White Sausage Gravy and Cheddar biscuits

Make 4 servings
1/2  lb breakfast sausage (store bought or homemade)
4-8 cheddar biscuits (Store bought or homemade)
2 Tbs all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbs bacon drip

1. Heating bacon drip in a medium sauce pan over medium high heat.  Add sausage, break it up into small pieces, and stir occasionally until golden brown about 7 min.  Remove sausage from the pan.
2. Drain off but 2 Tbs fat.  Reduce the heat down to medium, whisk the flour in and constantly whisking about 1-2 minutes. Gradually stir in milk and whisk until smooth and the gravy starts to boil.  Reduce the heat to medium low or low and simmer until thickened about 2-3 minutes.  Add black pepper, sausage and simmer for 1-2 minutes, taste and adjust seasoning with salt (I use 1 tsp fish sauce )and ground black pepper. 
3. Split 1 or 2 warm biscuits in halves and arrange on a serving plate, pour some gravy on the top, sprinkle with some black pepper and serve immediately.  Refrigerate leftover.  

Note:
   Increase sausage to 3/4 lb (12 oz) if want a meaty gravy.
   If gravy is too thin just whisk in  1-2 Tbs  flour and cook to your liking.
   Leftover gravy may get too thick.  Warm it up and may add some more milk.
   1-2 thick slices of bacon maybe add to flavor gravy.  Just cut it into small pieces, fry until brown and use the rendered fat for cooking sausage and add the brown bacon pieces into the gravy with sausage or sprinkle on the top.

                     

Breakfast sausage-Thit Heo Xay Chien Kieu My 

Adapted from Breakfast Sausage of Alton Brown.

1 1/4 lb pork shoulder, butt or countryside cut with apparent fat streak, avoid using lean pork
1 tsp kosher salt or 1/2 tsp table salt
1/2 Tbs light brown sugar or maple syrup or honey
3/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves, finely chopped
1/4 tsp fresh rosemary leaves, finely chopped
1/4 tsp each cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes, grated nutmeg
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 small yellow onion, coarsely chopped
1 Tbs vegetable oil (optional)
Meat grinder or food processor, or your muscular chopping skill.

1. If use meat grinder (with fine blade),dice pork and pork fat into 1/4-in pieces.  If use food processor, slice pork thinly as you can.  Mix all ingredients together and chill for 1 hour,  or overnight in the fridge.  Grind the pork and form into 1 or 2-in rounds or divide into 12 rounds to make sandwiches, o Refrigerate and use in 1 week or freeze up to 3 months.
2. Saute patties over medium heat in a non-stick pan until brown about 10-15 minutes.  If the patties are brown too quick, lower the heat and may cover with lid to speeding up cooking  at first 5 minutes and uncover and continue to cook until the patties brown and cook through no pink in center.  
3. Serve with egg, bread, potatoes, cheese, biscuit, English muffin, etc. 
4. May crumble the patties, cook and serve with gravy, biscuits, 

Note:
   Fresh herbs keeps good flavor in the freezer for a long time, just keep left over in their own container and put into a freezer bag or container and put them in the freezer.  They become handy for holiday cooking coming up.
   May saute onion and garlic with vegetable oil to fragrant over medium high heat and let it cool down, before mix to the other ingredients.
   You can make 12 sandwich with 12 English muffins with sliced cheese and 12 fried eggs, wrap with plastic wraps and put them in freeze plastic bags or containers, freeze them and reheat by microwave for speedy breakfast. Micro wave about 10-20 minutes, just soft enough to open them in halves and continue 5-10 minutes more. Make sure all warm and soft.

 

Cheddar Cheese Biscuits with Garlic flavor 

Make 12 biscuits
2 cups all purpose flour
1 Tbs baking powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
4 Tbs cold butter (1/2 stick), cut into small pieces
4 oz (1 cup) cheddar cheese (sharp or extra sharp)  grated
2/3 cup whole milk
Brush on the top
2 Tbs unsalted butter, melted
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 Tbs fresh parley flake, cilantro or chive (or 1 tsp dried herbs)

1. Preheat oven to 450oF with rack at the center
2. Mix flour, baking powder, garlic, salt, and sugar in a mixing bowl
3. Cut cold butter in the flour by a large fork or pastry blender until the mixture resembles the texture of oatmeal or pea size.
4. Add cheddar cheese, milk.  Mix by hand or folk until liquid's just absorb. The dough still looks dry. Pat, press and knee the dough  with a little bit pressure into an incohesive ball, and pat them down flat.  Fold them into 3 layers like an envelope.  Roll out and fold two more times 
5. Roll out to 1/2 in thickness and cut into 2-1/2  in rounds.  Gently knee the scraps together and make a few more rounds. Place them 1 in apart on the baking sheet, greased or lined with parchment paper or silpat..
6. Bake 10-12 minutes, until light brown.  Take out of oven, let they cool on cooling rack.
7. Melt butter and stir in garlic powder and herb.  Brush on the top of biscuits/use up all butter.
8. Serve warm.  
9. Keep baked biscuits at room temperature up to 3 days or freeze them up to 3 months and thaw at room temperature before reheat them.  Warm them up in oven at 350oF for 3-5 minutes or toast them in toaster oven. Unbaked biscuits can be frozen and bake longer about 20 minutes without thawing.

Note:

   Omit garlic if you do not like garlic
   May use 1/2 to 1 cup of your favorite cheese, may mix different kinds like white and orange cheddar cheese together

   1 cup milk is used for drop biscuits

   Butter milk is used for the milk in buttermilk biscuit with 2 tsp baking powder and 1/4 tsp baking soda.
   Some bakers bake biscuits on ungreased cookie sheet but I found some biscuits got stuck to the ungreased pan.
   Place the biscuits nearly touch each others in a circle on the baking sheet before baking for soft sides.