From Scratch: ::Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits & Sausage Gravy::

Nothing makes you feel like you live on a farm than when you reply with "biscuits and gravy" when your husband asks you what's for supper. Maybe it's just me who does this but as I was cutting the dough with my biscuit cutter I imagined my grandma with an apron on, full of flour, and my grandpa coming in for the night with rosey cheeks and dirty bib overalls after a day spent in the field (that wasn't plowed with a covered tractor & gps). : ) Anyways...after making homemade biscuits I'm not sure that I will ever go back to the store-bought ones. The homemade biscuits are WAY easier than I thought they'd be to make and they are very light and flakey with a nice buttery taste. Also, if you are wanting to eat these plain or with jam, that's perfectly fine. However, if you want to pair the biscuits with homemade gravy, I have a recipe for that too. The recipe is simple and easy (do I say that alot?) to make and is very hard to mess up. So, take a stab at making these while the weather allows for some good, warm comfort food! Enjoy!

PS: I got this recipe from the blog, And now for something completely delicious, who adapted it from The Gourmet Cookbook.

::Easy Buttermilk Biscuits::

Makes 8 large biscuits

2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes

3/4 cup buttermilk, chilled, plus additional for brushing

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix in the butter with a pastry cutter or a fork until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the buttermilk and stir until the dough comes together in a ball.

On a lightly floured surface, gather the dough into a bowl and knead gently 6 times. Pat dough into a 10 inch circle about 1/2 inch thick. Cut dough into three inch rounds with a lightly floured cutter. Place on the prepared baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Brush with buttermilk.

Bake until golden brown, about 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Cold butter!

I slice and chunk them. If that makes sense?

Then mix the dry ingredients together, starting with the flour.

...and both baking soda and powder...

...along with some salt.

Whisk together.

Add the sliced/chunked, cold butter.

Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter or two forks until it resembles course crumbs.

Then add the buttermilk and stir, until it comes together to form a ball.

Starting to come together.

Then, place the ball on a lightly floured surface and gently knead. The picture above is after it had been done with the whole process.

Then, rollllllll out.

I just purchased these biscuit cutters from Pampered Chef. They are wonderful!

Cut with a 3" biscuit cutter (a glass should work too).

The biscuit. When I got to this step I thought to myself "hmmm...these are thin....I wonder if they will puff up to the size a biscuit should be? I hope so!"

Just a random shot.

Some of the biscuits almost ready for the oven.

Just have to brush the tops with some buttermilk!

Now, ready for the oven!

All ready! This is where the sigh of relief came in...that they fluffed up and weren't flat anymore!

Place on a cooling rack.

They are so wonderful. The only reason why I would purchase them from a store now is just to pop open that cardboard roll that they come in. If you know what I mean?!

Close up! Ready to be served with something....like gravy perhaps?

Recipe for the..

::Homemade Sausage Gravy::

Your favorite sausage

Milk

Flour

Pepper

Garlic powder, garlic salt
Onion salt

Brown the sausage. Add about 1/4 cup flour and 2 cups milk. Whisk together and keep adding milk and/or flour as needed until you achieve the desired gravy thickness and sausage-to-liquid ratio as you desire. Add a couple shakes of the seasonings and add more as you desire. Simmer over a low heat until heated through, whisking often. Serve over a warm biscuit.

We make our own sausage every year and we keep some out of the casings, so that is what I used. Brown the sausage.

I didn't measure. But, don't fret, it is very simple. Start off by adding about a 1/4 cup of flour to the brown sausage.

Then, start adding the milk...about a 2 cups.

I ended up adding more flour and more milk. Just start off by what I said, then add more flour and milk as you go until you get the desired thickness you want. It will depend on how much sausage you use as well. Just make sure that when you are whisking or stiring the combination that you make sure the flour hasn't went to the bottom of the pan.