Sausage Gravy Archives - Poor Man's Gourmet Kitchen

Breakfast Sausage

Great Breakfast Sausage

Making sausage is a fun traditional art that dates back to the Sumerians, in 3100 B.C. and is now cherished all over the world with different recipes. Today, I’m sharing an American style Breakfast Sausage that has been popularized by companies like Johnsonville or even the late famous country singer, Jimmy Dean.

This sweet and savory sausage has become an American staple that is served many different ways; links, patties or even cooked up ground and added to eggs with cheese or most widely known, probably, in sausage gravy, served over Buttermilk Biscuits and/or a Chicken Fried Steak.

Today’s recipe is all about the ingredients and how to get the best flavor and texture out of a breakfast sausage. So, I’ve listed all of the ingredients down below, along with my recommendations and a “how to” video tutorial. There are a few “optional” ingredients, like pink curing salt and msg, but if one comes out it should be replaced with an equal amount of salt in it’s place. The pink salt should only be added if you’re planning on smoking the sausage. MSG, obviously intensifies the flavor of the sausage and is an active ingredient in store bought sausages.

I didn’t add powdered skim milk to my sausage in the video but I have it listed in the ingredients for this recipe. It should be added if you want to retain more moisture and add the proper sausage texture that we’ve all come to expect in cooked or smoked sausage. Questions can always be asked in the comments.

Breakfast Sausage Ingredients: Makes 4 lbs

3 lbs Ground Pork, Dark Meat 70% to 75%
1 lbs Pork Fat, 25% to 30%

1/4 cup Brown sugar, light brown
1 tsp Curing Salt, replace with table salt if not using
3 tsp Salt
2 tsp Parsley
1 tsp Sage
1 tsp Black Pepper
1 tsp Thyme
1 tsp Red Pepper, crushed
1 tsp Coriander, ground
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp Ground Clove

1 tsp MSG, optional but is used in most sausages to enhance flavor

Makes about 1/2 cup of seasoning.

BINDER
1/2 cup Dehydrated Skim Milk Powder, for moisture and texture
1/4 cup Vinegar
2 tbsp Dark Corn Syrup, Malasses flavored

Maybe 1/2 cup Lard if the fat content is low.
30% fat to 70% meat ratio is standard.

Approximately 2 tbsp of seasoning per 1 lb. of meat.

Buttermilk Biscuits

The Best Buttermilk Biscuits

From Sausage and Gravy to KFC, Buttermilk Biscuits have become an American staple and if you’re looking for a great recipe, you’ve come to the right place. These biscuits turn out exactly the way you want them and, believe it or not, they’re very easy to make. You just have to understand a few basic tricks and your biscuits will turn out perfect, first try.

Partially eaten plate of Biscuits and Sausage Gravy.

The Trick to Fluffy Flaky Biscuits

The secret to Buttermilk Biscuits is in the dough. This recipe doesn’t have many ingredients so, it’s not really about what goes into the dough as much as how the dough is mixed.

From the very start, you need to mix all of the dry ingredients first. Then add cold butter, preferably frozen, and it needs to be grated or shredded in a food processor with all of the dry ingredients. If you’re familiar with apple pie crusts or pastry dough recipes, the technique is very similar(This allows the dough to puff up into flaky layers once the dough is pressed and folded).

Afterwards, the wet ingredients, buttermilk and honey can be mixed in but, be careful not to over mix. In fact, as I show you in the video tutorial, its important to only combine the ingredients into one mass rather than really “mix” the dough, then press it flat and begin to fold and roll as instructed.

The biscuit cutting is important as well. Instead of twisting the cutter through the dough, just press firmly with a wiggle. Twisting tends to keep the dough from separating and rising with flaky layers. Trust me, you don’t want to end up with hard baked hockey pucks.

This recipe makes approximately 16 biscuits about 2 1/2″ wide and 1 1/4″ thick.

Perfect Buttermilk Biscuits video tutorial by PoorMansGourmet.

Buttermilk Biscuits Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups Flour
1 cube Butter, 1/2 cup
1 1/4 cup Buttermilk
2 tbsp Baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp honey

Bake at 425° Fahrenheit for 15 minutes

Be sure to watch the short video tutorial and I’ll show you exactly how to make the best fresh Buttermilk Biscuits.

Breakfast Egg Gravy with Bacon

Egg Gravy Family Recipe!

Here’s a recipe that has been in my family for years, and we call it Egg Gravy. As you may or may not have guessed, it is a Breakfast gravy we traditionally serve over hand torn pieces of toast instead of biscuits. I’ve changed the recipe a little bit over the years but in my opinion, I’ve stepped in up a bit and made it even better; more of a restaurant quality. It’s very similar to the idea of a Sausage based Breakfast Gravy, but instead of using sausage, we use Bacon. with the added bonus of scrambled eggs; which is why this recipe is called, Egg Gravy.

The interesting factor is the traditional Egg Gravy recipe doesn’t have any meat in it at all. Though I did mention that bacon is at the heart of my recipe, there isn’t any in the original. However, bacon grease is used as a starter to make a Roux. Then you just add milk and eggs and stir until it thickens, and voila, you have Egg Gravy. My recipe however, does in fact use bacon. You can even add sausage with it as well if you’d like or replace it altogether. It doesn’t matter. As long as you follow the basic fundamental rule when you are making gravy, and that is to stir, stir, stir and don’t burn the bottom of your gravy. If that happens, it’s over. The burnt flavor will spread like a contagion and ruin the entire Egg Gravy. So take the time to babysit your Breakfast Gravy for a measly 10 minutes with a constant stir and praise shall be your everlasting reward!

Egg Gravy Ingredients:

!/4 pkg of Bacon
2 Chopped Green Onions
3 tbsp Flour
2 cups Milk
3 Eggs
1/2 cup Heavy Cream
Salt and Pepper to taste (Pepper is usually 1 tsp but the salt will depend on your tastes)

Slice your bacon into 1/4 inch pieces and chop the Green Onions into Scallions. Over medium high heat cook the bacon thoroughly, then add the onions. Separate the bulk from the bacon grease and add the flour to make a Roux. Once it becomes thick and darkens a bit, add the milk a half cup at a time. Bring the gravy to a light boil before you add each half cup and whisk the clumps of flour that thicken in the milk until the mixture becomes smooth. Go back and forth like this until the milk is gone, then add the eggs. Once you’ve stirred in the eggs and they are cooked add the cream and simmer until it thickens for the last time. Serve Egg Gravy over Hand Torn Pieces of toast or your favorite biscuits.