Biscuits and Gravy

The pictures in this post are kind of blurry--I didn't realize my lens had butter on it. 

I love making breakfast on Saturdays. Waking up late, drinking coffee or bloody marys (maries?) on the couch, watching Inglorious Bastards yet again, and of course making something for breakfast from whatever happens to be in the fridge.
So what did I have today? Buttermilk, which I always seem to have lately. One leftover smoked chorizo...idea! Biscuits and gravy!
First, I made buttermilk biscuits.

Buttermilk Biscuits 

• 1 cup melted butter 
• 3 cups flour
• 1 cup buttermilk 
• 2 tsp salt
• 4 tsp white sugar 
• 1 TB baking powder 
• 1 tsp black powder

Pre-heat oven to 400. Grease a cookie sheet. Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Round into balls and place on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 400 for 25-30 min, or until golden brown. 

Before 

After! 

While the biscuits are baking, make the gravy. I made a bacon-and-chorizo gravy, but you can use any meat you'd like. 

Bacon and Chorizo Gravy 

• 4 strips bacon, chopped
• 1 chorizo sausage (or any kind of sausage), chopped 
• 1 yellow onion, chopped 
• 1/3 cup flour 
• 2 cups milk (add more if needed to thin)
• pinch salt 
• pinch black pepper 
• dash of hot sauce 

What to do 

Crisp the bacon and sausage in a skillet. Cook until a lot of the fat has rendered out. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently. until golden-colored (about 10 minutes). Then, add the flour. Cook in the fat for about five minutes. It should develop a sweet, nutty smell. Turn the burner off and pour in the milk. Stir around to get the bits off the bottom. Season with salt, pepper, and hot sauce. 

Pour gravy over biscuits! I like to dribble some hot sauce over mine. 

Have this for breakfast, and you've eaten heartily enough to, say fight the Protestants. Walk from Galway to Kilkenney. Chase down a  wayward cow. Something like that. 

We, however, just sat around the house thinking of names for our new tadpoles. All four are now known as Wiggles. 

Enjoy! 

Flat bread with mushrooms, bacon, cheese, and balsamic reduction

Hello, lovely.

I had a fantastic surprise this morning when I arrived at work: it was Teacher Appreciation day, so our usual meeting was canceled. Given our abbreviated Wednesday schedule and the fact that last period is my planning, I was done at 11:35! It was that snow day emotion--unexpectedly not having to work! One of the best feelings there is.
So, having some free time, I of course felt like cooking. There wasn't much in our fridge--but I found ricotta and mozzarella (originally intended for raviolis I never made) and some dried porchinis (no idea why I originally bought these). And I always have garlic, yeast, and flour. So, flat bread! Flat bread has become my "whatever's in the fridge" go-to creation. It's great to have around for snacking, and it's fun to make.

Some of the ingredients. Not pictured: balsamic, olive oil

Ingredients

For flat bread dough:

1 1/2 cups warm water
1 (1/4-ounce) packet active dry yeast

1 TB sugar
4 to 5 cups all-purpose flour
1tsp salt
2 TB olive oil

Toppings: 

1 package dried porcini mushrooms 

7 strips bacon, diced

3/4 cup ricotta 

1/2 cup mozzarella 

4 cloves garlic, chopped

red pepper flakes 

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

What to do: 

1. Dissolve the sugar in the warm water and add the yeast. Let it sit for 15 minutes. This wakes the yeast up and gets them horny and hungry. 

2. Add the flour. Mix and knead into a pliant, cohesive ball. You may need to add more water or flour. 

Dough before rising

3. Allow the dough to rise. Cover with a damp paper towel and set somewhere warm. It should about double in size. This will probably take around an hour. 

After rising

5. Boil some water. Add the dried mushrooms to the water and allow to sit in the hot water with the burner off.

4. When the dough is risen, knead it a few more times, then stretch/ spread it into a large oval and put on an oiled rectangular cookie sheet. Push into all the sides and attempt to get it uniformly thick.

6. Spread the cup of ricotta over the flat dough. Then, leave this to rise again while you make the toppings. 

Dough spread with ricotta.

7. Crisp the bacon. Sprinkle the crisp bacon over the dough. 

8.  Mince the garlic and sprinkle it evenly over the top.
9. Take the mushrooms out of the water and lightly squeeze them out. Toss them into the bacon grease and cook for about a minute on high. Then, scoop them out with a slotted spoon and spread them out over the dough. 

10. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes (up to you how much to use). 

11. Dot all over with little chunks of mozzarella. 

12. Bake at 450 for about 35 or 40 min, or until golden brown. 

13. While the flat bread is cooling, pour the balsamic into a small saucepan and add about a tablespoon of sugar. Simmer to reduce into a syrup that coats the back of a spoon. When thick, dribble this over the flat bread. 

14. It's done! Slice and eat.

Were I to make this again, I would omit the reconstituted mushrooms. Their earthiness clashed a bit with the salt-sweet-garlic-cheese of the other flavors.  Would have been better without them. Alas! Now I know.
Enjoy!

Bacon and onion flatbread

I made this to bring to Michelle's thriftstore-themed birthday party. Michelle is an amazing cook and made all kinds of fabulous things--stuffed mushrooms, cookie-dough dip, strawberry shortcake, nutella mousse, etc. As I type this, my stomach feels a little bit iffy. But it was worth it. Anyway, on to the bread.
Start by making a basic bread dough.

The "bloomed" yeast. Leave it in warm water with a bit of sugar for 20 min, or until it becomes frothy.

 Dissolve a package of yeast into some warm water. The amount doesn't totally matter--more water if making more bread, etc. I would estimate I used about 2 cups.
Then, add flour until it becomes a pliable, not too sticky, coherent ball. You just have to feel your way to the right amount of flour. I would estimate I used about 3 and a half cups.

The dough ball, before rising. 

Cover the dough-ball with a wet towel and allow it to rise for about 40 minutes, or until doubled.
Meanwhile, make the toppings. I put on carmelized onions, bacon, grated parmesan, fresh minced garlic, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.
First, cut half a package of bacon into little strips and brown until crispy.

Bubbling bacon bits. Yummm. 

Then, scoop out the crispy bacon and pour out all but a little bit of the fat. Add a diced onion, and cook on medium until brown, carmelized and sweet. This takes awhile. I would estimate about 30 minutes.
While the onions cook, mince some garlic cloves (4 or 5) and grate some Parmesan (about a cup).
So then, get the dough and spread it out on a cookie sheet that you've greased up with olive oil.
Push the dough into the corners.
Then, add all the toppings: onions, bacon, garlic, cheese, red pepper flakes. Push them down into the dough a bit.

The assembled bread before baking. 

 Then, pop it in a hot oven: 425 degrees, until golden brown and baked through. I left it in for about 35 minutes.
Then it's done! Let it cool enough to cut into squares.

All done!
This is a great dish to bring to a big drunken party. Spicy, bacon-y, cheesy, not requiring utensils: everything you want out of food meant to accompany intoxication. It smells deliciously garlicky and baconlicious. YUM!