fof

(smaller button below)

For the Food on Fridays carnival, any post remotely related to food is welcome—though we love to try new dishes, your post doesn’t have to be a recipe. We’re pretty relaxed over here, and stories and photos are as welcome as menus and recipes.

When your Food on Fridays contribution is ready, just grab the broccoli button to paste at the top of your post. It ties us together visually.

Then fill in the boxes of this linky tool to join the fun!

Food on Fridays with Ann

Birthday boys and girls at our house get to request a special breakfast on their big day. I used to be able to guess pretty accurately who would ask for crepes and who would want chocolate croissants.

But times and tastes have changed, and my 16-year-old daughter surprised me by requesting biscuits and gravy.

This surprised me not only because she usually requests crepes, but also because my biscuits are inconsistent—they turn out dry and hard frequently enough that I asked if she was sure she wanted to take the risk.

She assured me that she likes them even if they turn out like hardtack. “After all,” she pointed out, “we’ll be putting the gravy on top, so that will moisten them up.”

So I pulled out my recipe and mixed up a double batch of biscuits.

While they baked, I pulled out a package of frozen sausage for the gravy.

And it worked. It all worked.

The biscuits were light and fluffy.

The gravy was rich and flavorful.

I usually request a Trader Joe’s chocolate croissant for my own birthday breakfast, but I might rethink that selection, because I seem to be getting the hang of biscuit-making.

Biscuits Supreme
(from Better Homes & Garden cookbook)

Ingredients:

  • 2 C flour
  • 1/2 t salt
  • 4 t baking powder
  • 2 t sugar (I left out the sugar)
  • 1/2 t cream of tartar
  • 1/2 C shortening (I used half butter, half applesauce)
  • 2/3 C milk

Directions:

Sift dry ingredients into a bowl. Cut in the shortening until it resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well, add milk (and applesauce). Stir quickly with fork till dough follows fork around the bowl. Turn onto lightly floured surface. Knead gently 10-12 strokes. Roll or pat 1/2 inch thick. Cut with cutter (I used a juice glass). Bake on ungreased baking sheet, very hot oven (450) 10-12 minutes.

Gravy

Gravy instructions: Brown 1 pound thawed breakfast sausage. Sprinkle about 1/4 cup flour (maybe less) into the pan. Stir to make a kind of roux. Add milk and stir on low to medium heat until gravy thickens to preferred consistency (add milk if it thickens too much). Salt and pepper to taste. Add additional sage if desired.

:::

Credits: All photos by Sophie Marie. Used with permission.

  • There’s always more to come: subscribe to Ann Kroeker by e-mail
  • Want to slow down in our fast-paced world? Check out Not So Fast.
  • “Like” me on Facebook.
  • Follow me on Twitter.
  • Related Posts with Thumbnails
    Tagged with:
     

    17 Responses to Food on Fridays: Birthday Biscuits and Gravy

    1. Jen Harris says:

      Yum! We had biscuits and gravy for supper last night. :) We all love biscuits and gravy, and I love that good gravy hides a multitude of sins when I don’t get the biscuits just right. :) I may have to try your biscuit recipe next time!

      • annkroeker says:

        Yum! I always think of it as breakfast food, but it has the elements of a dinner, doesn’t it?

        “Good gravy hides a multitude of sins.” I love that line.

    2. Cheryl Smith says:

      When I was growing up we had biscuits and gravy every Sunday morning. I know, gasp! Now they’re reserved for church breakfasts because my friend John makes the absolute best sausage gravy. I’ll have to share this link with him to see how your ingredients compare to his. :)

      • annkroeker says:

        Back when my metabolism and activity level were high, I ate a lot of biscuits and gravy. Now…reserved for birthday breakfasts. :)

        I got the idea of halving the shortening and subbing in half applesauce from Cassandra Frear’s Biscuit Weather post at The High Calling. http://www.thehighcalling.org/10275/biscuit-weather

        I remember working with her on it, and saying, “Applesauce in your biscuit recipe? Is that a mistake?”

        She assured me it was not. If you scroll down, her recipe is in the comments somewhere.

    3. [...] This post was shared in Fresh Bites Friday, Simple Lives Thursday, Friday Favorites, Freaky Friday, Foodie Friday, and Food on Friday [...]

    4. [...] Fat Camp Friday,  Food Trip Friday, Momtrends Friday Food Linky, Bacon Time With the Hungry Hipo, Food on Fridays, Creation Corner, Weekend Show Off Party, Sweets This Week, Friday Food Fight, Simply Delish [...]

    5. [...] Allie, Catch a Glimpse Thursday, Sweet Treats Thursday, Tastetastic Thursday, Fridays Unfolded, Food on Fridays, Sweet Tooth Friday, Friday Potluck, Feature Yourself Friday, 30 Days Pity Party, Fat Camp Friday, [...]

    6. [...] Stuff, Making It With Allie, Catch a Glimpse Thursday, Tastetastic Thursday, Fridays Unfolded, Food on Fridays, Sweet Tooth Friday, Feature Yourself Friday, 30 Days Pity Party, Weekend Show off, Creation [...]

    7. Thank you for hosting! This week I have shared the following seasonal farm-to-table recipes that promote the benefits of good health through nutrition from eating fresh unprocessed seasonal produce:

      fried egg salad
      http://theintentionalminimalist.blogspot.com/2011/10/fried-egg-salad.html

      potato and leek soup (vegan)
      http://theintentionalminimalist.blogspot.com/2011/10/potato-and-leek-soup-vegan.html

      Happy cooking!
      The Intentional Minimalist

    8. My husband was born in the south and he loves biscuits and gravy. Your photos look light and fluffy! By the way, I sent my husband here to do some of his musings today.

    9. Oh, yeah! My birthday is coming up and I know what I’ll be having! The Ggluten free version!

    10. My husband LOVES biscuits and gravy. Just loves it.

      Sometimes I make drop biscuits. They’re not as pretty as rolled ones, but I think they’re more tender because the dough isn’t handled as much in the making.

      • annkroeker says:

        Drop biscuits. Yes. Easy alternative that may increase the chances of fluffy biscuits. Thank you, Sheila, for reminding me of that alternative.

        I sort of patted mine out instead of rolling. I hope that minimized the handling.

    11. Those biscuits would be good with the Chicken Noodle Soup as well. I’m drooling over your gravy with sausage in it. I know this will be a sure hit for my guys. I’m copying it for a warm winter meal.

      Thanks, Ann, for hosting again.

      Blessings,
      Janis

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    *

    You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>