I'm not sure why me and The Picky Eater try to start eating healthy at this time of the year. It makes absolutely no sense that sometime around Halloween The Picky Eater will announce that it's time to start eating healthy. It makes even less sense that I agree with her and we make our best effort to stick to it. Our best effort is not very good at this time of year I have to admit.
I mean, really, how could it be. Between leftover Halloween candy (we did manage to get it out of the house before we could eat it all), Thanksgiving feasts (with two families worth of meals and me cooking even more for the site), and now Christmas, it really is hopeless. Then there's all the other food that comes in around this time of year.
Christmas is such a giving time of year, and so food randomly shows up. This started last week. Our neighbor, Ricardo (not his real name) gave us an early Christmas gift. Actually, it was just, hey meet me at the fence I have something for you kind of thing. What was it you ask? Well it is over a pound of breakfast sausage. Not the kind you get the grocery. I don't know where he gets it from, but it is straight from the butcher and is almost like a giant salami and breakfast sausage got together and decide to create a big, beautiful, hammy sausage that is like nothing I've ever had before.
So, straight off the healthy eating wagon we go and it's breakfast for dinner until this wonderful bit of porky sunrise is gone. It doesn't help that breakfast is The Picky Eater's favorite meal of the day and breakfast foods are her favorite color of food, beige.
It doesn't help that we actually managed to slip in our annual to Asheville this year. After missing out on it last year's trip thanks to Covid-19, we decided to chance it this year (we've made it 16 out of 17 years). Our trips over there are short (only one full day) and are really just an excuse to eat ... and eat, and eat, and you get the picture. Asheville is a funky little art city with an unusually high number of great restaurants, and most are within walking distance of each other.
At least at this time of year lots of food and fat men with gray beards are in and summer is many months away.
Old-Fashioned Country Breakfast
Or, The Breakfast Of Heart Attach Victims Everywhere
My Thoughts
You know the type of breakfast I'm talking about. You start with two eggs scrambled to fluffy goodness and covered it hot sausage gravy. Then add in soft and pillowy buttermilk biscuits and fresh fried sausage patties. It's a great way to start your day!
Difficulty
Medium
Makes
6 Servings
Tools
Time
Prep Time 30 min.
Cook Time 30 min.
Total Time 1 hour
The How To Do It
Make the biscuits (recipe follows this one).
In a medium cast iron skillet, fry the sausage patties until they are cooked through (depending on the quality of the sausage, you can get away with medium/medium-well but I usually go for well done) and a nice crust forms on the outside. Set the patties aside and cover with foil to keep them warm.
Now make the gravy (again, the recipe follows).
Finally, make the scrambled eggs (and again, the recipes is below this one).
Scrambled Eggs
Crack the eggs into a small bowl. It's no big deal if you break a yolk but try to be gentle.
Place a nonstick sauce pan (or nonstick saute pan) over medium high heat. You can use a regular sauce pan, but the cleanup is a real pain and The Picky Eater gives me a really hard time about it.
Gently pour the eggs into the pan and let the whites just start to turn white.
Once they start to turn white, start stirring the eggs, making sure to now break the yolks.
Basically, just continue to stir until the eggs are cooked almost all the way through, making sure to continue to scramble and fold them over on themselves.
When the eggs are almost to the consistency you like them, remove the eggs from the heat and add the salt, pepper, and granulated garlic.
There should be enough heat in the pan to continue to cook the eggs. Once they are where you want them, add the sour cream and mix thoroughly. This stops the cooking process, but the heat of the pan keeps everything nice an warm.
And that's it. Well, except for the eating. Now it's time for the eating.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour and butter. Using either fork or pastry cutter cut the butter into the flour until it resembles cornmeal.
Next, mix in the buttermilk with your hands. If it is too sticky to work with you may have to add a little flour. Be careful not to work the dough too much or you will end up activating the gluten in the flour and make the biscuits tough and decidedly not flaky.
Sprinkle on a cutting board or any surface large enough to work the dough.
Turn the dough out onto the floured surface and work it until you can roll it out.
Cut the biscuits with a biscuit cutter and place them on a ungreased baking sheet or cast iron skillet. Be careful to try and not twist as you are cutting them. This will seal the sides and make them not rise as much. My mother actually uses an empty tomato paste can with both ends cut out. You want a cutter with either no end on either side like a cookie cutter (or the tomato paste can) or at least air holes in the top. This makes it easier to get the cut biscuits to release from the cutter.
Once cut out, let them set for about 10 minutes.
Bake the biscuits for 10 minutes and then baste each one with a bit of butter and then bake for an additional 5 minutes. Some people but a small pat of butter on top of them before they go in the oven.
Break the sausage up into small pieces and cook it over medium heat until it starts to brown and is cooked through. About 10-15 minutes.
Once the sausage is cooked, it should have rendered off about 2 tablespoons of fat. If it has not, then simply add some canola or other oil that does not have a lot of flavor to the skillet.
Add the flour and stir/whisk the flour, sausage and oil together until everything is coated thoroughly. Continue to stir the mixture for around 5 minutes. You'll want to stir constantly to keep it from burning, but you do want to cook the flour a bit. you're really starting the base of a roux.
Start adding the milk in a 1/4-cup at a time. You could add the whole thing in at once, but you run the risk of creating lumps. Adding smaller amounts and mixing them together until it is a smooth sauce keeps this from happening. To be honest, lumps aren't really a big deal here. The sausage adds "lumps" anyway, but lets not start slacking off here.
Once the milk has be combined, and you have a creamy and smooth sauce, add the smoked paprika, salt, and black pepper.
Once everything has been combined you can set the gravy aside until it is needed, simply place it over an eye on the lowest setting you have to keep it warm. If it starts to thicken when you go to serve it, add a little more milk to it to thin it back out.
