Southern Style Biscuits with Sausage Gravy and Hash Browns

One of my favorite breakfasts to make because it's pretty impressive when you get everything ready and on the table at the same time. I go back to my southern roots with these biscuits, despite the fact that I'm not that southern, I just really love the food.

Ingredients:

Gravy:

1lb breakfast sausage

1T flour

1pint heavy cream

Black pepper to taste

Hash browns:

1T butter

1 Idaho potato
Salt

Biscuits:

2 cups AP flour

1 T plus 1 t baking powder

¼ t baking soda

½  t salt

2 T butter

2 T shortening

1.25 cups buttermilk

Directions:

Starting with the biscuits: preheat your oven to 450 then sift together the flour, baking powder, backing soda, and salt. Cut the butter and shortening into small pieces, make sure the butter is chilled, and work into the flour mixture using the tips of your fingers, so you don't melt the butter. Make a well in the dough and pour in the buttermilk, mix until the dough just comes together. Place the dough on a floured surface, flour the top of the dough, then fold the dough over itself 5 or 6 times. Press the dough into an inch thick square then cut out your biscuits using a 2 inch cutter. Reform the scraps and repeat.

Place the biscuits "shoulder to shoulder" or next to each other on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Make sure to gently press the top of each biscuit with your thumb to ensure that the biscuits rise evenly. Bake for 15 minutes or until the biscuits are nice and golden on the top.

Making the gravy starts with heating a 10 inch cast iron skillet over medium high heat and then breaking up 1lb of breakfast sausage into chunks then cooking them in the skillet. Once the sausage pieces are cooked thoroughly, remove from the heat. Sprinkle the flour on top of the sausage and stir the mixture until all of the moisture in the pan has been adsorbed by the flour. Then, slowly pour the pint of heavy cream into the skillet, being sure to stir constantly to keep the cream from breaking. Once all the cream is in the pan, return the heat to low and simmer until the gravy reaches the desired consistency. Season with fresh ground black pepper to taste. When the gravy has thickened, serve over biscuits split in half or reduce the heat further to keep it warm until it is time to serve.

The hash browns start by heating a 10 inch non-stick over medium high heat. Clean the potato and grate using the largest size opening in your box grater. Grate into a tea towel and squeeze out the extra moisture. Melt the butter in the skillet then add the potato and lightly salt it. Once the top starts cooking, flip over the potatoes, in once piece if possible. Cook until brown on both sides and then portion and serve.

I served all these elements together, but feel free to mix and match. I chose to serve this alongside a small fruit salad with scrambled eggs and the left over sausage links.