Sausage what?...Sausage gravy.

I made sausage gravy for the first time the other night. I don't know why I waited so long to make it, because it's really super easy to make and it just tastes so good! I put it on the scones from the recipe below, but you can put it on toast with fried eggs on the side or on top.

Here the wiki for sausage gravy and some of it's variations: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sausage_gravy

Sausage Gravy

Ingredients:

1 lb (500g) ground pork sausage
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
Salt & black pepper to taste

Method:

Crumble and cook sausage in large skillet over medium heat until browned. 

Stir in flour until dissolved.

Season with salt and pepper.

 Gradually stir in milk. Cook gravy until thick and bubbly.

 




Serve over hot biscuits, scones or toast.

You don't just have to have this for brekkie, we had our for dinner one night.

Enjoy,

Matt
 

They're skons not skoans...Gran's Scones

As the title suggests, back home, we pronounce them skons, not skoans. But, no matter how you pronounce them, there a couple of things you need to do to make very good scones.

Number 1 is use buttermilk, apparently this really does make a difference, but never having had scones made any other way, I personally don't know.

Number 2 is to use a knife when you're cutting them, not a glass, as this compresses the edge and stops them from rising.

The scone is very similar to the American biscuit but the biscuit doesn't have any sugar in it and you use plain flour, baking powder and baking soda.

Anyway, this is the first time I've made scones and I thought they turned out well. I'm posting a very simple recipe straight after this one which will show what I did with the scones.

Gran's Scones

Ingredients:

2 cups self raising flour

2 tbsps butter

1 tbsps sugar

½ tsp salt

¾ cup liquid - ½ cup buttermilk and ¼ water (the liquid must be cold)

 

Method:

Take a small quantity of the water and add the sugar and butter and heat to melt.

Cool and add to make up to ¾ cup of liquid which will be nearly a cupful with melted butter.

Sift flour and salt into a good sized bowl.

Make a well in the centre and add liquid, keeping a bit back in case it is too much, because flour varies. Mix with a knife and draw flour into centre. Dough should be sticky but firm, if too soft, too hard to handle.

Turn out on floured board or surface and pat or roll out after kneading (don’t knead much though because then you’ll get tough scones) to about ½ to ¾ inch thick. Cut with a knife or a cutter, but on no account cut with a glass as this compresses the edge and stops them from rising well.

I glaze with water and just pat it on very lightly.

 

Put onto a lightly greased slide and bake for about 10 minutes in a hot oven - 500F (250C).

Hope you enjoy!

Matt

Tie me kangaroo down!

I've been wanting to cook some kangaroo for some time and while my Mum was here visiting from Australia, I took the opportunity to torture my family with it.

I can't buy it around here in Ohio, but there's a butcher down in Pittsburgh, PA (about 1 1/2 hours from here) that sells it. I took Mum and my MIL there on Friday and took the opportunity to pick some up.

You have to eat kangaroo rare to mid-rare because it is so lean, otherwise it will be tough and you're better off eating your shoe.

I looked around the net for some recipes and found this one, which sounded good. I have to say that I would only use 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, not 3, as it was quite tart.

Kangaroo Medallions with Balsamic Glaze

Ingredients:

200g (7oz) kangaroo fillet cut into thin medallions
3-4 tbsp clarified butter (I used olive oil...much healthier)
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar (as I mentioned, you might be better off with 2)
1/3 cup red wine
1 tbsp seeded mustard
1 tbsp french (dijon) mustard
1 tbsp softened butter mixed with 1 tbsp plain flour
about 2 tbsp chopped parsley (I didn't use it, I thinks it was for presentation only)
salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Slice into thin medallions and hit a few times with a meat mallet a few times to make thin.

Toss in flour and cook quickly to seal both sides. Remove from pan and keep warm while you make the sauce. You might have to cook the kangaroo in a couple of batches as you want to fry it and overcrowding the pan will make it stew.

Mix the mustards into the wine. Mix the softened butter and flour together to make a soft paste.

Tip left over oil (or butter) from the pan. Add vinegar to hot pan and bring to the boil.

Add the wine/mustard mixture and boil quickly until reduced by half. Thicken the sauce by adding globs of the butter/flour mixture, stirring until sauce thickens.

Boil for a few minutes and add the chopped parsley (which I didn't use).

Pour over the medallions.

My FIL said he liked it, but I'm not sure.

I thought it tasted great!

Enjoy.

Matt