31 Great Labor Day Grilling Recipes | Kitchen Daily.
Planning on doing some grilling on Labor Day but what to go beyond the usual hamburgers and hot dogs? Kitchen Daily has put together 31 great grilling recipes for you that cover everything from your appetizers and main courses to side dishes and dessert so you can grill every part of your meal and make the most of that last unofficial day of summer. Check out the recipes and find one to try this weekend!
For me, finding new and different ways to cook ribs mostly means finding a new sauce or glaze to use on the ribs themselves. Since I am limited to just the use of my oven, I don’t have the options of a gas grill, charcoal grill or smoker at my disposal to use different methods to bring out different flavors. When I saw this recipe for Alton Brown’s backyard baby back ribs, I knew I wanted to try it, but I didn’t have the backyard methods to use like he does in the recipe. I also didn’t have any baby back ribs on hand; I only had some St. Louis spareribs in the freezer. I really liked the sound of the rub and the marinade on the ribs however so I decided to adapt it for my purposes. I’ll show you the original recipe here and then tell you what I did to change things around after.
Alton Brown’s Backyard Baby Back Ribs
2 full racks/slabs (about 4 1/2 pounds) baby back pork ribs
Kosher salt
6 tablespoons Rub Number Nine, recipe follows
1/2 cup orange juice (not fresh squeezed)
1/2 cup margarita mix
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon espresso powder or instant coffee powder
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Rub Number Nine:
1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar
3/4 cup chili powder
1/4 cup garlic powder
2 tablespoons ground thyme
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon allspice
Place each rib rack on a sheet of extra-wide, heavy-duty aluminum foil. (The foil should be 4 inches longer than the ribs on either end.) Season the rib racks liberally with kosher salt and sprinkle each rack with 3 tablespoons of the rub. Turn the ribs, meat side down, and tightly seal each foil pouch. Place on a half sheet pan and refrigerate the ribs overnight.
The next day, heat the oven to 250 degrees.
Combine the orange juice and margarita mix in a liquid measuring cup. Open 1 end of each pouch and evenly divide the liquid between the 2 pouches. Reseal the pouches and place the sheet pan in the oven for 2 hours. Remove the ribs from the oven, carefully open 1 end of each pouch and pour the braising liquid into a heatproof measuring cup. Reseal the pouches and place them and the measuring cup of liquid into the refrigerator for up to 8 hours.
The fat in the braising liquid will have solidified on the top and can be removed at this time. Transfer the liquid to a small saucepan and add the honey, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, espresso powder and cayenne pepper. Whisk the ingredients until they are well combined. Set the saucepan over medium-high heat and reduce the mixture to a glaze, about 10 minutes.
Set a gas grill to medium-high and allow it to heat for 10 minutes. Cut each slab of ribs in half and place them on the grill, flesh side down, close the lid and decrease the heat to medium. Leave everything alone for 3 minutes. Flip and cook the ribs for another 3 minutes. Flip and cook the ribs for 3 minutes on each side 1 more time or until each rib has a nice char. Remove the ribs from the grill to a cutting board. and cut the slabs into 2 rib portions, using kitchen shears. Add the ribs and half the glaze to a large serving bowl and toss the ribs to thoroughly coat them. Serve the remaining glaze on the side.
For the rub, place all of the ingredients in an airtight container and shake to combine. Store for up to 3 months.
Really the only change I made in the recipe comes in the final step. I heated the glaze in a small saucepan while I baked the ribs in a 375 degree oven for 25 minutes. I then glazed the ribs, turned the heat up to 400 and baked them for another 15 minutes before glazing them a final time and putting them under the broil for 2 or 3 minutes to get the char on them. Keep in mind I was using the St. Louis ribs, which are thicker and larger than baby back ribs, so they do take longer to cook through properly. It may not turn out the same as it would with a gas grill, but the ribs were still cooked well and tasted great. I really love the glaze and although I was skeptical with the use of the margarita mix in the whole thing, it did work quite nicely along with the orange juice, honey and the espresso powder. I would certainly give these ribs a try again. I apologize for the fuzzy picture; I didn’t realize it had not turned out well and didn’t take another one, but trust me, they are good!
That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!
Pulled pork is one of those great meals to serve when you know you are having a crowd over for dinner, but it can also be great for a weeknight meal for the family and then give you plenty of leftovers to do something with. You certainly have your options when it comes to making the pulled pork itself. You can make it in the oven, smoke your own on the grill or smoker if you have one or even make it in the slow cooker to save you some time, energy and prevent the kitchen from overheating in the summer months. However you decide to make it, once you have the leftovers you may get a little tired of having pulled pork sandwiches or pulled pork over rice. Sure you can always whip up a batch of pulled pork nachos, but I decided to take some of what I had leftover and make use of this recipe from Kelsey Nixon of the Cooking Channel. While her recipe calls for the use of leftover shredded pork, I liked the way it worked with the pulled pork instead and decided to use it that way.
Pulled Pork and Pineapple Nachos
1 1/2 pounds of cooked pulled pork (in the oven or the slow cooker)
Corn or four tortillas, warmed
2 cups fresh pineapple, cut into a 1/2-inch dice
Fresh cilantro sprigs, for garnish
Shredded red cabbage or coleslaw, for garnish
Pickled red onions, for garnish
Guacamole, for garnish
Sour cream, for garnish
Shredded Mexican cheese, for garnish
In a large saucepan, warm the pulled pork over medium heat until it is re-heated through. Warm the tortillas individually in a medium skillet set over high heat for 30 seconds to 1 minute or take a stack and wrap them in plastic wrap and heat them in the microwave for 1 minute until warmed through. Top the warmed tortillas with some of the pulled pork and the fresh diced pineapple. Add the other garnishes that you like, such as guacamole, sour cream, cilantro, coleslaw or shredded cabbage, shredded cheese or pickled red onions and serve. Let each person make their own tacos as they like it best.
This can’t get much easier and is a great use of your leftovers. The pineapple and pork go together really well and you get such great flavor from the spices of the pulled pork. I even added some of the black bean salad with mango I had made the day before to the dish for some extra freshness and bite and it really worked well. You could try this with any type of pork you may have leftover, such as tenderloin or chops and just cut them into thin strips and re-heat them lightly with some spice and you can have great tacos from that.
That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!
I spent the last week down in the Outer Banks in North Carolina with my family just relaxing and enjoying the sun and not doing much cooking along the way. my brother manned the grills for the week and did a great job with all of the different things that he cooked. I did make a few side dishes along the way but nothing extravagant and we all had a great time seeing each other and having fun. Now that I am back home, it’s time to get down to some more cooking. I had these spare ribs in the freezer and knew I wanted to make them, so I decided to give this recipe a try from Kitchen Daily that makes use of a smoky blackberry barbecue sauce. Their original recipe is designed to be used with short ribs, but I think it makes a pretty nice transition over to spare ribs. I used St. Louis ribs, but you could just easily use baby backs and get good results.
Spare Ribs with Smoky Blackberry Barbecue Sauce
For the Sauce:
1 pound blackberries
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 medium onion, finely chopped, plus 1/4 cup minced
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons seeded and minced chipotles in adobo sauce
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
For the Ribs:
4 pounds St. Louis spare ribs or baby back ribs
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and place the ribs on the baking sheet. Season the ribs well with salt and pepper on both sides. Cover the ribs with another sheet of aluminum foil and bake them, covered, in the oven for 25 minutes. Remove the top cover of aluminum foil and bake the ribs uncovered for another 25 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the sauce. In a large bowl toss the blackberries together with the smoked paprika. Heat a medium saute pan over high heat and place the blackberries in the pan. Heat the berries, tossing them occasionally, until the berries begin to burst, about 3 to 5 minutes.
In a large saucepan, heat the 3 tablespoons of vegetable over medium heat until the oil is shimmering. Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until the garlic is golden and fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the chopped onion and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions have softened and started to brown, about 7 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and cook until the paste is glossy, about 2 minutes. Add the blackberries, cider vinegar, brown sugar, soy sauce, chipotles, Dijon mustard and the ground cumin and bring the mixture to a boil. Simmer the mixture over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has slightly thickened and the berries are very tender, about 20 minutes.
Transfer the sauce to a blender and allow it to cool slightly. Puree the sauce until it is smooth. Strain the sauce through a fine sieve into a bowl and discard any leftover solids in the sieve. Season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste and allow the sauce to cool completely. Stir in the minced onion, the olive oil and the dried oregano.
Brush the ribs in the oven with the blackberry barbecue sauce until they are well coated and continue baking the ribs for another 25 minutes. Turn up the heat in the oven to 400 degrees and give the ribs a final coating of barbecue sauce, allowing them to cook for 5 to 10 minutes until the sauce is caramelized and the ribs are cooked through.Remove the ribs from the oven to a cutting board and cut the ribs into portions and serve with the remaining sauce.
The blackberry sauce has a very distinct flavor to it and the chipotles add just the right amount of heat to the sauce. The sauce has the consistency of any other barbecue sauce but if you like blackberries you will really enjoy the flavor you get. This sauce is great for ribs but I think it would do just as well on chicken or other pieces of pork if you wanted to give that a try. I tried to strain out as many of the blackberry seeds as I could but some still got through so it’s something you have to be aware of if your diners aren’t fans of the seeds. Other than that, I think the sauce was a real winner.
That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!
Since I don’t have the advantages of having a charcoal or gas grill it sometimes feels like it can really limit some of the things I can cook, particularly when it comes to making ribs. I have been able to find some great recipes for making ribs in the oven and they have turned out well, but I am always looking to see if there is something new I can try to get even greater flavor out of a meal of ribs. I came across this recipe awhile back from Kelsey Nixon on the Cooking Channel for Asian barbecue ribs that are made in the slow cooker, which makes them perfect for you to try for a weeknight meal when you want something ready for you when you get home from work. These are very easy to make, with just a few ingredients that go a long way to giving you some great flavor.
Slow Cooker Asian Barbecue Ribs
1/4 cup sesame oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 bunch green onions, white and green parts, chopped
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chili sauce
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup honey
2 racks pork baby back ribs (4 to 5 pounds)
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Heat the sesame oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Saute the ginger, garlic and green onions until all are fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the brown sugar, chili sauce, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, honey and 1/2 cup of water. Whisk the mixture until everything is fully incorporated. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Continue cooking until the sauce has thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove the sauce from the heat and allow it to cool.
Sprinkle the ribs generously with salt and pepper and place the ribs in an upright position in the slow cooker. The meaty side of the ribs should be facing outwards. Spoon the sauce over the ribs and cover the slow cooker. Cook the ribs in the slow cooker on high for 3 to 4 hours or on low for 6 to 8 hours.
Strain the sauce from the slow cooker into a saucepan and remove any accumulated grease from the top of the sauce. Combine 1 tablespoon of water with the 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and whisk them together in a small bowl. Add the cornstarch mixture to the saucepan and bring the sauce to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the sauce until it has thickened and serve it with the ribs.
I actually added one more step to this recipe at this point. When I removed the ribs from the slow cooker, I put some of the reduced and thickened sauce onto the ribs and then placed the ribs under the broiler for about 2 minutes to really get a nice glaze and crisp up the ribs some more. I think this made a big difference as far as flavor, texture and look of the ribs and I would do that again with this recipe. The sauce was great, giving a nice Asian flavor and flair to the dish with the ginger, soy sauce and honey. The ribs were very tender inside and crisp on the outside just the way I like them. I would definitely make this one again.
That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!
It is hard to resist making a one pot meal when you come across one. Not only does it help you significantly when it comes time to clean up (which is especially important when you are having one of those hectic weeknights) but it also gives you a great chance to really meld some flavors of your protein, starch and vegetables all in one so that everything tastes great. One pot meals work well with anything – beef, chicken, fish, vegetables – but I find they work really well with pork chops. Pork chops on their own need some seasoning and flavor to really make them explode, and when you combine them with a great sauce, some vegetables and a starch you can get a great meal without it having to take a long time to cook. this recipe, from Cook’s Country, is the perfect example of that, making a simple skillet pork chops and rice.
Skillet Pork Chops and Rice
4 tablespoons butter, softened
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
2 /4 cups chicken broth
1 cup long-grain white rice
4 (6 to 8-ounce) boneless pork chops, 3/4 to 1-inch thick, trimmed
Salt and pepper
1 onion, chopped fine
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
Combine 2 tablespoons of the butter and the parsley together in a small bowl; reserve. Microwave 1 cup of the chicken broth and the rice in a covered large bowl until the liquid is absorbed, about 6 to 8 minutes.
Meanwhile, pat the pork chops dry with paper towels and season them with salt and pepper. Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large skillet set over medium-high heat. Brown the pork chops, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer the pork chops to a plate and tent them loosely with aluminum foil. Melt the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter on the now-empty skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the onion until it is softened and browned, about 6 to 8 minutes. Add the garlic and the dried thyme and cook until they are fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Stir in the parcooked rice and the remaining 11/4 cups of chicken broth and bring the mixture to a boil. Return the pork chops and any accumulated juices to the skillet and cook, covered, over medium-low heat until the pork chops register 145 degrees on an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the chop and the rice is tender, about 12 to 15 minutes. Serve the pork with the reserved parsley butter.
It is very simple and gives you juicy and tender pork chops along with great tasting rice. This recipe uses white rice, but I actually made some brown rice, using this method to cook it and taking it out of the oven 45 minutes into cooking, when the brown rice was mostly done, and the adding it to the skillet with the pork chops to finish up the dish. I thought it turned out really well, but you could use whatever type of rice or grain that you really like. Getting the rice started in the microwave is a great way to save yourself some cooking time to make sure everything is done all at once. This is the perfect meal for a weeknight dinner when you want something that tastes great but does not take a long time to put together, prepare and cook.
That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!
I decided to make a bunch of Mexican dishes yesterday as kind of an early Cinco de Mayo kind of meal for Sunday since we were having some guests over. I made three different kinds of tacos, some re-fried beans, vegetable slaw, guacamole, salsa, confetti corn, pickled onions and radishes, southwestern egg rolls, avocado dip and more, so there were lots of things to choose from, some of which I have made before and posted here and some new things. Unfortunately, I got so caught up in all of the cooking that I forgot to take pictures of a lot of it, so I hope to take some pictures of some of the leftover items tomorrow. The only thing I did not have anything left of was the chorizo tacos, which seemed to be quite a favorite. I had bought the chorizo at Adam’s Farms since they make their own, but you could also make your own as well at home if you have all the ingredients or a favorite recipe you like to use. I saw a bunch of different recipes, but this one from Williams-Sonoma struck me as the best one of the bunch, so I used this one.
Chorizo Tacos
8 ounces (1 cup) Mexican chorizo sausage
3 medium potatoes
Salt, to taste
2 medium poblano chiles or red bell peppers
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
Guacamole (homemade or store-bought)
Salsa (homemade or store-bought)
Flour or corn tortillas
With a small knife, slice down the side of the chorizo casings. Remove the chorizo from the casing and discard the casing. In a large skillet set over medium heat, add the chorizo. Cook, stirring regularly to break up the clumps, about 4 minutes, until the chorizo is cooked through. If there is a lot of rendered fat, discard some of the excess and remove the chorizo to a bowl. Set the pan aside for later use.
Peel the potatoes and cut them in half, and then dice the halves. In a medium bowl, add the potatoes and 1/2 teaspoon of salt and toss the potatoes. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and microwave them on high for 4 to 5 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.
Roast the chiles or bell peppers by placing them directly over a gas flame (don’t use a pan), or 4 inches below the broiler in the oven, turning the peppers occasionally with tongs until they are evenly blackened all over. Place the peppers in a plastic bag and allow them to cool. Peel off and discard the blackened skin of the peppers. Pull out the stems from the peppers and the seed pods and discard them. Tear open the peppers and rinse off the seeds and bits of black skin. Cut the peppers into 1/4-inch pieces.
In the empty skillet, add the vegetable oil to a bit of the rendered chorizo fat set over medium heat. Add the sliced onion and cook, stirring regularly, until the onions are translucent, about 2 minutes. Add the potatoes and cook, stirring regularly, until the potatoes are browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in the chile peppers and the chorizo and cook for 3 or three minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste the mixture and season with salt and pepper as needed.
Warm the tortillas and scoop the chorizo filling into a serving bowl. Set the bowl on the table with the warm tortillas, guacamole, salsa, hot sauce and any other accompaniments that you like.
Everyone really loved the chorizo tacos. They had just the right amount of spice and adding the potatoes to the mix really added something great as far as taste and texture to the mix. This mix would be great without the tortilla as a main dish with some rice or even as a breakfast with some eggs. You could even omit the chorizo altogether and just have the potatoes, onions and peppers if you wanted a vegetarian taco mix instead. I wish I had taken a picture of it as they were really good. Next time I make them I will post a picture of them for sure.
That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe from our Mexican fiesta. until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!
Roast pork is always a favorite meal and when you make pork tenderloins it means you can get an elegant meal on the table pretty quickly. The tenderloins do not take long to cook and take very well to all kinds of sauces and glazes so you get a lot of room to experiment with different things that you like. I had a pork tenderloin in the freezer last week so when we were looking for something a little different for dinner one night I decided to take it out and find a new recipe that we can make fast during the week. I came across this recipe from Williams-Sonoma for a molasses-glazed roast pork tenderloin and it looked really easy to make so I thought I would give it a shot. The original recipe calls for it to be made with sweet potatoes, but I actually didn’t have any on hand that day so I just went with the pork instead.
Molasses-Glazed Roast Pork and Sweet Potatoes
2 pork tenderloins, each 10 to 12 ounces
Coarse kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/4 cup light molasses
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 1/2 pounds orange-fleshed sweet potatoes, unpeeled, cut into 1/2-inch slices
2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for brushing
1 shallot, minced
1/2 cup chicken broth
Preheat an oven to 400 degrees. Season the pork tenderloins lightly with salt and black pepper. Set the tenderloins aside.
In a small bowl, stir together the molasses, mustard, rosemary and 1/2 teaspoon of the red pepper flakes. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the sweet potatoes, the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes and 1 1/2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Season the potatoes with salt and black pepper and toss to coat the sweet potatoes evenly. Brush a large rimmed baking sheet with olive oil. Arrange the sweet potatoes on the baking sheet in a single layer, leaving a space in the center of the pan. Transfer the potatoes to the oven and roast them for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a large fry pan over medium-high heat, warm the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the pork tenderloins and brown them on all sides, about 6 minutes total.
Remove the baking sheet from the oven and place the pork in the center; set the fry pan aside. Brush the pork and potatoes with some of the molasses mixture. Return the baking sheet to the oven and roast until the potatoes are tender and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the pork registers 145°F, about 15 minutes. Transfer the pork and potatoes to a warmed platter.
Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the fat from the fry pan and set the pan over medium-high heat. Add the shallot and cook, stirring frequently to scrape up the browned bits, until the shallot begins to soften, about 3 minutes. Add the remaining molasses mixture and the chicken broth and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring frequently. Simmer until the sauce thickens slightly, about 3 minutes.
Slice the pork and drizzle with the sauce. Serve the pork and potatoes immediately, passing any remaining sauce at the table.
It is a very simple meal that you can prepare and make in under an hour and gives you something different for a weeknight. The molasses glaze tastes great with the pork and I imagine it will taste great with sweet potatoes as well. I served the pork with some of the leftover Tex-Mex rice and beans that I had made as well as a new cauliflower recipe that I will be posting and some homemade focaccia bread that I made (I’ll be posting that recipe as well). It was a nice change of pace for a weeknight dinner that you can put together pretty easily.
That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!
Pork tenderloin is a great choice for a weeknight meal when you want something that seems a little more elegant and fancy and can still be done in under 45 minutes or even thirty minutes. I usually but tenderloin when it is on sale and since they come in a package of two tenderloins I freeze one and make one for dinner so I can always pull one out to have for a meal. There are lots of great things you can do with the tenderloin – roasting, grilling, pan roasting, cutting it into medallions, cutting it up for a stir fry – but I really liked this option of adding some nice spices to the tenderloin and roasting it with some carrots for a nice meal. This recipe comes from Bon Appetit and is for a spice-rubbed pork tenderloin with roasted carrots.
Spice-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Carrots
For the Carrots:
2 pounds carrots, peeled, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon butter, diced
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 small jalapeño (preferably red), seeded, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon ancho chile powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
For the Pork Tenderloin
2 1- to 1-1/4-pound pork tenderloins
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ancho chile powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
For the carrots: Arrange the carrots on a large rimmed baking sheet. Whisk 2 tablespoons of water and all of the remaining ingredients in a small bowl; pour the mixture over the carrots and toss to coat. Cover the carrots tightly with heavy-duty foil.
For the pork tenderloin: Preheat the oven to 400°F. Roast the carrot mixture covered until the carrots are just tender, about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, arrange the pork tenderloins on another rimmed baking sheet. Stir the oregano, cumin, chile powder, smoked paprika, and 1 teaspoon of coarse salt in a small bowl; rub the mixture all over the tenderloins. Heat the olive oil in a heavy, large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pork to the skillet and cook until the pork is browned on all sides, about 5 minutes. Return the pork to the rimmed baking sheet.
I’ve had a craving for biscuits and gravy lately and yesterday stopped over at Adam’s Farms and got some of their homemade bulk breakfast sausage so I could make some this morning for our Sunday breakfast. Sunday breakfast is usually the only day during the week where Sean, Michelle and I get to eat breakfast together, so we try to make it something different and special each week. I was looking for something quick and easy to use for the sausage gravy and for the biscuits, but I wanted homemade biscuits, not the stuff you get out of the refrigerated can. I turned to Food Network and found a good biscuit recipe from Alton Brown for southern biscuits to go alongside of the sausage gravy recipe I got from Bobby Flay. Both are really easy to make so you can get a different taste for breakfast in no time at all.
Alton Brown’s Southern Biscuits
2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons shortening
1 cup buttermilk, chilled
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Using your fingertips, rub the butter and shortening into the dry ingredients until the mixture looks like crumbs.Try to do this quickly so that the fat does not completely melt. Make a well in the center of the mixture and pour in the chilled buttermilk. Stir just until the dough comes together. The dough will be very sticky.
Turn the dough onto a floured surface, dust the top of the dough with flour and gently fold the dough over on itself 5 or 6 times. Press into a 1-inch thick round. Cut out the biscuits with a 2-inch cutter, being sure to push straight down through the dough. Place the biscuits on baking sheet so that they just touch. Reform the scrap dough, working it as little as possible and continue cutting.
Bake until the biscuits are tall and light gold on top, about 15 to 20 minutes.
Bobby Flay’s Sausage Gravy and Biscuits
1 1/2 pounds bulk breakfast sausage or mixture of hot and mild bulk sausage
4 tablespoons flour
1/2 gallon milk
Salt
Pepper
Biscuits, store-bought or homemade (see Alton Brown’s Southern Biscuit recipe above)
In a large pot, add the sausage and cook until it is browned and cooked through. Drain the grease and add the flour to the sausage. Cook the sausage in the flour over medium-high heat until the sausage is well-coated with the flour. Add the milk and stir until the gravy has the desired thickness and add salt and pepper, to taste. Serve with the biscuits.
I did change up the sausage gravy recipe a little and did not use the 1/2 gallon of milk. I only use about 3/4 of a cup along with a 1/4 cup of heavy cream because we like a gravy that is much thicker for the sausage, and it turned out perfect. The real star here though is the biscuits. These are really easy to make, smell great and taste awesome. You could use these for all kinds of breakfast sandwiches that you like if you didn’t want the sausage gravy, like bacon, eggs, ham or anything else. They are also a great dinner biscuit and I plan to use the rest to go along with dinner tonight. You could even just have one warm with some butter to go with your tea or coffee in the morning and you would be all set.
That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!
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