Pisoma Kitchen's Standard Sausage Gravy

Ingredients

• 1 lb Pork sausage (ground breakfast sausage)
• 0.25 cup Reserved sausage fat (drained from the browned sausage; add butter if short)
• 0.25 cup All-purpose flour (to create the roux)
• Poultry seasoning (to taste; added to the roux for flavor extraction)
• Chicken base (such as Better Than Bouillon; added to the roux)
• 12 oz Evaporated milk (room temperature; constitutes half of the liquid)
• 1.5 cup Whole milk (room temperature)
• Black pepper (freshly ground, to taste)

Steps

1. 1

   Brown the ground pork sausage in a large skillet over medium-high heat until fully cooked and browned.

2. 2

   Drain the cooked sausage into a colander set over a bowl to collect the fat. Set the cooked sausage aside on a plate.

3. 3

   Measure out exactly 1/4 cup of the rendered sausage fat. If you don't have enough, supplement with butter to reach the 1/4 cup mark.

4. 4

   Return the 1/4 cup of fat to the skillet over medium heat. Whisk in 1/4 cup of all-purpose flour to create a roux.

5. 5

   While the fat and flour are cooking together, add the poultry seasoning and chicken base directly into the roux. Cook for 1-2 minutes to extract the flavors into the fat.

6. 6

   Ensure your evaporated milk and whole milk are at room temperature to prevent lumps.

7. 7

   Slowly whisk the room temperature evaporated milk and whole milk into the roux. Continue whisking constantly until the mixture thickens and becomes smooth and velvety.

8. 8

   Once the gravy has reached your desired consistency, fold the reserved cooked sausage back into the pan.

9. 9

   Season with plenty of black pepper and serve immediately over fresh biscuits.

Notes

Using room temperature liquids is the key to avoiding lumps when adding them to a hot roux. Evaporated milk is used because it is more stable under heat and prevents the gravy from splitting or pooling grease on top. Keeping the sausage out until the end prevents it from being broken down into too small of pieces during the whisking process.

Nutrition per serving

• breakfast
• brunch
• comfort food
• southern
• gravy
• sausage
• stovetop