Welcome back to “Adventures in Gluten-Free Cooking,” I’m your host, The Deglutenizer, and today we’re covering a controversial topic…biscuits and gravy. Now we’ve made biscuits before, so refer back to that post for the recipe. As for the gravy, that’s where the controversy lies. Bacon or sausage? Milk or cream? Black or white pepper? Roux or slurry?
And then there’s the fact that you can’t have an actual recipe for gravy, because so much depends on the conditions of the day. Sure, there’s ingredients, but no exact quantities. Gravy-making is an art form. It’s intuitive. That’s not to say you can’t learn how to make gravy, but it could take more practice for some than others. Today, we’re going over the basic rules.
I’m making a sausage gravy today, and despite a few tweaks like that it’s gluten-free, it’s mostly traditional… Okay, except for one special ingredient that I’ve found that I like. But it’s an optional ingredient, so if you don’t feel like having a bunch of Southerners show up at your door with pitchforks, you can omit it. But I’ve found that adding cream cheese helps improve taste and texture of sausage gravy. It acts as a binder (especially important considering the lack of gluten like in regular sausage gravy), it adds some tang, it complements any breakfast plate, it’s a gorgeous substance.
I know, I’m a horrible person, a blasphemous heathen, a bad, bad girl. I don’t care, I like my sausage gravy technique, and that’s the one I’m going to share on this blog. Deal with it.
Ingredients:
1 lb. ground sausage
Leftover rolling flour blend from biscuits
2 tbsp. butter
~2 oz. cream cheese
Cream
Milk
Salt
Pepper
Directions:
- While biscuits are in the oven, prepare gravy. Start by browning sausage in large skillet on medium heat (4/10). Use edge of spatula to break large chunks of sausage into smaller chunks.
- When sausage is done, dump into strainer set up over collection container and allow to drain fully. Remember not to pour hot grease into trash (bag could melt) or into sink drain (could solidify and block drain). Grease can be thrown away when cooled. Set aside and start working on roux.
- Reduce heat to medium-low (2.5/10). If pan is still too hot, remove from heat a few minutes and allow to cool so roux doesn’t burn. Replace pan over heat, drop butter and rest of rolling blend into pan, and whisk continuously until butter melts and all lumps are gone. Add cream cheese and use tines of whisk to break into smaller chunks. Stir until cream cheese begins melting into roux. Increase heat to 3.5/10, and stir in wet ingredients as necessary.
- If roux appears grainy or inconsistent, add more cream. Fat in cream will help to smooth texture and bind gravy. Slowly whisk roux into liquid to combine.
- If gravy texture is good but too thick, add more milk. Slowly whisk roux into liquid to combine.
- If gravy is too thin, continue reducing on stovetop, stirring consistently.
- Add sausage back to gravy, with additional salt and pepper. Stir to combine.
- Serve gravy over a split biscuit. Remember, gravy will continue to thicken as it cools (and quickly), so serve thinner than desired, because it will be the right thickness by the time it meets a fork.
That’s it. That’s how you make sausage gravy. You look at it, and if it looks wrong, you tweak along the way until it looks right. There’s no secret to it but practice and to keep stirring. Now I’m going to shovel about five biscuits, smothered and covered, into my face-hole. Please leave your thoughts in a comment below, or get in touch with me directly by filling out the form on the contact page.
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