Chocolate and Biscuits

Hi y'all (anyone still out there?) I am hoping this hiatus is coming to an end... Josh is coming home (IN TWO MONTHS YAY!!!!) and I have been tossing around a few recipe ideas that I want to have perfected. I may just have to find a substitute guinea pig, though.

Anyway, this recipe is not one of the ones I've been tossing around, but my momma sent me this recipe the other day and I thought I should share. It was passed down from my great grandma, and I remember my mom making this for me when I was growing up. I'm pretty sure my great grandma was a genius because these chocolate gravy covered biscuits are absolutely heavenly! I mean, chocolate for breakfast? Yes please.

For the biscuits, go with what you like. If you are so inclined to make them from scratch, then by all means, knock yourself out. Me? I'll just pop some Pillsbury Grands in the oven and save myself some trouble & time.

When it comes to measurements, it seems that my great grandma was like me... measurements smeasurements. I know how much of something I need when it tastes right. It makes complete sense, but alas, that just will not do for sharing! SO with some tweeking from my mom, I think we've got this correct:

Chocolate Gravy:

 1.5 cups of sugar
3 tablespoons of all purpose flour
1/3 cup of cocoa
2 cups of milk
2 tablespoons of butter

Instructions:

In a medium bowl, mix together sugar, flour, and cocoa. Melt butter in a cast iron skillet (on medium heat) then add your chocolate mix. Stir thoroughly until mixed with butter, then add in milk, stir. You may need to add a bit more milk if it is too thick. While still on medium heat, bring to boil, stirring often. Take off heat & serve over halved biscuits.

YUM!

Texas Hashbrown Casserole

Texas hashbrown casserole... or loaded hashbrowns, depending on how you look at it, were a specific request from my boyfriend. I had made them once, and apparently he was wanting more. I can't blame him really, they're so much better than plain ol hashbrowns. Plus, I figured they'd be a perfect combination for the biscuit and gravy cups as well as a GREAT hangover cure for a rowdy St. Patrick's Day. All those Irish car bombs definitely called for a major dose of unhealthy breakfast. We've all been there.

Ingredients:

1 medium onion
1 pkg thick cut hickory smoked bacon
1 pkg frozen shredded hashbrowns
1 can salsa (or Rotel)
diced jalapenos
shredded cheese

Instructions:


Brown hashbrowns in oven according to package. Cut up bacon into chunks, fry. Remove from pan (without draining) and place on plate with paper towels to soak up grease. Chop onion and fry in bacon grease until soft, drain and place on plate with paper towels to soak up excess grease. In a casserole dish, mix hashbrowns, bacon, 2 tablespoons diced jalapenos, onions, and salsa. Top with cheese.

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Best served with tobasco or habanero hot sauce.

Biscuit and Gravy Cups

I'm pretty much obsessed with this idea of making things into "cups," so when I discovered the boyfriend had never had good ol' sausage gravy with biscuits, I absolutely had to do something about this! I mean, how can you spend 28 years of your life with no biscuits and gravy?! Seriously, I almost cried for him. His excuse: "I'm a Yankee." It's ok dear, I don't fault you for it; I just let you in on what you've been missing.

Now instead of making it normal biscuits and sausage gravy, I went a step further and made biscuit and gravy cups... and to go the extra mile, I used a combination of smoked hog sausage and regular pork sausage. I know, I know, I'm pretty much amazing, but just in case you don't happen to have any hog around (I'm in a house full of hunters, what can I say?), pork sausage alone is perfectly wonderful.

Ingredients:

I realize I could have made homemade gravy, but seriously, why bother when Pioneer Brand gravy tastes amazing? No point. It's yum and easy... which works for me!

1 package Pioneer Brand peppered gravy
8oz cream cheese
1-2 cans regular biscuits (No grands or flaky biscuits! Buttermilk biscuits taste great with this too)
16oz pork sausage (I also used about 4oz hog sausage, which I didn't bother including in the picture)

I only used one can of biscuits, which obviously makes 8 cups, and there was left over gravy. This isn't a bad thing because it's awesome on toast, eggs, or whatever, but if you don't want leftover gravy, I suggest using 2 cans of biscuits

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375. Spray muffin tin with Pam.

Prepare gravy according to package. When done, add cream cheese and stir on medium heat until completely blended. Remove from heat.

Brown Sausage in bacon drippings, if possible. Lucky for me, I had to cook some bacon earlier for Texas Hashbrown Casserole, so I had plenty of bacon grease on hand. It won't make or break the dish, but it most definitely adds flavor, because as we all know, bacon makes EVERYTHING better.

Scoop sausage into gravy... making absolutely sure to get some grease in there (I think about 2 or so tablespoons ended up in mine), mix thoroughly. I know there's some people out there freaking out on me right now for suggesting that I add in some of the grease. Well I'm sorry y'all; some of the most amazing things in life aren't exactly good for you, and I promise I'm not trying to clog everyone's arteries... just adding some Southern flavor!

You'll want to take a biscuit out and somewhat flatten it in your hand, then press in bottom and up the sides of muffin tin cup, leaving a good open spot in the middle. Repeat with each biscuit. Spoon about 2 heaping tablespoons into each cup, slightly over the top.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until biscuits are golden brown.

You see that hog sausage? MMMMMM...