The Covered Dish - Homemade Sausage or Chicken Gravy

Every time someone tells me they cannot make gravy I just say 2 1/2, and 3 1/2.

If you can memorize these 2 measurements you can make just about any gravy or sauce. What do these two measurements stand for? 2 1/2 cups milk and 3 1/2 tablespoons of flour for sausage gravy. Let’s expand on some gravy guidelines first:

1) Flour is your best choice for gravy if it is based on fat, which country white gravy is. Flour will have a lower starch content and it will have gluten.
2) Cornstarch comes from corn and has no gluten. When it is used in gravies and sauces you will get a glossier appearance in the outcome. Also, a big difference is if you use 4 tablespoons of flour in a dish and you want to use cornstarch instead, you will only use 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. Simply cut the amount in half.

3) When you fry chicken many cooks use a split of 50/50 using part flour and part cornstarch to bread the chicken. The cornstarch will make the crust more golden and crispy. Straight flour won’t be as golden and crisp. Think about tempura shrimp or onion rings, they’re mostly all cornstarch.

The type of milk you use in your country gravy is a personal call. Most generally I use ordinary milk, but not skim, sorry! There are times when I write recipes with a white sauce base that I’ll use heavy cream or half & half too. I do a base of this nature when I’m making my macaroni and cheese sauce foundation.
My favorite place to make country sausage gravy is in my cast iron skillet. It just tastes so much better. The recipe I’m presenting today is for 2 ‘maybe’ 3 people.
For the 3 of us I usually double the whole recipe because my men love gravy. It also depends upon how you’re serving the gravy. I.E. Is sausage gravy and biscuits the entire meal? If it’s not, then I may not make quite as much. I’ll also use less sausage.

For large crowds I do not make my sausage gravy from scratch I use Southeastern Mills white gravy and pepper gravy combined. It tastes great and folks always rave about it. I simply cook the sausage and then reheat it in the water before adding the mixes. This also improves the flavor.
I’m going to share 2 nice gravies/sauces with you today that will be great bases as you create your own specialty sauces and sides. Don’t shy away from making gravy any longer, I actually ‘swear’ by the measurements in my sausage gravy recipe.
Simply yours,

The Covered Dish

Homemade Sausage or Chicken Gravy

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper, (or more)

2 1/2 cups 2 % milk

3 1/2 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons drippings reserved from chicken or the actual sausage

In a large skillet using medium heat warm the dripping and stir in the mustard, salt and pepper. Sprinkle the flour into the drippings until well absorbed. Add the milk, stirring constantly. Continue whisking to keep smooth as the gravy boils and thickens. This would serve 3-4 persons. If sausage gravy and biscuits is the only breakfast item I would suggest doubling this for 4 guests.
How much sausage to use for one batch? A half a pound, well crumbled, should do the trick.

*For chicken gravy or chicken fried steak gravy there won’t be any sausage added.
Mushroom Sauce/Gravy

(I’ve used this recipe for a few celebrities and they loved it)

8 ounces of mushrooms, sliced

3-4 garlic cloves, minced

3-4 small green onions, finely minced

1 1/2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/2 cup red wine

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 1/2 cups cold water

1 teaspoon sugar

Using a nonstick skillet, sauté the garlic in the butter, using medium-low heat.

(Do not allow the garlic to get too brown, as it will turn bitter.) Add the finely diced onions and continue cooking until onions are transparent. Bring in the soy sauce and mushrooms continuously stirring until tender and all the moisture is absorbed. (Mushrooms will be close to browning). Add the wine and vinegar and continue cooking over the low heat until all the moisture has been totally reduced. Place cornstarch and sugar in cold water, dissolve; and stir into the mushroom mixture, stirring until thickened. After the mixture boils allow it to simmer down for a couple of minutes. Fresh cracked pepper is a nice finale’ to this dish.

Serves 4-6 persons

I find this enjoyable over brisket, pork loin, and steak. Feel free to tinker with the ingredients; you may like more soy or less vinegar. If the sauce is too thick then just pull back on the cornstarch. Not thick enough, dissolve additional cornstarch in water and thicken again.