Awwwww yeah....Tina belted it out but I bet you didn't know she was talkin' bout biscuits and gravy; better than all the rest is no joke! It's Thursday after Christmas, I am off all this week too and today is my last day home where I feel like I can lounge in my PJ's watching trash TV and not adulting - the melted/refrozen snow outside has me locked up anyway, so why fight it? Today was the day I would say YES to the carbs, not count a gram of anything, and just enjoy a couple of my favorites from one Mother to another - Lisa Schroeder of Mother's Bistro hits alllll the marks so I'm sharing her finest with you!
I received my "Mother's Best" cookbook in a basket raffle, not directly, but from a co-worker who won it but wasn't feeling Lisa Schroeder's mojo; she knew I wanted to win the basket for the cookbook alone,so she gifted it to me - still bowled over by her generosity, and she would be pleased to know that several pages are stuck together signifying a recipe that's a keeper....there are a couple stuck together for these two alone! I made a few adjustments, one because the biscuit recipe makes a sh**load in it's full glory, the other because I had a package of breakfast sausage from my local grocery store and it wasn't quite as much as her recipe calls for. Other than that it is 100% Mother's, let me know if you've dined on this in her bistro because I have not and would love to know if this measures up!
Handsome Stranger loves him a good biscuit, but his go-to is the standard butter Crisco, buttermilk, and baked until the top AND bottom are crispy golden brown....good? Yes. My fave? Nope. Lisa's biscuit is like a crusty pillow, so tender inside, but with a crispy bottom, a craggy top with the sheen of melted butter brushed over, and the flavor and texture that says "This has butter AND cream in it!" The gravy is flat out amazing, and you can taste the cream there as well....use a nice flavorful sausage and the herbs and spices added perfectly complement that meaty goodness. And keep in mind this is utter indulgence, and I only make it a couple times a year and suggest you follow suit - your heart and your cardiologist will thank you.
MOTHER'S BUTTERMILK BISCUITS
- 3 C. flour
4.5 tsp. baking powder
1.5 tsp. table salt 1 tsp. and a pinch of kosher salt
3 T. sugar
3/4 of a stick of cold butter (cut in half, then cut one of the halves in half and only use one small half), cut in small cubes
1-1/4 C. buttermilk (I use whole buttermilk)
1-1/4 C. heavy cream
3/4 C. flour for dredging
2 T. butter, melted
Heat oven to 450, spray square pan with spray and set aside.
In large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salts and sugar, add butter cubes and cut or smash in with your fingers until pea sized. Make a well and pour in buttermilk and cream, stir with fork until a shaggy wet dough forms with no dry pockets. Put 3/4 C. flour in another bowl, then using a 1/2 cup scoop if you got one, scoop one biscuit at a time into flour, roll around with your hands and toss back and forth to knock off excess flour, then place in greased pan. Repeat until you have 9 biscuits in pan. Place in oven and bake 10 minutes; turn pan and turn oven down to 375; cook 20-30 minutes, turning once more until golden brown (if you stick the point of a sharp knife under the edge of the center biscuit and pull up a little, you can see if the dough in the center is done). Remove from oven, brush with melted butter and let stand 20 minutes (hahahaha....that never happens here)
MOTHER'S COUNTRY SAUSAGE GRAVY
Butter or bacon fat if needed (I had to add 2 T. of butter because it's so friggen lean!)
1/4 C. flour
1.5 C. milk
1.5 C. heavy cream
1 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 tsp. onion salt
fresh ground black pepper
1/2 plus pinch of dried thyme
pinch of cayenne
Brown sausage in large skillet, breaking into small chunks; add additional butter or bacon fat until you have 2-3 T. in with sausage; add flour and stir, cook until flour starts to brown. Add seasonings and milk and stir until it starts to bubble and thicken; add cream and whisk until it starts to bubble and thicken. Turn down to simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes.
Mother's splits her biscuits and pops them cut side down on a buttered griddle before serving with gravy; you could also put in toaster oven or broiler cut side up...I like them soft and squishy so I just split/ladle/enjoy! The parsley on top is simply frippery...but I lovelovelove my new Fiesta bowl plates and adding that little pop of color DO makes for a nice presentation. The other plate was my second fave - BRAVO to whoever produced that blackberry jam that I bought at St. Edwards Christmas Bazaar this year, holy Catholic Gramma that stuff is Heaven on a biscuit!
