Andouille Gravy and Biscuits
There's an unsettled feeling one gets on occasion.
It's best described by a comedian I came across one day on TV.
He explained to his audience that the previous night his house had been broken into. The crowd gasped, a few giggled, none quite sure where the statement was leading.
He went on to inform them that the "burglar" had then replaced every item that was stolen with an exact duplicate.
Every once in a while (but maybe not quite to that extent) we all have that feeling. Everything looks normal but there's something there that's just a little different.
Wake up from a nightmare in the middle of the night. Everything in the house looks the same as it was before you went to sleep but there's that underlying feeling that something is amiss. Even the air feels slightly different.
It's almost that same feeling you get when you feel someone watching you. Are you being paranoid? Where is this feeling coming from? Should I turn around?
That feeling that there's something a little amiss, not quite right, is used by any good horror novelist.
That same feeling is what made The Twilight Zone the iconic show it came to be...
But what if we applied that same feeling to a dinner?
What if we took an element or two and changed an ordinary looking meal just enough so it gave us that brief moment upon first glance...
It looks like sausage gravy and biscuits, but there's something slightly different about it; something not quite normal.
If you were to explore it farther, perhaps take a bite, that taste would transform you right to a place where that feeling is commonplace...
New Orleans
Take a trip there and admire the beauty, get lost in the history, the intrigue, the stories (and the food)
But if while you're there, you take a few minutes, stand back and quiet yourself, there's that underlying feeling that there's a little more going on than you can see with your eyes.
Would the word be "amiss" or "not quite right"?
To us, maybe
To New Orleans, the uncommon seems common and the mystery and the unexplainable are a part of life
Transport yourself there with my humble homage to the place that will stay in my heart..
New Orleans
The Buttermilk Yogurt Biscuits
adapted from The Joy of Cooking, 1975 edition
1 3/4 Cups Sifted All Purpose Flour
1/2 tsp Salt
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Sugar
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
5 Tablespoon Butter
3/4 Cup Fresh Yogurt (or Buttermilk)
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Sift dry ingredients together.
Add butter and cut into the dough until butter had formed little pea sized balls.
Add yogurt (or buttermilk) and lightly mix.
Knead dough gently for a minute.
Roll to 1/2" thickness.
Use biscuit cutter dipped in flour.
Press straight down. Do not twisting as you cut.
Place 1" apart on a baking sheet.
Brush the tops lightly with melted butter.
Bake 10-12 minutes.
The Sausage Andouille Gravy
1 1/2 lbs Andouille, removed from the casings
1 cup Onion, chopped
1/2 cup Green Pepper, chopped
1/2 cup Celery, chopped
1 1/2 Cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth (room temperature)
1 1/2 Cups Half and Half (room temperature)
2 Tbsp Butter
2 Tbsp Flour
1 Bay Leaf
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp white pepper
Freshly Cracked Black Pepper
Salt, to taste
Chop the veggies and remove the Andouille from the casing.
Brown the Andouille in a large skillet over medium high heat.
Remove the Andouille and set aside on paper towels.
Add the veggies to the same skillet, letting them brown in the leftover grease from the Andouille.
Add the thyme, oregano, bay leaf and white pepper.
Add some freshly cracked black pepper, about 1 teaspoon (to taste; use less for a less spicy dish)
Melt the butter over the veggies.
Sprinkle the flour over the veggies and melted butter and let cook a few minutes.
Add the chicken broth slowly and let come back to a simmer.
Add the Andouille back to the skillet.
Add the cream, slowly and whisk.
Let come back to a simmer and thicken.
Serve over fresh and hot biscuits with some fried eggs.
Enjoy..
Oh and sleep well, my friends...
no one's watching
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