Southern Buttermilk Biscuits and Gravy

I fell in love with biscuits and gravy while at school in Tennessee. My life's goal for cooking was to find a good biscuit recipe. After years of experimenting I came up with this one. It's my son's Saturday morning favorite. The recipe is easy and the biscuits will magically disappear before your eyes.

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour plus some for dusting cutting board

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 stick butter, cold

1 cup buttermilk, (shaken) plus some for basting

4 teaspoons baking powder (recommended - Rumford, it contains no aluminum which is suspected of contributing to Alzheimer's disease)

Gravy recipes below

Note: recipe may be increased or decreased as follows:
For more biscuits, use 3 cups of flour, 4 teaspoons baking powder, and 1½ - 2 cups buttermilk.
For a larger batch – 4 cups of flour and 2 cups buttermilk.
For a smaller batch; 1½ cups of flour; 3 teaspoons baking powder and ¾ - 1 cup buttermilk

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Baking rack in middle of oven.
• In a large mixing bowl (the largest one you have), whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt. Mix well.
• Cut butter into thin slices then into smaller squares, avoid handling butter too much with your hands as it will soften – the butter needs to remain firm.
• Add butter pieces to flour mixture and ‘cut in’ with a pastry cutter or fork. The goal is to break up the butter into smaller pieces and incorporate with the dry ingredients. The butter will stick to the metal, scrape it off with a knife and keep going.
• After a few minutes of ‘cutting in’ the butter, its time to use your hands. Place a handful of the mixture between your hands and rub it back and forth over the mixing bowl. The idea is to break up the butter and coat it with the dry ingredients, until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs.
• Once this is done, make a shallow bowl shaped depression in the dry ingredients. Pour the buttermilk in. Gently mix with a spatula (a silicone spatula works great). Don’t overwork the dough, just until buttermilk is well mixed. The dough should be sticky. If there are dry parts in the dough add more buttermilk a little at a time and mix gently.
• Place parchment paper on heavy gauge (preferably steel) baking sheet.
• Dust your work surface with some flour. A large cutting board or pastry mat works well.
• Turn the dough onto the floured surface. 
• Knead dough for 3 - 4 minutes, folding each side toward the center and flattening repeatedly. Lightly dust the dough with additional flour as needed to keep it from sticking to the work surface
• I prefer to shape the dough into a long, thin roll about 2 inches wide for cutting. Some prefer a round shape. It’s your call. Shape the dough with your hands, pressing it down gently until it’s roughly ¾ to 1-inch in thickness.
• With a 2 -inch round cookie or biscuit cutter, cut the biscuits pressing the cutter straight downward. Place them on the parchment lined baking sheet. If you want larger biscuits, a 2 ½ or 3 inch cutter may be used.
• Re-shape leftover dough into a 1 inch thick piece and cut the last biscuits, placing them on the baking sheet.
• Using your fingers or a basting brush, lightly coat the tops of the biscuits with remaining buttermilk.
• Bake until golden brown, about 15 to 17 minutes.
• Serve with gravy.

There are some good packaged white gravy mixes available. I like them and they're easy to make. If you want to make your own there are 3 recipes below. The first is an authentic southern- style method. The second is probably the easiest. The 3rd adds a kick with some herbs and aromatics.

White Sausage Gravy
Ingredients:
1/2 lb pork sausage
Salt and Freshly ground pepper, to taste
4 tablespoons flour
Milk or half and half.
Directions:

• Brown sausage in a large skillet, on medium - high heat, breaking and crumbling as it browns.
• Add flour, stirring constantly with a whisk to make a roux.
• Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Reduce heat to low. Add a little milk at a time while stirring constantly until creamy.
• Serve over biscuits.

Easy White Gravy
Ingredients:
4 tbsp. butter
4 tbsp. flour
Salt
Pepper
2 1/2 cups milk
Directions:

• Melt butter in medium saucepan over low heat.
• Mix in flour, salt and pepper; cook, stirring frequently until smooth and bubbly.
• Stir in milk. Heat to boiling on medium heat, stirring constantly. Stir and boil 1 minute.
• Serve over biscuits.

Spicy White Gravy
Ingredients:
2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup cream
1/2 stick butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon diced chives
1 shallot finely chopped or 1/4 small onion
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 or 2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon sage
Directions:

• In a large saucepan on medium heat melt butter with olive oil.
• Sauté onions and chives, until onions are translucent.
• Add garlic and sauté another 2 minutes.
• Add flour; stir for about a minute to make a roux.
• Quickly whisk in milk and cream. Add salt and pepper to taste. Whisk gravy constantly until it becomes thick and creamy.
• Serve over biscuits