Sausage and gravy
Encyclopedia
Sausage gravy is a traditional Southern breakfast dish. After loose pork sausage
is cooked in a pan and removed, a roux
is formed by browning flour
in the residual fat. Milk
and seasonings, such as salt and pepper, are added to create a moderately thick gravy
, to which the cooked sausage is added. Occasionally, ingredients such as cayenne pepper
or a spicy sausage are used to make a more spicy gravy.
Sausage gravy is traditionally served over buttermilk
biscuit
s, and accompanied by other typical Southern breakfast items such as fried eggs, sliced tomatoes and bacon
.
Sausage
A sausage is a food usually made from ground meat , mixed with salt, herbs, and other spices, although vegetarian sausages are available. The word sausage is derived from Old French saussiche, from the Latin word salsus, meaning salted.Typically, a sausage is formed in a casing traditionally made...
is cooked in a pan and removed, a roux
Roux
Roux is a cooked mixture of wheat flour and fat, traditionally butter. It is the thickening agent of three of the mother sauces of classical French cooking: sauce béchamel, sauce velouté and sauce espagnole. Clarified butter, vegetable oils, or lard are commonly used fats. It is used as a...
is formed by browning flour
Flour
Flour is a powder which is made by grinding cereal grains, other seeds or roots . It is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many cultures, making the availability of adequate supplies of flour a major economic and political issue at various times throughout history...
in the residual fat. Milk
Milk
Milk is a white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. Early-lactation milk contains colostrum, which carries the mother's antibodies to the baby and can reduce the risk of many...
and seasonings, such as salt and pepper, are added to create a moderately thick gravy
Gravy
Gravy is a sauce made often from the juices that run naturally from meat or vegetables during cooking. In North America the term can refer to a wider variety of sauces and gravy is often thicker than in Britain...
, to which the cooked sausage is added. Occasionally, ingredients such as cayenne pepper
Cayenne pepper
The cayenne pepper—also known as the Guinea spice,cow-horn pepper, aleva, bird pepper,or, especially in its powdered form, red pepper—is a red, hot chili pepper used to flavor dishes and for medicinal purposes. Named for the city of Cayenne in French Guiana, it is a cultivar of Capsicum annuum...
or a spicy sausage are used to make a more spicy gravy.
Sausage gravy is traditionally served over buttermilk
Buttermilk
Buttermilk refers to a number of dairy drinks. Originally, buttermilk was the liquid left behind after churning butter out of cream. It also refers to a range of fermented milk drinks, common in warm climates where unrefrigerated fresh milk otherwise sours quickly...
biscuit
Biscuit (bread)
A biscuit in the United States, and widely used in popular American English, is a small bread made with baking powder or baking soda as a chemical leavening agent rather than yeast....
s, and accompanied by other typical Southern breakfast items such as fried eggs, sliced tomatoes and bacon
Bacon
Bacon is a cured meat prepared from a pig. It is first cured using large quantities of salt, either in a brine or in a dry packing; the result is fresh bacon . Fresh bacon may then be further dried for weeks or months in cold air, boiled, or smoked. Fresh and dried bacon must be cooked before eating...
.