Homemade Breakfast Sausage and Gravy

I have another idea for Easter Brunch...or brunch any time of the year if you don't celebrate Easter.  Homemade Breakfast Sausage and Gravy, perfect breakfast/brunch eats.  This is something I threw together a few weeks ago when Mr. Schwartz and I enjoyed a lazy Sunday morning.  If I can remember correctly it was before Rem, our now 12 week old puppy, was part of our family.  That means we enjoyed this in peace.  Ahhh those were the days...I mean I love Rem. : )  Seriously, I do.  

This comes together super fast and you could feed an army if you made enough of it.  Try it out and let me know what you think. 

Musical Selection:  Down on the Corner by: Creedence Clearwater Revival.  Just sounded good today. Great song to jam in the kitchen to. Ask my mom.

Start with plain old ground pork sausage.  No flavoring...that comes next.

Add garlic salt...

Sage or if you are like me and don't have any, poultry seasoning.  Sage is a main spice in poultry seasoning. Either will work.

For some heat, add a few shakes of red pepper flakes.  We like it spicy and I knew that the gravy would take out a bit of the heat so I added quite a bit.

A little freshly cracked black pepper and give it a good mix.  But, as I always say, don't over mix, it makes for tough meat.  Mix just until combined.

Then, make a little mini patty and fry it up.

Give it a taste to make sure the flavors are right. They were...onward...

Make patties with the sausage.  Super easy and if you can't get them perfectly round its fine, this is a 'rustic' dish.

Fry them up.  A few minutes on each side and they will be set.

For the gravy, add a bit of butter and let it melt.

Toss in some flour and give it a good stir.

Like this... let it cook for about 3 minutes to get the floury taste out of it.  You don't want to brown it because you want a light colored gravy.

Pour in some milk, while stirring and taking a picture.  Blogging is hard.

Let it bubble away until you reach the desired consistency.  Try to add a little milk at a time so it doesn't get too runny on you.

Season with lots of black pepper

And salt.  Give it a taste.  If it is lacking flavor, add more salt and pepper.  The gravy doesn't have a whole lot of flavor, leave that to the sausage.

Split a buiscut.  I used the refrigerator kind and it was fabulous.  I don't regret it for one second.

Place a sausage patty on each side.

Top with gravy...

And devour.

Oh hi cuties.

Did I sell you on making these this weekend?  

Homemade Breakfast Sausage and Gravy

For the sausage:

1lb ground pork sausage, unflavored

1 teaspoon ground sage or poultry seasoning

3/4 teaspoon garlic salt

1/2 teaspoon (more or less according to your taste) red pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

For the gravy:

2 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons flour

3 cups (or so) milk--skim/low fat is just fine

1/2 teaspoon (or so) black pepper

1/2 teaspoon (or so) salt 

For serving

buiscuts, the refrigerated variety is fine

To begin, combine the sausage and seasonings.  Mix just until combined, form into patties including one tiny patty.  Take the little patty and  place in a preheated skillet (cast iron works perfectly for this whole dish--minus the biscuits) on medium-high heat. Cook the little patty for just a few minutes or until it is no longer pink in the middle.  Taste for seasoning, if it needs more spice, add red pepper flakes/black pepper.  If it tastes awesome,  cook the remaining sausage patties for about 3 minutes on each side or until no longer pink in the middle.  Remove from the pan and place on a plate lined with paper towels.  

Add the butter to the pan (still on medium-high heat) and let it melt.  Once melted, add the flour, stirring with a whisk.  Cook and stir for about 3 minutes.  While continuing to stir, add the milk slowly until you have reached your desired consistency.  Keep in mind the gravy will thicken as it heats through and sits.  

Top biscuit with a sausage patty, pour on the gravy and enjoy! 

Recipe by: Mrs. Schwartz 

**Note that there are a lot of (or so's) in this recipe.  That means that it is not a big deal if you add more or less of anything!  It is really simple and just adjust things to your taste**