Biscuits and Gravy

One of my favorite things to do on the weekend is get up and make breakfast. I usually have a hankering for biscuits and gravy seeing as it is my favorite breakfast food! I like to make everything from scratch. Something about the weekend makes me want to get my hands dirty. This breakfast took about 40 minutes total to make. I hope you all have a wonderful, fun-filled weekend!

Potatoes O'Brien

Serves 2

Total Time: 20 minutes

2 tbs Earth Balance butter

2 tbs olive oil

1 medium to large russet potato, skin-on, washed and diced

1/4 cup green pepper, diced

1/4 cup red pepper, diced

1/4 cup onion, diced

1/2 a jalapeno, minced

In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, melt 1/2 tablespoon of the butter with 1/2 tablespoon of the olive oil. Add the onion and saute, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and just beginning to caramelize, 5-7 minutes. Do not allow the onion to scorch. Add the red and green peppers and saute until beginning to soften, 3-5 minutes longer. Transfer to a serving bowl and set aside.

Add 1/2 tablespoon each of the remaining butter and olive oil to the same pan. Add the cubed potatoes and cook, turning to brown all sides, 5-7 minutes. If the potatoes are too dry, add a little more butter or oil.

Return the mixture to the pan. Raise the heat to high so that it quickly warms through. Remove from the heat and season to taste with salt and pepper. Biscuits Makes 4 small biscuitsTotal Time: 20 minutes 1 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 tbsp baking powder 1/4 tsp salt 2 tbsp cold butter 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp cold soy milk Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Using a fork or a pastry blender, blend the butter into the dry ingredients. Add soy milk and stir. Turn out onto floured surface and knead 1-2 minutes Add more flour if dough is sticky. Roll the dough out and cut into rounds. Place on ungreased baking sheet and bake 12-15 minutes. Just a note about the biscuits: these biscuits are dense. They are not light and fluffy. I like dense biscuits with my biscuits and gravy. If you want a fluffier, lighter biscuit, use a buttermilk biscuit recipe such as Bisquick. Black Pepper Gravy Serves 2Total time: 15 minutes 3 tbsp flour 1-2 tbsp vegetable oil 3 cups vegetable stock or non-dairy milk (I use 2 parts stock to 1 part soy milk) Lots of freshly ground black pepper (1-2 tbsp) Salt to taste Heat a skillet over medium heat. Prepare a roux by mixing about 2-3 tablespoons flour with enough vegetable oil to make a heavy paste (about 1-2 tablespoons of oil).  Add oil and/or flour to get the correct consistency.  Stir and cook the roux for a couple of minutes over the medium heat, then slowly add about a cup of stock or soy milk to the mixture, stirring continuously to avoid lumps. Contiune to simmer the gravy over medium heat and add more stock or soy milk as needed (this may require several cups of stock or milk).  If you accidentally add too much milk, just add a bit more flour (not more than a teaspoon at a time).  Also, the longer you cook the gravy, the more it will reduce and thicken. Add salt and pepper to taste. I like a lot of black pepper in my gravy to make it spicy. Halve the warm biscuits and pour gravy mixture over them and serve.