Buttermilk Biscuits with Sausage Gravy

Buttermilk Biscuits with Sausage Gravy
By: The Culinary Institute of America Breakfasts & Brunches

1 ¼ cups cold buttermilk
1 large egg
2 cups bread flour
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
3 Tablespoons sugar
2 Tablespoons baking powder
1 ¼ teaspoons salt
¾ cup cold butter, diced
Egg wash of 1 egg yolk whisked with 2 Tablespoons heavy whipping cream
Sausage Gravy (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare baking sheet by spraying it lightly with cooking spray or lining it with parchment paper.

Combine the buttermilk and egg in a small bowl and blend until evenly mixed. Set aside.

Sift the flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Add the butter, cutting it into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse meal. You should still be able to see small pieces of butter.

Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture, stirring until barely combined. The dough will look coarse and shaggy at this point.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface, press into a ball, and knead once or twice. Press or roll the dough out to a thickness of ½ inch. Cut out the biscuits using a 2 ½ inch cutter. Gather scraps together, reroll, and cut additional biscuits. Place the biscuits on the prepared pan about 1 inch apart and lightly brush the tops with egg wash. Refrigerate uncovered for 15 minutes.

Bake the biscuits until they have risen and the tops are golden brown, 18-20 minutes. Serve the biscuits very hot, directly from the oven, accompanied by the sausage gravy.

Makes 12 biscuits

Sausage Gravy:
8oz breakfast sausage
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
2 Tablespoons flour
2 cups milk, plus as needed
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Crumble the sausage into the pan and sauté, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon and breaking up the sausage as it cooks, until it is a golden brown and thoroughly cooked, about 5 minutes. Transfer sausage from the pan to a colander and set in a bowl and let drain.

Add the vegetable oil and the flour to the same pan used to cook the sausage. Stir to blend and cook over medium heat, stirring well to scrape up any brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture is a pale golden brown, about 3 minutes.

Add the milk, whisking constantly to remove any lumps. Simmer over low heat, stirring frequently, until the gravy is thickened, about 20 minutes. Taste the gravy and add salt and pepper to taste. If the gravy is too thick, thin it with a little additional milk; use only enough to get a pourable consistency.

Return the cooked sausage to the gravy. Adjust the seasoning with additional salt and pepper, if necessary.

Makes 2 cups