Easy Sausage Gravy and Biscuits

An American classic comfort food, great for feeding a houseful of guests.

The video walks you through the details,

You will need:

Flour
Milk
Country Sausage - I like Jimmy Dean but almost any brand will do
Buttermilk Biscuits - I'm using Pillsbury Grands! Frozen Biscuits but again almost any brand will do. With the Grands or similar plan on two to three biscuits per serving. With the smaller traditional biscuits figure 4-5 per serving.

If you've just pulled a package of sausage out of the freezer you'll need to defrost it. To quickly defrost frozen items fill a bowl with cool or even cold water and place the sealed package in it. Do NOT use warm water. Since water is a better conductor of heat than air the meat will thaw faster in a water bath.

While the sausage is defrosting preheat the oven. The temperature varies between brands. If you put the biscuits in the oven about the time you start cooking the meat everything should come together fairly well.

Once the meat has defrosted heat up the frying pan. Set the temperature to medium-low which is one setting below the middle more or less. The pan is at the right temperature when a water drops dance and skitter across the surface. If they boil off right away the pan is too hot, turn the temperature down wait a few minutes and try again.

When the pan is hot unwrap the meat and place it in the pan. Break up the meat into bite sized chunks with a stirring spoon or spatula as it cooks. Make sure the meat is fully cooked, browned on the outside and cooked all the way through.

Once the meat is cooked sprinkle three or four tablespoons of flour over it. Stir the meat until it is smoothly covered with the flower. Continue cooking and gently stirring the mixture until the flour is lightly browned. This is very important as it changes the flour chemically and will affect the flavor and texture of the gravy.

Once the flour has browned add a small amount of milk to the pan and stir gently. This will create a flour paste that is the basis of the gravy body. Once a paste has formed add more milk to create the body of the gravy. Don't dump it all in at once, add some and mix it in. Once its mixed and has heated up add some more. Once all the milk has been added slightly increase the heat and continue gently stirring until the gravy begins first to simmer and then to thicken. The gravy is ready when the spoon leaves a visible track. Remove the gravy from the heat and keep warm until the biscuits are ready.

When the timer goes off check that the biscuits are done by inserting a toothpick in the thickest part. When you take it out there shouldn't be any dough or other material stuck to it.

To serve take a two or three biscuits, cut them in half and place face up on the plate. Cover with a generous portion of gravy. I served cottage cheese and pineapple on the side.