ISO: ISO: Sausage gravy for biscuits: how to make it really yummy

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anna_x

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I was Iowa-born but live in California. I've made sausage gravy with a bit of fine onion, plenty of sausage, cooked flour in the drippings, salt, pepper and a bit of nutmeg maybe. I htink it's pretty good. What's not to like about meaty calories, right?

My son went to school in Gainesville and loved their version. His wife from FL is not a cook and just buys a commercial gravy packet. All those extra chemicals probably boost the flavor but what can be done at home to make it really tasty?

Hoping you will share your southern secrets with me! Thanks!

 
You have it just right but when you make the gravy after browning the meat and adding the

flour, add milk, not water. Also needs a LOT of black pepper. That's what's in the packet, along with flour. But "sawmill" gravy is a milk gravy.

 
Chef recipe is interesting but

Why would you puree the whole pot? Sure, the gravy would look more refined but I like to see the sausage crumbles. Personal preference.
I will try a bit of lemon juice, Tabasco, and Worcestershire. I think I've added the W before. And I can up the sage level.
Thanks for the link, Gay!

 
Whatever you do, make sure you put enough salt in it and . . .

DON"T make it too thick! (personal preference here; I have had it so thick at some places that you could almost slice it while hot to put on your biscuits!

I have also had stuff so under seasoned (salted) that you might as well be eating dessert pudding.

 
Also, nicely brown your sausage, remove the sausage and then continue to cook . . .

the drippings in the pan so that they form a nice brown "fond" on the pan's bottom. This adds quite a bit of flavor with all that browned meat juice when you deglaze for the gravy.

 
I make it both ways. W/water it seems more savory, with milk/cream, more sweet. And. . .

wasn't brought up with biscuits and gravy; never had any until I was an adult, just before I got married. So not being brought up with the stuff, I have no childhood formed, umm, opinions one way or the other. smileys/smile.gif

I do like 50-50 milk and water (or broth). . .

 
I’ve made and eaten biscuits and gravy all my life

All I do is make sure my roux gets nice and brown before adding my milk. I’d rather have a sausage patty on the side instead of in the gravy.

I actually prefer the gravy made from bacon fat instead of sausage.

Sausage or bacon fat, flour, milk, salt and plenty of pepper. That is it. It will thicken very quickly off the stove, so it should be fairly thin when you finish.

 
Thanks, you have all given me ideas to try

Mistral, I had been sprinking the flour over the meat and letting it cook. Now, I will remove the sausage and really let it brown before deglazing.
I will divide the next batch and try with water to see if that adds the savory I'm looking for. Never thought of that, so thanks!
Gay, I will puree at least some of the gravy and season it up.
Melissa, I hear what you say about too thick. I'm going to add a bit of chopped bacon to my next batch. It might just be the cook's secret ingredient!
So, thanks for inspiring me to get back in the kitchen. I've been getting tired of me and same old stuff while stuck at home.

 
Ooh, I am with you, bacon fat gravy is wonderful, but then I love bacon . . .

Sausage gravy is good too, but it needs to have, I feel, more good, full-flavored sausage fat in it so that the sausage flavor will not be overwhelmed by the milk.

And you are right, it thickens off the heat!

I remember going on a big road-trip with my boyfriend (now husband), rolling over in to Texas and seeing that Mc Donald's served biscuits and gravy. Never heard of it before then!

 
I second this!

My great-grandmother made the best sausage gravy. You start with a good sausage.

She would brown the sausage and crumble it up, then sprinkle the flour evenly over the fat and sausage in the pan, stirring, and cooking on low to brown the flour (KEY STEP as Melissa said). Then she would pour in the milk and stir to make it a nice thick gravy. Lots of pepper. We never add salt because the sausage has enough salt in it for me.

That's it: sausage, flour, milk, pepper. 4 ingredients.

 
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