Homestyle Biscuits & Gravy

For those of you not from the midwest of America, "biscuits & gravy" conjures up a horrible image of cookies with brown gloop on them - nothing could be further from the truth.  To a good Kansan like myself, nothing says home cooking like fluffy buttermilk biscuits and creamy, peppery, sausage gravy.  Transplanted to Australia, I found it impossible to get biscuits (scones are the only alternative here and they are emphatically *not* the same thing) and even more impossible to find American style breakfast sausage to make the gravy. 

As is my wont, I ended up figuring out how to make it all myself.  And just quietly, mine are better than what I've been able to find in most restaurants in the US.  The only difference is the "home made" element - the biscuits are fluffy but crunchy on the outside and the sausage mix is made from freshly minced pork.  Not a sausage factory in sight. 

These are more work than going out to a restaurant for breakfast (unless you are me and it involves at least 15 hours on an airplane) but you will notice the difference.  Trust me. 

Breakfast Sausage Mix:

Ingredients

1 teaspoon dried sage
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon dried marjoram
1 tablespoon brown sugar
Dash crushed red pepper flakes
Small dash ground cloves
1 pound (500 grams) ground pork

Method

Mix all ingredients together thoroughly, cover, and let sit overnight.  The flavors need to come together before you cook the meat.


Buttermilk Biscuits


½ cup butter
2 ½ cups flour (sifted)
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup cold buttermilk (plus a bit to get the consistency right, up to 1/4 cup)
2 Tablespoons melted butter

1. Heat the oven to 230C/440F.  Cut butter into small cubes and freeze for 15 minutes.
2. Stir dry ingredients together in a large bowl.  Cut in butter until mix resembles a coarse meal.
3. Stir the buttermilk using a wooden spoon into the flour mixture just until combined to form the biscuit dough; do not over-mix.
4. Remove the biscuit dough to a lightly floured board and knead 4 - 5 turns.  Pat/roll out to a thickness of 1 1/2  inches. Cut the dough into rounds using a 2 1/2 -inch cutter and place the biscuits on an ungreased cookie sheet. Brush tops with melted butter.
5. Bake the biscuits until golden-brown, about 15 minutes.


Sausage Gravy:

Brown the Breakfast Sausage Mix until there is no more pink in the meat.  Using fresh pork mince, there may not be enough fat to make a good gravy - you will need to eyeball this.  If there isn't, add some butter and let it melt.  Stir in a rough equivalent of plain flour (e.g. if there are about three tablespoons of fat in the pan, add about three tablespoons of flour).  This isn't science and it isn't precise.  Cook the mix for about a minute, and then add some milk (give or take a cup to start with).  The mixture will thicken quickly, so you need to stir well and be prepared to add some more milk (not too much at a time and mix really well each time to avoid lumps).  As the mixture stabilises to your desired level of thickness, add some freshly ground pepper and some salt (to taste). 

To serve, crack the biscuits in half and pour over some gravy.

Forgive yourself in advance for this meal.