Biscuit and Gravy Bennedict

      Mark and I love biscuits and gravy and the prefect biscuits really make this dish.  There are several important things to know when you making are great biscuits.  First is your flour: a low gluten all purpose flour is key.  Down here we like using Lilly White flour, you might also look into pastry flour if want to be particularity through or maybe even mix some cake flour in with your all purpose. The next, and probably most important factor is the butter.  Like with the pie crust you are trying to get flakes, so the cold butter cut into the flour gives it those layers that make the biscuit flake and raise.
To make your biscuits mix
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp fresh ground pepper
with a pastry cutter or a pair of knives cut in
1/2 cup unsalted butter
if you are using just knives, you might have to go in with your hands and work the butter and flour through your fingers until it looks like coarse sand or cornmeal.  Then add
1 cup buttermilk
and using a spoon (or I use this fun little tool that we sell at Hopsewee called a dough hook) mix the buttermilk until it just holds together.  Turn out onto a clean, dry, well-floured surface.  Now this is one of those times it is really handy to have a baker's bench scraper. It's just a tool that is about 6 inches by 4 inches with a handle along one side.  We use it for many things evening up sides, cutting dough, and maybe even actually scraping our work tables/benches.  I like cutting square biscuits so as not to over work my dough by reforming it over and over until you are left with that last biscuit that is tough and just doesn't have much fluff left. 
      With all this in mind take the dough, fold and knead it just a few times until all of those little pieces come together, also this gives you the layering that allows you to split the biscuit without cutting it.  The idea is to end up with a roughly 1 inch tall rectangle of dough.  Now use your bench scraper to cut it in half so that you have roughly two squares.  Stack them and roll them out again so that you have an approximately 1-1 1/2 inch thick square.  Using the dough scraper trim the edges just a bit because a cut edge always looks better than the alternative.  Then you will cut them into 4 squares.  (Note: this will make 4 large biscuits, if you want smaller ones roll them out a little thinner and cut them into 6 or 8 pieces).  Lay them out on a pan with a piece of parchment that has been lightly sprayed, top each with a thin slice of butter.  bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 min, until they are nice and golden brown.  While they are baking get water started for poaching your eggs.  (for details about poaching eggs see my post on corn beef hash)
Next is the gravy.  If you keep bacon fat around throw 1 tbs in a pan, otherwise
1 TBS butter then
1/2 onion, finely minced
sweat the onion down for a minute or two then add
1/2 lb sage breakfast sausage
with a wooden spoon break it up and allow it to brown.  We are going to make what you call a "dirty roux" where you add your flour and you fat directly to the items already cooking in the pan instead of dirtying up a while new pan.  We've already got the fat from the butter or bacon fat as well as the extra that cooked off when we were browning the sausage, so sprinkle
3 TBS AP flour
Over your meat and onion mixture.  Stir it in and let it cook for at least a minute, stirring regularly.  This little bit of cooking time before you add liquid makes it so that you don't have that pasty flour flavor in your finished gravy.  then stir in
3 cups milk
1 tsp seasoned salt
Pinch cayenne
fresh ground pepper, a lot (it usually takes me 10 or so turns of my pepper mill, but probably about 1 1/2 tsp measured would work too.  And remember that fresh pepper has more flavor than the pre-ground stuff, so to get that nice peppery flavor you need you may have to use up to a tablespoon.  Just be sure to taste it before serving it and make sure it is nice and peppery.  Last a
dash of green Tabasco (I like the flavor of green, but whatever your favorite kind is will work just fine.
      Let this come to a boil, then turn it down and let it simmer until it gets thick, if it is a little too pasty add some more milk.  At this point your gravy is ready to serve.  If your biscuits are also done go ahead and poach your eggs.  I like doing two per person, but obviously whatever everyone wants.  So on your plate: a split biscuit, topped with two eggs and then a good scoop of gravy over the top.  All of this makes for a delicious breakfast.  So be sure to share with those you love, dig in and enjoy.  I think that having a special family breakfast is sometimes even nicer than a big family dinner, because then you have the rest of the day to enjoy each-other, and work off that natural high of a good meal with people you love.