12/06/2010

Sausage Gravy Buns

A couple of years ago, I made up some 'pizza buns'.  I made up some pizza dough, rolled it out into a rectangle, covered it with pizza toppings, rolled it up like cinnamon buns, topped it with a bit more pizza sauce and cheese, and baked them up.  On a cold drive out to a winter camping spot, they were devoured by my troop of hungry scouts.

A couple of months ago, I saw King Arthur Flour's recipe for Quick Rise Caramel Buns.  I tried it for my family, but they were a bit put off by their 'biscuity-ness' (I thought they were fine, and even made a batch using my friend's gluten-free flour mix).

Yesterday, I was struck with a great idea.  Savory buns worked out really well, and (I thought) the biscuit style buns were pretty good -- why not combine the two?  I decided to make breakfast for dinner, and this is what I did:

I started by whipping up some sausage gravy (yeah, this is another scout camp favorite).
1# breakfast sausage

1 T butter
1/4 c flour
2 c butter milk


Fry the sausage until cooked through and lightly browned.  Try to chop up the sausage with a spatula as it cooks to create smaller chunks.  Once the sausage is done, add the butter and melt it.  Then, add the flour and mix well to create a roux of sorts.  Once you've smoothed out all the lumps, you can add the buttermilk and stir while the gravy thickens.  After the gravy is thick, add salt and pepper to taste and remove from the heat.

Now, to the biscuit/buns ...
2 c flour (plus extra for rolling it out)
1/2 c instant mashed potato flakes
4 t baking powder
1 t salt
1 large egg
1/4 c melted butter
1 c buttermilk

Grease a pie pan, and preheat your oven to 350F.

Combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl, then add the egg, butter, and buttermilk.  Mix together and knead lightly.  You're looking for a smooth, not quite sticky, dough.  Turn it out onto a floured board and roll into a rectangle about 9" x 14".

Spread 1/2 of the sausage onto the biscuit dough, leaving an inch or so clear on one long edge.  Roll the dough and sausage to form a cinnamon bun like roll.  Slice it into 1-2" think slices and place into the pie pan.


Bake the buns for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown and done.  (Internal temp should be 195F.)


During the last 10 minutes or so of baking, add another 2 cups of buttemilk to the remaining half of the gravy.  Cook over medium heat to thinken, then add salt and pepper to taste.

Separate the sausage-gravy buns onto plates, top with remaining gravy, and serve.