Buttermilk Biscuits with Sawmill Gravy

Today is National Toast Day. I think Joan Rivers said it all with her recipe for toast, so I thought we’d talk about my favorite breakfast, Biscuits and Gravy.

Biscuits and gravy is a popular breakfast dish in the United States, especially in the south.. Early European settlers brought with them a simple style of cooking, most often based on meat, ground wheat and gravy. After the first pigs were carried from England to Jamestown, Virginia in 1608, they quickly became the popular home-grown edible animal.

After the American Revolution, Biscuits and gravy emerged as a distinct regional dish. Breakfast was by necessity the most substantial meal of the day in the south, where plantation life was physically demanding. Additionally, meals designed to fuel large groups of men meant that the first meal of the day (and possibly the only meal) needed to be cheap. While popular throughout the south, Sawmill gravy earned its name in the logging camps. Today gravy is made with finely milled flour and the gravy is rich, thick and creamy. Not so in the past. Often a gravy was made using what was readily on hand and that was whole grain cornmeal. At times, especially in the logging camps, if there were a shortage of milk or other liquid,  the gravy would be coarse and thick. The lumberjacks were known to accuse the cooks of substituting sawdust for cornmeal. That speaks volumes as to the flavor and consistency of early biscuits and gravy. I suppose we could make authentic Sawmill Gravy by using cornmeal instead of flour. I just don’t think I’d care much for the gritty texture. What about you?

Buttermilk Biscuits with Sawmill Gravy
Biscuits
2 1⁄2 cups flour, plus more for cutter
3 1⁄2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1⁄2 teaspoons kosher salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed and chilled, plus 2 tbsp. melted
1 1⁄2 cups buttermilk

Make the biscuits: Heat oven to 425 degrees. Place flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl, and whisk to combine. Place flour mixture in the bowl of your food processor fitted with a blade. Add chilled butter, a few pieces at a time, and pulse until pea-size crumbles form. Remove bowl from processor. Add buttermilk, and stir with a fork until just combined.

Transfer to a floured work surface. Gently form dough into a rectangle 6-inches by 4-inches, about 1-inch thick. Dip a 3-inch round biscuit cutter into flour, and cut out rounds of dough. Press scraps together, and repeat with remaining dough until you have about 6 rounds.

Brush a 9-inch cake pan with melted butter, arrange biscuits in pan, and brush the tops with melted butter. Bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes.

Sawmill Gravy
2 slices bacon, finely chopped
8 oz. pork breakfast sausage
1⁄2 cup flour
3 cups milk
1⁄2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1⁄4 teaspoon cayenne
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Hot sauce, for serving

Make the gravy: Place bacon in a 4-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat, and cook, stirring occasionally, until its fat renders, about 3 minutes.

Add sausage and, cook, breaking it into small pieces with a wooden spoon, until browned, about 5 minutes.

Add flour, and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.

Add milk and cream, and bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium, and cook, stirring occasionally, until gravy is thickened, about 5 minutes.

Add vinegar, cayenne, and salt and pepper, and stir until combined.

To serve, split biscuits in half, and cover with gravy. For a truly Southern experience, serve with hot sauce.

Author: Rosemarie's Kitchen

I'm a wife, mother, grandmother and avid home cook.I believe in eating healthy whenever possible, while still managing to indulge in life's pleasures. View all posts by Rosemarie's Kitchen