Sausage Gravy and Bacon Biscuit Wedges

Sausage Gravy and Bacon Biscuit Wedges

That's right ... heart attack on a plate. Now, I don't mean to cause anyone harm or ruin your health, but we don't eat this way every day. I think saving something like this for once in a while is just fine. After all, my grandma lived to 97 on this type of food and a happy heart.

All kidding aside, if you're going to eat something bad for you, do it right, just don't do it often. This recipe calls for real butter, real sausage, real bacon and real milk - and I don't mean the skim kind. If you really need to you can go for turkey sausage and turkey bacon, just please don't use margarine for those biscuits, they really won't taste the same.

Cut butter into small cubes - about 1/2" each and add to flour, baking powder and salt mixture.

Add crumbled bacon - about 8 slices will yield 1/2 cup.

The best way to get the butter into the flour mixture is to rub it in with your hands. You can use a fork or pastry cutter, but you won't be able to feel if there are larger lumps of butter left. 

Once the milk is added and the dough comes together it needs to be kneaded. About 5 folds and turns should do it; the less you handle the dough, the more tender it will be. When the bacon bits pop out of the dough (they will!)  make sure you push them back in there, you don't want to lose any of it. 

Roll or press dough into an 8-inch circle - even if it doesn't look like a circle when you're done.

Score and then cut dough into 8 even wedges.

Put wedges on a greased pan or use silicone as above. Bake at 400 degrees F for 15 - 21 minutes.

Baked and risen bacon biscuit wedges. Let cool briefly before splitting. 

Cook sausage until no longer pink. Add flour and stir well until no dry flour is visible. Add milk slowly, 2 cups first then stir until it starts to thicken. Add remaining milk one cup at a time until thickened as desired.

Add as much black pepper as you like - we like 2 teaspoons for our double batch.

Around here we double the recipe and each person gets 2 biscuits and a bucketful of gravy.

Sausage Gravy and Bacon Biscuit Wedges
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

For the Bacon Biscuits

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cold butter cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/4 cup bacon crumbles - about 4 slices
1 cup milk or buttermilk


Directions:

1. Combine flour, baking powder and salt together in a medium mixing bowl.
2. Cut in butter and bacon until mixture resembles large crumbs.
3. Add milk half a cup at a time until a soft dough forms.
4. Knead dough about 5 turns and folds - less is better.
5. Form into an 8-inch disc and cut into 8 even wedges.
6. Bake in a 400 degree F oven for 15-21 minutes or until risen and lightly browned.

For the Sausage Gravy

Ingredients:

1 pound bulk breakfast sausage
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups milk
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper


Directions:

1. Cook sausage in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan until no longer pink.
2. Add flour and stir well until no dry areas are left.
3. Add milk, 1 cup at first, and stir until it begins to thicken.
4. Add remaining milk a cup at a time until the gravy is the consistency you like.
5. Taste for seasoning and add salt if you like.
6. Add pepper and stir well. Serve over bacon biscuits cut in half lengthwise.

Savory Breakfast Rolls

Savory Breakfast Rolls

Once again, I'm still here. Just in case you were worried. Life has gone and taken a complete 180% turnaround, though, and that's good. That's very good.

Savory Breakfast Rolls

I've moved again recently and am still getting settled. I'm pretty sure that will take the next year or so, but the kitchen (the most important room in the house) is almost finished and getting quite the workout already.

Savory Breakfast Rolls

I made these savory breakfast rolls today and the kids devoured them almost before I could grab a couple good ones for photos. Luckily for you, I was quick enough. The recipe is sort of whatever you'd like as a filling, but I'll tell you what I did and you can change it up to your heart's desire. I made one batch with sausage and bacon and the other with sausage, bacon and peppers.

Savory Breakfast Rolls

Savory Breakfast Rolls
Makes 8
Printable Recipe

One batch of biscuit dough for 8 rolls (or a can of 8 LARGE biscuits)
2 Tablespoons butter - melted
8 ounces breakfast sausage cooked and diced
4 ounces bacon cooked crisp and crumbled
1 cup prepared Alfredo sauce
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

 Heat oven to 375 degrees F Roll biscuit dough to a 12 x 8 rectangle.
Spread with butter followed by 3/4 cup Alfredo sauce.
Sprinkle evenly with sausage, bacon and cheese.
Roll up from short end and cut evenly into 8 slices.
Place into a round baking pan that has been lined with parchment or otherwise greased.
Flatten each roll slightly.
Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until golden brown.
Cool for 5 minutes and top each roll with remaining Alfredo sauce.

*If using peppers or peppers and onions, dice small and cook first until soft. Use approximately 1/2 cup.Add with meats and cheese.

 

Carnation Evaporated Milk - The Cooking Milk

Our Favorite Macaroni and Cheese

I recall at one time thinking that evaporated milk and sweetened condensed milk were one and the same. Imagine that realization coming from attempting to substitute one for another. After that single incident, I shied away from evaporated milk, not really understanding what it was or why anyone would use it.

I started getting back into it quite accidentally; my mother was moving to a smaller home and cleared out her overfull cabinets, passing the contents on to me and my brood. Within the cans and boxes given to me were several cans of evaporated milk. I figured if mom used it, it couldn't be all bad and there must be some way to use it up.

I experimented and came to love it. It was cheaper than cream and healthier, too (twice the protein and calcium of regular milk) - but every bit as rich. When I used it for things like cream soups, baking pies or macaroni and cheese, there was no difference in performance between it and cream, but it was definitely creamier and richer than using milk. I now always have cans on-hand for things like my favorite salmon chowder and the kids' favorite macaroni and cheese. The fact that I like Carnation more than any other is par for the course here. I've used Carnation everything - including formula for my babies who needed extra help - since I've been old enough to purchase my own food.

My mother used it for pies most often, but the fact that it translates so well into savory dishes seems to have been lost on her. Here are two recipes using Carnation Evaporated Milk that are pretty near perfection. The first recipe, Loaded Potato Potluck Favorite, comes from the Carnation Holiday Cookbooklet. You can download it for yourself here: http://bit.ly/CEMholiday

These were awesome and didn't last very long at all. The green onion is optional, but I love the stuff, so there's no way I would leave it out. I think it added just the right contrast to the cheese and bacon, too.

Creamy, delicious, perfect.

The second is our own favorite macaroni and cheese - see photo above. Using evaporated milk in lieu of regular milk does nothing but make this even better than usual. The cheese seemed to melt better in the evaporated milk and the overall result is heavenly.

Our Favorite Macaroni and Cheese with Bacon

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Serves 8

Printable Recipe

1 pound elbow macaroni - cooked al dente

1 can (12 ounces) Carnation Evaporated Milk (any fat content works as well as the next)

1 pound (4 cups) shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1/2 pound bacon - cooked crisp and crumbled

1 teaspoon Kosher salt

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

2. In a small saucepan heat evaporated milk gently just until hot. Do not boil.

3. Add shredded Monterey Jack cheese and stir until melted. Add salt and paprika and blend well.

4. Toss cooked macaroni with bacon and pour cheese mixture over all. Stir and pour into a greased 9x13 baking dish.

5. Top with cheddar cheese and bake for 20-30 minutes or until bubbly and just beginning to brown.

For more information about Carnation Evaporated Milk, check out the following links:

Cooking Benefits of evaporated milk:
http://bit.ly/cookingbenefits

Nutrition Info:
http://bit.ly/o2onutrition

The different types of evaporated milk:
http://bit.ly/rightmilkforyou

Carnation Virtual Kitchen:
http://bit.ly/carnationvirtualkitchen

Additional Recipe Ideas:
http://bit.ly/additionalrecipes

Recipe Personality Quiz:
http://bit.ly/recipepersonalityquiz

Coupons for product and stipend for recipes graciously provided by Carnation and Cassie Boorn of One2One Network. This is not a paid product endorsement.

Bacon Pie

Bacon Pie

Bacon pie, it turns out, may be just a joke. Dear George asked if I ever made bacon pie - my response was, "What's that?" He told me he had friends who talked about a pie that was popular in Upstate New York and made it out to be the best stuff going. The only reference I could find online was at an urban dictionary - something about it being consumed with root beer. I also consulted Mr. Dave, author of Ridiculous Food Society of Upstate New York and he told me the only pie he could recall having was more akin to the Bisquick 'Impossible Pie' type and served with gravy rather than having gravy in the pie. Oh, and Dave has more bacon recipes than a person should and each one looks heart-stoppingly delicious. And I do mean heart-stoppingly.

No matter, I came up with my own recipe based on what George told me, which was, "eggs, sausage, bacon and gravy". There are several other names I could think of for this pie like: Heart Attack Pie, Stroke-For-Sure Pie, Go-Broke-Quick Pie or Lard Butt Special, but I think for now we'll just go with Bacon Pie.

I had one child tell me, 'this should be a daily food here'. Yeah -- it's good. As always, eat at your own risk.

Bacon Pie

Bacon Pie
Serves 8
Printable Recipe

1/2 pound bacon - cut into small dice
1 pound breakfast sausage - cut into small chunks
12 eggs
1 double pie crust for 9-inch pie
flour
milk or water
salt and pepper to taste

Prepare pie dough and set aside. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Beat eggs well and cook until no longer runny (scrambled eggs - folks). Set aside in a large bowl.
Cook bacon and sausage in the same pan until the bacon is crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon and put into the same bowl with the eggs.
Turn the heat to medium-low and add flour to the drippings - there should be about 1/2 cup of drippings to which you would add 3/4 cup flour. Whisk the flour into the drippings and slowly add water or milk (it really is just a preference here) until a thick gravy forms. Cook for several minutes to cook out any flour taste. Salt and pepper to taste.
Add eggs, sausage and bacon back into the gravy. Stir until everything is well coated.
Pour into the bottom pie crust, top with remaining dough and vent with a knife.
Bake for 30 minutes or until top is browned and filling is bubbling out the sides of the crust. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.

Don't eat this more than once a year.

Bacon in the Budget

Bacon Pancakes - recipe below

Bacon is quickly taking on a role as the new chocolate as of late and I'm on that wagon, for sure. Bacon lovers are coming 'out of the closet' with a fervor and I'm more than happy to join the ranks of newly outted pork belly fanatics whether it's PC or not.

However (come on, there has to be a 'however' here) bacon is expensive and not-so-good for a person's health. What to do? Bacon ends. I'm not talking the fat-only type, and don't let your butcher get away with handing that to you, I'm talking the kind with a good amount of meat still on them and all the flavor of the more picture-perfect slices. There are many areas where you can actually purchase boxes of bacon ends for your freezer. If you don't have that available, ask at the meat counter.

Here's the health part; it doesn't take a lot of bacon to get a good bacon flavor. Take those ends and cook them up until crisp. Drain well and crumble into bacon bits. While you're at it, save the bacon grease for other uses. Strain out the cooked bits of bacon and freeze the leftover drippings in small containers. It only takes a tablespoon or so to add flavor to soups, stews, casseroles and gravies.

This recipe is for Bacon Pancakes. In a family as large as ours, the bacon budget can get out of hand rather quickly. To have all the flavor without all the cost, try crumbling bacon right into the pancakes as they cook. Everyone in the family loves these.

Bacon Pancakes
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

1 recipe pancake batter (use whatever you really like - my favorite is still the BH&G New Cookbook basic recipe)
1/2 pound bacon cooked crisp and crumbled

Ladle pancake batter onto hot griddle in the amount desired (1/3 cup works well) and top with crumbled bacon. Flip when bubbles appear on surface of pancake and edges are dry.


You can always mix the bacon right into the batter, but I find that the bacon that rests on the bottom of the pan gets too done that way.

Other Bacon Recipes:

Bacon at Cooking with Anne
Bacon at A Thousand Soups


More on Meal Planning and Budgeting:

More on Food Budgeting
Budget Meal Planning
What's For Dinner?

P.S. Check out Cooking with Anne and Short Order Mom on Parentdish.com today!