GRAVY 1/2 lb. pork sausage 3 tbsp. flour 2 c. warm milk 1 batch of biscuits (hot) In a frying pan, brown sausage completely, drain grease. Add 3 tablespoons flour, stir quickly. Add warm milk - stir constantly until thick. Remove from heat. Serve over split biscuits - pepper to taste. Quick, easy, great when snow is on the ground. ----------------------- SOUTHERN BISCUITS AND GRAVY DROP BISCUITS: 1 c. flour 1/2 tsp. salt 1/4 c. (1 stick) butter 1/4 c. milk (may need more) Sift dry ingredients into mixing bowl. Cut butter into flour mixture until mixture looks like "meal". Stir in milk. (If dough does not seem pliable, add 2 tablespoons more milk to make soft dough.) Mix lightly (too much handling makes tough biscuits.) On ungreased cookie sheet drop from teaspoon 1 inch or 2 inch biscuits 1/2 inch apart. Bake 1 inch - 8 minutes or until golden brown - yields 20. Bake 2 inch - 10 minutes or until golden brown - yields 10. Quadruple recipe when baking biscuits for freezing. Decrease baking time by 2 minutes (do not brown). Cool, freeze on cookie sheet, then place in freezer bags. SAUSAGE GRAVY: Brown 1 pound mild pork sausage (broken up). Drain well on paper towels. Add to browned pork sausage: 1 tbsp. flour 1 pkg. Lipton's Onion soup 3 c. water Simmer until desired thickness. To cover individual biscuits. ------------------- Biscuits and Sausage Gravy Aside from possibly beer, sausage gravy is one of the greatest liquid items ever invented. Use this great recipe to spice up your breakfast tailgate. Time Required: 30-45 minutes Skill Required: Minimal cooking skills required Ingredients: 2 tubes spicy sausage 4 tablespoons flour 4 cups milk Black pepper, crushed red pepper, sage Biscuits Steps: Fry sausage in a large frying pan, mashing with a potato masher until browned Season with pepper, crushed red pepper, and sage Remove meat, but leave 4 tablespoons of the drippings from the sausage in the pan Turn heat to high, and gradually add the flour, stirring constantly until smooth Slowly add the milk, stirring constantly until thick and creamy Pour the sausage back into the sauce, lower the heat and cook for 5 minutes For tailgating, I recommend pouring into a crock pot at this point Serve over biscuits (warm the biscuits in tinfoil on the grill if necessary) ------------------------------ Sausage Gravy Filed under: Recipes— Matthew @ 7:17 pm My recipe is based on Alton Brown’s Sawmill gravy recipe. I’ve experimented with it and my notes are at the bottom: 1 pound pork breakfast sausage 2 Tbsp fat from cooked sausage or melted butter (or margarine, if you must) 1/4 cup flour 2 cups milk Salt and pepper to taste 1) Cook sausage (Prefferably in a cast iron skillet. Also: I like to keep this pretty chunky, so don’t chop it up too small as you stir and cook) 2) When done, remove the cooked sausage from pan and discard all but 2 tablespoons of the fat. (this yields the best tasting gravy, however, if you prefer to use butter or margarine, it makes a less heavy and greasy gravy, but also less flavorful) 3) Whisk flour into the liquid fat and cook over low heat for 5 minutes, this fat/flour mixture is called a roux. Cook till you smell a slightly nutty aroma. 4) Remove pan from heat and whisk in milk a little at a time. (Only add the next batch when the first is fully incorporated) It’s best to hold back a little of the milk (2-3 tbsp) at this point. It’s easier to thin the gravy later than to thicken it. 5) Put the skillet over medium-high heat and stir occasionally. Bring the gravy to a simmer. At this point it should have reached it’s maximum thickness. Add remaining milk if you want it a little thinner, or leave it alone, your choice. (Be sure to scrape up any brown bits that might be stuck to the bottom of the pan, there’s a lot of flavor in those.) 6) Add salt and pepper to taste. Add crumbled sausage and serve over biscuits. Here are my experimentation notes: So far, I have had the best results with 2% milk. Skim milk works ok, but you may want use a little less milk (or make a little more roux) in order to make skim milk gravy thick enough. There’s doesn’t seem to be a noticable difference in flavor. I have also found that the sausage can take an annoyingly long time to cook, so I’ve been experimenting with different kinds, especially brown-and-serve sausage. Cooks Illustrated has recommended the pre-cooked “Farmland Original Pork Sausage Links”, however, I have been unable to find them out here in the west. I’ve tried Jimmy Dean’s brown and serve, and the sausage links completely suck. The patties are a tad better, but generally, don’t bother unless you are in a real hurry. Cooks Illustrated did a taste test on pre-cooked vs. fresh sausage links. The Farmland pre-cooked was far-and-away the winner, but here are their other recommendations (with reservations): Bob Evans original links (fresh) Owen’s original premium pork sausage links (fresh) Jimmy Dean original fresh pork sausage links (fresh) Jones all natural pork little sausages (fresh, I think, but not sure) Most everything else you’ll find in the pre-cooked section was not recommended. I have used Jimmy Dean’s fresh sausage in a 1 lb package roll, and it has been good, but you have to cut it up, and it does take a while to cook. Most fresh sausages are just fine. Experiment to see which ones sold in stores near you work in the gravy, and let me know how it works! Generally, I think the links and the patties both have good taste, but different textures, I like them both, but you should see for yourself. Farmland also makes fresh sausage and pre-cooked patties. If anyone can find any of the pre-cooked farmland products, I’d love to hear what you think! ----------------------------- Cook up 5-6 peices of bacon in a frying pan. Leave the grease in after the bacon is done. Put 3-4 tsp flower in the grease and stir it up till its good and dark brown. Then add 8-10 ounces water/milk mix. Keep stiring and add a decent amount of salt a pepper And I use the Pillsburry biscuts in a can. My fav biscuts. -------------------------------------- And remembering that the gravy should be boiling while you whisk in the cornstarch and water (or butter and flour) slowly is important to remember as well. :up: Actually, if you simply make a roux and then add milk, you virtually eliminate all lumps. Gravy is SO damn easy, I really don't know how people mess it up. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Actually, if you simply make a roux and then add milk, you virtually eliminate all lumps. Gravy is SO damn easy, I really don't know how people mess it up. Good Eats did an excellent episode on it called "Gravy Confidential". Just aired earlier this month -- when Alton Brown tells you how to do something, listen. Insanely, there's a full transcript online. It's a little weird reading through all the production notes and etc, but it's still great info: http://www.goodeatsfanpage.com/Season1/Gravy/GravyTranscript.htm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- And remembering that the gravy should be boiling while you whisk in the cornstarch and water (or butter and flour) slowly is important to remember as well. :up: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Biscuits For the sake of baking clarity I'm borrowing Alton Brown's recipe for buttermilk biscuits, which is the same standard recipe that Adam learned and uses. I'm not a baker and I know I'd fudge something up for you since it's not in front of me. And then peeps will be trippin. Besides, Alton sounds remarkably similar to Elton, no? 2 cups flour 4 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 3/4 teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons shortening 1 cup buttermilk, chilled Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. 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.) Make a well in the center and pour in the chilled buttermilk. Stir just until the dough comes together. The dough will be very sticky. Turn dough onto floured surface, dust top with flour and gently fold dough over on itself 5 or 6 times. Press into a 1-inch thick round. Cut out biscuits with a 2-inch cutter, being sure to push straight down through the dough. Place biscuits on baking sheet so that they just touch. Reform scrap dough, working it as little as possible and continue cutting. Bake until biscuits are tall and light gold on top, 15 to 20 minutes. Sausage Gravy You can use any type of sausage, but breakfast sausages tend to pack more flavor and spice, yielding a tasty gravy. 1 lb breakfast sausage 4 cups of warmed whole milk 6-7 tablespoons of flour 2 -3 tablespoons of butter, optional, only if sausage is lean salt and plenty of black pepper, to taste Brown the meat. Add the flour and butter and cook for 2 minutes. Add milk and bring to a boil, reduce heat and let thicken. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve over freshly baked biscuits. --------------------------------------- WHITE ROUX White Roux Recipe courtesy Alton Brown Show: Good Eats Episode: Gravy Confidential 4 tablespoons of pan drippings and/or butter 6 tablespoons flour Heat fat or over medium high heat. Add flour all at once whisking vigorously. When mixture thins and starts to bubble, reduce heat to low and cut back on the whisking. Cook until you smell a toasty aroma then cook 2 minutes more, stirring occasionally. Roux can be used immediately to thicken a liquid that is at or below room temperature. To thicken a hot liquid, allow roux to cool to room temperature, or refrigerate. Tightly wrapped, roux can be refrigerated for up to a month. Simply break off pieces and use as needed. FRIES ------------ Actually I kind of found my own way with these. The thing that worked was to get the oil nice and hot, but not quite smoking and start with ice cold, towel dried potatoes. For everyone that suggested double frying, they turned out crispy without doing that. Thanks everyone. The trick to crispy French fries, is you need to fry than twice, first Slice your Potatoes put them in a bowl of water and put them in the refrigerator for a couple hours, this will pull some of the starch out of them, then remove them from the water and dry them as best as possible, in small batches Fry in hot oil for a short period of time and not really trying to cook them all the way yet, remove them to a paper towel and do another batch, after you fried all the potatoes and they have cooled ,fry them over again this time they will fry very fast and they will get brown and crunchy. A chef gave me the answer! you cut up your fries, get your oil to smoking point, half cook them then take them out to drain & semi cool. reheat the oil to the same level again & finish cooking.THAT is what makes them crispy. cut potatoes into wedges, season with s&p and oilive oil, dried rosemary and garlic poweder. Roast in hot 400 degree oven for about 15-20 minutes, turning once until crispy. I like to serve with a horseradish mayo for dipping. YUMMY, I got thid from Tyler Florence on the Foodnetwork, it's soooooo easy!!! cut the potatoes into wedges/ steak fries place in bowl, add olive oil, salt and pepper bake 400 degrees for about 30 min. to make them crispier... add parm/ grated cheese to mixture ok, make now and send me my 10 points when your done... you'll LOVE them!!! hahaha, jk Did you deep fry them? First, cut your potatoes to size, then salt them...yes, before cooking them! This causes them to "weep" and lose excess moisture that could cause your fries to be limp. Place the uncooked fries in a container of salted water and let them set for 15 minutes. Rinse them very well, and then fry them up. make sure your fries are dry b4 frying them Angela has the right Idea. Just doesn't explain the how or why. The recipe is for pomme frittes. Something the Europeans, and what is similarly done to mass produced fries, for years. First after peeling and cutting the fries are washed until the water runs clear to get rid of the excess starch that will brown far to much during cooking. The first frying at lower temperature (320 - 340F) is to cook the inside to tender and flaky texture. The second frying at Higher temperature (370 - 390F) is to crisp the outside. Belgium pomme frittes will even bubble up to a very crispy outside. As for other advice? use the pomme fritte recipe and forget about the peanut oil. I and many many other can stand the nasty taste of the stuff. Use and good quality canola oil. It has a high smoke point and little if any taste. Draining and cooling between the two frying is also very important to let the inside finish cooking and finally to keep from cooking more during the second flash fry. Pour oil in a deep fryer or heavy saucepan to reach halfway up the sides of the pan. Heat to 325 degrees F, use a deep fry thermometer to determine this. While the oil is heating, peel the potatoes and push through a French fry cutter to form uniform sticks. As you go, place the cut potatoes in a bowl of ice water to release some of the starch and to keep them from browning. Dry the potato strips thoroughly, this will keep the oil from splattering. Fry the potatoes in batches so the pan isn't crowded and the oil temperature does not plummet. Cook for 3 minutes until they are soft but not browned. Remove the potatoes with a long-handled metal strainer and drain on brown paper bags. Bring oil temperature up to 375 degrees F. Return the par-fried potatoes to the oil in batches and cook a second time for 4 minutes until golden and crispy. Drain on fresh brown paper bags then place in a serving bowl lined with paper towels. Salt and serve immediately. Peel and cut potatoes into even strips. Soak potatoes in cold water for 1 hour. Fry in deep fat at 325° for 5 minutes. Drain. Increase heat to 375° and fry until French fries are tender and nicely browned.