Andouille Biscuits & Gravy

So, I've shared our recipe for homemade biscuits & sawmill (aka white) gravy here before, but the other day we made a really fun (and DELICIOUS) spin on it:

We subbed out the traditional pork sausage for andouille.  Our local meat market has house-made andouille sausage that's pretty on par flavor-wise to what you can find down south.

Now, you won't get quite as much fat drippings from the andouille as you would with pork sausage, but that's okay since we typically discard about 2/3 of the grease when we make it with pork, so less mess/waste.

This go-round we used canned biscuits, but please feel free to make homemade if you have the time. (NOTE: I had a version of this at Surrey's Cafe in New Orleans recently that was made with whole wheat biscuits, if you want to health things up a bit.  ...I also tried their famous Banana's Foster French Toast (recipe behind the link) during this same visit, which was most definitely NOT healthy, but freakin' DEVINE.  Highly recommend.)

*drools* Err...wait...sorry, got distracted.  Back to the gravy.

INGREDIENTS (Gravy):

• 1/2 lb andouille sausage (this is about 1 large link from our butcher--NOTE: you need the raw andouille, not a fully cooked sausage like Johnsonville)
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1/4-1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups skim milk (more or less to desired thickness)

DIRECTIONS:

Cook the sausage in a large pan with some salt & pepper to taste. 

Once browned, add the flour & stir. You want enough flour so that it’s still runny in the pan—if it gets clumpy, add more grease to thin it out (you can use bacon grease). 

Mix for 1-2 minutes over medium heat until it becomes a dark brown (but not burnt). But don’t overdo it-- Remember that the roux you’re creating will absorb the milk, so the more roux you make, the more milk you’re going to have to add to turn it into a good gravy. So if you’re not wanting to eat gravy on everything for the next week, err on the side of less. 

Then add milk and continue stirring, about 2-3 minutes. Make sure to scrape the edges of the pan to keep everything well combined. At this point, you can add more milk if you need to thin things out a bit, and you can season with more salt & pepper to taste. Remove from heat when you’ve reached the desired consistency, otherwise it will continue to thicken. 

Spoon onto your biscuits, and chow down. Makes about 3-4 cups of gravy. Nutritional info & servings will vary depending on how heavy-handed you are with your gravy-to-biscuit ratio.

NutriFacts: (assumes 4 servings of about 3/4 cup each)

Calories		229.9
Total Fat		9.2 g
	Saturated Fat	3.1 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	0.0 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	0.1 g
Cholesterol		52.5 mg
Sodium		531.7 mg
Potassium		199.4 mg
Total Carbohydrate		13.1 g
	Dietary Fiber	0.2 g
	Sugars	6.3 g
Protein		14.0 g