Winter 2008 - 2009
Morning Warmth Recipes
RIVER RUN BISCUITS AND SAUSAGE GRAVY
For the biscuits:
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
12 Tablespoons butter, well chilled
2 1/2 cups buttermilk
For
the gravy:
1 pound loose pork sausage
6 3/4 cups half-and-half or whole milk
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Make the biscuits: Set the oven to 450 degrees. Grease a cookie sheet or line it with baking parchment.
In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and baking soda. Cut the butter into small pieces and distribute throughout the flour. Then, using a pastry blender, or your fingers, mash the butter into the flour until the mixture is the consistency of coarse corn meal. (You can also do this with a food processor.)
Add the buttermilk and mix briefly, just until all dry ingredients are incorporated into the dough. Over mixing will make the biscuits tough.
Turn the dough out onto a very well-floured surface and knead it a little bit, working in a bit more flour so that it is not totally sticky. Pat it out to a thickness of 1 1/2 to 2 inches. Cut with a 3 1/2-inch round cookie cutter or the floured rim of a large drinking glass.
Place the first biscuit at the center of the prepared baking sheet. Nestle the other biscuits around the first one, so the sides are touching. Bake 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown.
Remove from oven, and allow to cool somewhat. Break them apart into individual biscuits, and serve warm.
Make the gravy: In a heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven, brown the sausage over medium heat, stirring and breaking it up as you cook. When browned, drain off all of the grease. Pour 6 cups of the half-and-half (or milk) over the sausage and increase heat to medium high. Heat until hot, but don’t let it boil.
In a small bowl, mix the flour with the remaining 3/4 cup half-and-half (or milk) and whisk or stir with a fork until it is smooth (no lumps!). Whisk or stir this mixture into the sausage mixture. Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue stirring until the gravy thickens, 5 to 10 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in the seasonings. Serve immediately over split biscuits, or let cool, cover and refrigerate until ready to use (reheat before serving).
Yield: at least 8 huge servings
VERMONT EGGS
1/2 cup light cream
6 eggs
salt and pepper
Hot buttered toast, for serving
Pour the cream into a heavy skillet just large enough to hold the eggs. Set the skillet over low heat. Break the eggs carefully into the cream and season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook over very low heat until the whites are set, about 15 minutes. Spoon each egg, with sauce from the pan, on to a slice of hot buttered toast.
Yield: 6 servings
Recipe from “The Old Cook’s Almanac,” by Beatrice Vaughan (The Stephen Greene Press, 1966).
UP FOR BREAKFAST’S WILD TURKEY HASH
Soybean oil or other vegetable oil
2 red bell peppers, stemmed, seeded and chopped
2 green bell peppers, stemmed, seeded and chopped
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
6 cups sliced button mushrooms
5 cups diced cooked turkey
7 cups diced cooked red potatoes (skin on), cooled
1 1/2 cups pine nuts
1 1/2 teaspoons Tabasco sauce
4 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup dried thyme
up to 1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne
1 quart half-and-half
For
serving:
6 to 8 poached eggs
Hollandaise sauce (optional)
Pour a thin film of oil to cover the bottom of a 10- to 12-inch skillet. Heat over medium heat. Add the bell peppers, onion, and mushrooms and cook until the peppers are soft, the onions translucent, and the mushrooms are beginning to give up some of their liquid, about 10 minutes.
Add the turkey, potatoes, pine nuts and stir to mix. Stir in the Tabasco, salt, and thyme and the cayenne to taste (be conservative, you can add more later). Stir in the half-and-half. Partially cover the skillet and cook over low heat for about 45 minutes to 1 hour. The half-and-half will be absorbed into the hash. This is a loose hash, not a solid cake.
Serve with poached eggs and hollandaise and toast.
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
