Good Morning National Buttermilk Biscuit Day!

Today is National Buttermilk Biscuit Day. Aren’t we lucky that today also happens to be a Saturday. All the more reason to savor the morning, unhurried. Pour that extra cup of coffee and wake your family to the smells of biscuits baking.

One morning a while back, Hubby and I stopped to have breakfast at one of those tiny strip-mall diners. It didn’t matter what you ordered, breakfast came with a couple of warm, freshly baked biscuits. These biscuits were unlike anything I had ever seen before. They weren’t formed from rolled biscuit dough cut with a biscuit cutter or dropped by the heaping spoonful onto a baking sheet. These were square. How easy is that? Make the dough, spread it out in a pan and bake it. No extra steps of rolling or cutting or dropping. Less labor, but no less delicious.

While I adore warm biscuits in the morning, the truth is one cannot live by Buttermilk Biscuits alone. So let’s take those buttery square biscuits and build an entire down-home-on-the-farm morning meal. Yeah, this is good! Happy National Buttermilk Biscuit Day. Hope you enjoy!

Square Pan Buttermilk Biscuits
1/2 cup Butter
2-1/2 cups Flour
2 teaspoons Sugar
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
2 teaspoons Kosher Salt
1-3/4 cups Buttermilk

Heat oven to 450-degrees. Spray an 8-inch square baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.

In a small microwave save bowl, melt butter. Pour the butter into the baking dish. Tilt the pan to distribute the butter evenly. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour buttermilk into the well. Stir until a loose dough forms. Batter will be a bit sticky.

Press biscuit dough into baking dish, pressing down slightly into the butter. With a sharp knife cut the giant biscuit into 9 squares.

Place in the heated oven and bake for 10 minutes. Rotate the dish, continue to bake another 10 minutes or until golden an fluffy.

What goes better with warm, fluffy biscuits in the morning than sausage gravy, hash brown potatoes and scrambled eggs?

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Sausage Gravy
1/2 lb Pork Sausage
1 package Sausage Gravy Mix
2 cups Milk
Kosher Salt
Fresh Black Pepper

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Crumble sausage, brown, breaking sausage apart as it cooks. Allow sausage to develop a little sear as this adds flavor to the gravy. Sprinkle gravy mix over pork sausage, allowing mix to soak in the oils.

Gradually add milk, stirring well after each addition. Reduce heat to simmer and allow gravy to thicken. After adding 2 cups of milk, remove from heat. If thinner gravy is desired, add remaining 1/4 cup of milk. If not, simply season with salt and pepper.

Split biscuits in half, plate warm biscuits. Ladle gravy over biscuits just before serving.

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Perfect Hash Browns
2 medium Russet Potatoes
2 tablespoon Butter, divided
1 tablespoon Oil
Salt to taste
Black Pepper to taste

Bring a deep pot of water to a rolling boil. Select a pot that is large enough and deep enough to fully submerge a fine-mesh steamer basket.

Peel potatoes, shred and place potatoes into the basket. Submerge potatoes into the boiling water for about 2 or 3 minutes. Pull potatoes from the water, dump out on a large piece of cheesecloth. Allow potatoes to cool slightly, the squeeze out as much moisture as possible.

Meanwhile, melt butter, set aside. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add half of the melted butter to the skillet.

Once the potatoes are squeezed of any moisture, divide into two piles. Place each pile on a sheet of waxed paper. Form patties from each pile of potato. Place in the skillet and fry until golden on the outside, fluffy on the inside, about 3 or 4 minutes per side. If potatoes start to brown too quickly, reduce heat. Drizzle potatoes with remaining melted butter just before turning.

Season with salt and pepper just before serving.

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Skillet Scrambled Eggs
2 tablespoons Butter
8 Eggs
3 tablespoons Milk
Chives for garnish
Salt to taste
Black Pepper to taste

In a large skillet, melt butter. Swirl pan over medium heat to coat lightly with butter.

Crack eggs into a bowl, whisk well with milk. Pour eggs into skillet; cook over medium heat until eggs begin to set, stirring occasionally. milk, continue to cook until cooked through.

Snip chives for garnish. Fold chives into eggs just before serving. Season with salt and pepper.