Southern Sausage Gravy

How about putting a little south in your mouth! Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits & Southern Sausage Gravy. I don't think any dish can get anymore southern than that. Breakfast on the weekends was a big deal in our house. Saturdays was usually the day I made the big country breakfast. You know the choices eggs, toast, homemade biscuits (with spicy apple butter or homemade peach preserves), bacon, sausage or country ham (the salty kind), buttered grits and scratch gravy made with sausage or bacon (I'm partial to sausage). You gotta serve this over split piping hot homemade skillet buttermilk biscuits (you'll find the recipe in my blog).

Ingredients:
1 - 16 oz roll breakfast sausage - 8 oz works just as well
1/4 - cup flour
1 - cup water
1 - cup milk
salt and pepper to taste

Crumble and cook sausage in large skillet over medium heat until browned. If the sausage does not render enough drippings you can add 2-3 tablespoon of shortening or bacon grease. Stir in flour until dissolved (this makes a kind of roux). Mix the milk and water together and gradually stir in one cup of milk mixture to the sausage.

When the gravy starts to thicken add the remaining cup of milk mixture and continue stirring. Cook gravy until thick and bubbly. Season with salt and pepper.

NOTE:  A roux is a mixture of equal parts of oil, butter, or fat renderings and flour. The roux mixture is cooked at least three to five minutes over low heat to remove the raw flavor of the flour, then the liquid is added which thickens into the gravy. The roux method is least likely to produce lumpy gravy.

To make a roux gravy, the basic formula is 2 tablespoons fat, 2 tablespoons flour, and 1 cup of liquid to equal 1 cup of gravy. It's the bones of just about any gravy.