Yesterday, I posted on Facebook a picture of our home-cooked dinner of southern style sausage gravy and biscuits. Here’s the picture:

It generated more comments and likes than I expected because, I mean, who really wants to see pictures of other people’s dinners? We’re so over that. 

But, I got several messages from friends asking for the recipe for the meal. These friends all live here in Taiwan where it is impossible to buy breakfast sausage or canned biscuits. (Yes, I know that canned biscuits are a shortcut, but they make the meal SO much easier). So, with specific instructions for my ex-pat friends in Taiwan, here’s how to make sausage gravy and biscuits.

Sausage (Jimmy Dean breakfast sausage copycat recipe)

For every 1 lb. of ground pork:

• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon rubbed sage (or more) or ground sage
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh course ground black pepper or white pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme (or more)
• 1/4 teaspoon coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

Mix together spices. Then knead spices into ground pork. (You can fill a quart-size freezer bag with 1 lb. of sausage and freeze for later).

Sausage Gravy

This recipe is so easy that I’m almost embarrassed to post it. In fact, when my mom was teaching me to make this back in the day, she had to specially measure the milk and flour because she had always just eyeballed it in the past. Now I don’t have to measure either.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. sausage
• 1 cup flour
• 6-7 cups milk
• salt and pepper to taste

Brown sausage in skillet. Do not drain grease. Add flour and stir until absorbed. Add milk and stir until mixture thickens.

The recipe makes a family-size portion. You could easily cut it in half if you’re looking for a smaller meal.

Biscuits

You can use any biscuit recipe you like. Here’s my mom’s recipe for biscuits from scratch (you don’t mind me sharing, right Mom?):

• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tbsp. baking powder
• 3 tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 cup vegetable shortening (Crisco)
• 2 packages active dry yeast
• 2-4 tbsp. warm water
• 2 cups buttermilk

Combine dry ingredients. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add dissolved yeast and buttermilk to dry ingredients; mix well. Roll out desired amount between wax paper to a little over ¼ inch thick. Cut with floured 2-inch biscuit cutter. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place biscuits on lightly greased pan. Let rise 10 minutes. Bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown.

Dough can be refrigerated for one week in air-tight plastic bag.

OR if you’re in Taiwan and shop at Costco, you probably buy Krusteaz Buttermilk Pancake Mix. They have a very simple recipe online for biscuits made from their pancake mix. That’s what we use, and it’s a very good substitute for from-scratch biscuits. You can find the link here.

That’s it! I hope you enjoy this meal as much as I do.