Homemade Breakfast Sausage Gravy

Some time ago, I started playing around with making breakfast sausage. I liked what was out there, but I didn't love it. Inevitably, I ended up spicing it more when I made my sausage gravy anyway, so I decided to see how hard it was to make my own. Guess what? It's not hard at all. The following is the recipe that my family loves, but don't be afraid to play around with the spices to make it what you want.

Sausage

• 2 lbs ground pork
• 2 tablespoons ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons ground sage
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Thyme
• 3/4 cup ice-cold water

Combine all of the ingredients together well. Put in a large zip-lock bag and refrigerate for at least 24 hours. 

Brown meat and drain, keeping drippings.

Gravy

• Drippings
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 1/2 - 2 cups whole milk

Heat drippings to boiling. Add flour, whisking well to avoid lumps. When thoroughly incorporated, add a small amount of milk, whisking briskly. When thoroughly incorporated and heated through, add more milk, again whisking briskly. Continue slowly adding milk, whisking, and heating through until gravy is the right consistency. Once the gravy is just right, add drained sausage and stir well, heating through. 

I admit that I rarely make my own biscuits, mostly because no one in the family really likes breakfast biscuits. Instead, we serve the sausage gravy over roasted potatoes.