My Charcutepalooza project is late. I don’t really care, though, because I was just eating biscuits and sausage gravy, and that’s all that really matters in life.
This month’s challenge was a saga, which seems to be the story of the Charcutepalooza in general. I have doubts… I think I lack the intense love of meat that some of the participants seem to have. I have an intense love of projects, like canning peaches or growing tomatoes, or building my own bookshelves.
Because of this DIY fixation, I gladly jumped on board for the meat adventures. Honestly, though, I am a wimpy meat eater and waver between being a vegetarian all the time. I love love love biscuits and gravy though, so somehow right when I’m about to quit, I get pulled back in.
Before I start in on a speech about how pork fat is the most delicious flavor in the universe, I want to mention a few reasons as to why I barely ever eat it.
First of all, I am a farmer and a gardener. I spend almost every moment of my life keeping things alive, and I have a fundamental feeling of guilt when I contribute to an animal’s death.
The chickens that I raise for meat are pastured and lead very happy chicken lives; their eggs are an incredible source of protein, vitamins and minerals, and healthy omega fats, as well as a pleasure to cook with. And no animals are dying to feed me.
The next big issue is price and availability. It’s taken years of work to get where we are, but the farm is finally a place of abundance, with fruit trees, vegetables all year round, a fully stocked pantry with both canned and dry goods, chicken eggs, and wild plants.
During the summer I make beautiful curries, soups, stews, salads, and more, and I never really miss having meat around. I hate spending money, and if I have to spend money to get meat, I often go without it. Plus, buying a humanely-raised, organic, free-range piece of meat is often incredibly expensive.
Small farms can’t take advantage of economy of scale (meaning that it’s more cost effective to butcher 1000 pigs than 2), so the meat at the farmers market, while it is high quality, humanely raised, and delicious, has a huge price tag. I don’t want to sound like I’m complaining about the prices- you absolutely get what you pay for.
I simply use the prices to justify cutting way back on how much meat I eat. If I really cared about it, I would start raising a few pigs and turkeys on the farm. I’ve thought about it, but somehow it always takes the back burner to more pressing things, like getting my new blueberry bushes planted.
Enough talk, though. I still haven’t decided what I want to do about meat eating, but I know thatLover’s Lane Farm raises tasty happy pigs and we will definitely eat the hell out of the sausage I made for this months challenge.
If meat starts going to waste or sitting endlessly in the freezer, I vow to quit doing charcuterie projects.
I knew that out of all the sausages I could make, a simple, no frills breakfast sausage would be the best for our household. I used Michael Ruhlman’s recipe for sage breakfast sausage from Charcuterie, omitting the ginger (we had none) and adding more garlic (we had a lot).
The process of grinding meat was definitely kind of gruesome, but I’m really happy that I know how to do it now. No more Jimmy Dean; breakfast sausage has joined the ranks of bacon which we will only be making ourselves from here on out.
Things started looking a little more normal after that… more like sausage.
That brings us to the recipes. Since Lover’s Lane also sells honey, it seemed appropriate to bring honey into the mix here. I bring you… Honey Biscuits with Country Pork Sausage Gravy!
Honey Biscuits
This is an adaptation of Deborah Madison’s Angel Biscuit recipe in Vegetarian Cooking For Everyone. I’ve changed a few things around, but her concept of using yeast, baking soda, baking powder and salt results in quite the lovely biscuit.
Makes: 12 very large biscuits
Cooking Time: about 30 minutes (I put them in the oven and made the gravy while they were baking)
Ingredients:
- 1 envelope active dry yeast
- 2 tsp. sugar
- 4 c. flour
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 lb. cold butter
- 1 c. almond milk
- 1/8 c. honey
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl, stir the yeast and 1 tsp. of sugar into 1/4 c. of warm water. Set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut the cold butter into the the flour mixture with whatever your preferred method (hands, stand mixer, a fork, two knives… it all works) until coarse, pea-sized crumbs are formed. Gently stir in the almond milk, honey, and the yeast mixture, being careful not to overwork the dough.
3. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead it for a few minutes to make sure it’s nice and smooth. If you care about pretty biscuits, you can use a rolling pin to roll out the dough to about 3/4″ thick. I use a cup as a biscuit cutter; pick out one from your cabinet that is the size of the biscuit you’d like to make. After cutting out the biscuits, transfer them to a greased cookie sheet to rise for 15-20 minutes. Bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes.
Caroline’s Country Sausage Gravy
The guy in this commercial isn’t talking about Direct TV, he’s talking about my sausage gravy. Go to 0:32 to see how you will feel if you make it and understand what I am talking about. (I just linked to a commercial, how messed up is that??)
Makes: 2 servings
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1/2 c. breakfast sausage, preferably homemade
- 2 tbs. flour
- 1 c. pork stock (see note*)
- 1 c. creamy beverage of your choice- milk, skim milk, almond milk, soy milk – it all works fine. (I used rice milk this time because I’m going through a strange bout of paranoia about radiation in California cow milk… I should be over it soon though).
In a saute pan, brown the sausage. (If you’re using crappy sausage from the store, add in a few cloves of minced garlic and some freshly cracked black pepper at this step to fix the seasonings). When the sausage is fully cooked, stir in the flour. It will coat the sausage and soak up the fat in the pan. If everything looks brown and kind of burned, it means you’re doing it right.
With the heat on medium high, pour in the pork stock, stirring as you go. It will get really bubbly and hot and should thicken up really quickly.
Now stir in your milk product. (Most people will probably use cow milk for a recipe like this – just don’t use half and half or heavy cream or the gravy will be too heavy). Keep cooking the gravy on medium high heat, stirring continuously, until it has thickened to whatever consistency you like.
Now pour the gravy over your biscuits. If you don’t want to bake, it’s also delicious over mashed potatoes with a side of braised greens.
*Note: The cut of pork that I bought came with a bone, which was a blessing. Instead of using chicken broth, I kept the bone and made a small batch of stock with it while I was grinding the sausage. You could certainly substitute chicken broth if you don’t have pork bones around though.
Enjoy!
10 thoughts on “May Charcutepalooza: Grinding… Honey Biscuits and For Real Homemade Sausage Gravy”
growandresistI love this post! Thanks for writing it. My feelings about meat are complicated too. I love bacon. And sausage. And I’m conflicted.
It has def. gotten more difficult with raising chickens for eggs. Agh. No more chicken for me.
Love the pic of the deborah madison book + charcuterie! =)Reply- LauraWait, no sausage recipe?Reply
- Carolinelaura- I shouldn’t really post it, since it’s straight out of michael ruhlman’s cookbook and it’s his recipe. BUT- breakfast sausage = easy as pie. It’s just pork shoulder, garlic, sage, salt and pepper. I’m sure google would point you in the right direction if you don’t feel like buying/borrowing the charcuterie cookbook.Reply
- cathyLove love love sausage gravy. Your photos and descriptions are so evocative that I’m not sure I can get through the day without making some biscuits and sausage gravy! Thank you for playing along.Reply
- Carolinethanks cathy! I’m so excited about all this sausage stuff….Reply
- LauraYum yum yum.Reply
- AmandaI’m the same way about the DIY thing and about wavering somewhere between being an oportunavore and a vegetarian. I said to my husband at the beginning of this challenge that it would make me or break me for being a carnivore at all. Great post. I am also a fan of biscuts and gravy.Reply
- Pingback: Charcutepalooza: Lamb Sausages With Garlic Scapes and Mint | grow it cook it can it
- Pingback: I Love Winter Gardening: Greens & Sausage Gravy | grow it cook it can it
- karen millen gownsSimply want to say your article is as astonishing. The clarity in your post is simply spectacular and i could assume you are an expert on this subject. Fine with your permission let me to grab your RSS feed to keep updated with forthcoming post. Thanks a million and please carry on the rewarding work.
Laura
Caroline
