Biscuits & Gravy

If I ever need to come up with a death row last meal request, this is it.

In my pre-gluten free days I used to make this at least twice a month. Since the Celiacs, I’ve tried a version over GF waffles that I call Country Eggs Benedict. Tasty, but not the real deal, so I kind of gave up making it altogether.

But prompted by my success with making gluten-free biscuits and Nobel Pig’s great sausage gravy post, I decided to try whipping up a batch of honest-to-god-clog-your-arteries-and-put-a-smile-on-your-face biscuits and gravy.

Ingredients
1 pound pork breakfast sausage (Jimmy Dean’s in the case)
2 cups whole milk
1/4 cup gluten-free flour (I like Pamela’s Amazing Bread Mix or Gluten-Free Pantry Country French Bread Mix)
3 tablespoon pancetta, diced
1 tablespoon bacon grease
1 teaspoon dried sage
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Directions
Melt the bacon grease in a  large skillet. Add the sausage and pancetta and cook until the sausage is uniformly brown and the pancetta is a little crispy. Do not drain. Add the sage, red pepper, salt, and black pepper and stir to combine. Add the flour and cook over low heat for 5 minutes until it forms a roux and begins to brown.

Remove pan from heat and stir in milk a little at a time. Scape the bottom to get up any brown bits. Return to medium-high heat and stir occasionally until gravy comes to a simmer and starts to thicken, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and ladle over warm biscuits.

The Verdict:
Man, they were good! The pancetta added some crispy bits and porky goodness, while the bacon fat added a smoky richness. The red pepper and a shot of hot sauce warmed up the gravy, and the soft biscuits did a fine job of soaking up all that wonderfulness. Perfect. They could strap me in ol’ sparky tomorrow and I’d be a happy man.