Biscuits and Gravy are perfect for brunch or a fun dinner.  As this is my first recipe post (hopefully of many to come) I should probably do a little explaining of how recipes on my blog are different from recipes elsewhere.  For all of my recipes and other entries mentioning specific food or ingredients, each food item will be a link to where the food is produced.  So click on the links to go to my farm reviews.  I'm still gathering information about the farms, so expect more info to appear on the reviews soon as well as more reviews.  Many recipes will contain ingredients that I couldn't find from a local farm.  If you click on these ingredients a page will come up that says pretty much that.  If you know a good local source for such an ingredient please comment on the post or send me an email to let me know the source.  Also feel free to share other local sources for ingredients that I already have sources for.  For example if you're not in the DC area feel free to put a comment that mentions a farm in your area.

Buttermilk Biscuits

adapted from Gourmet, January 2008

Equipment needed:
large baking sheet
biscuit cutter
large mixing bowl

Ingredients:
5 cups sifted flour (White Lily or Cake Flour preferred)
    (sift before measuring)
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 cup cold lard (can use butter as well)
1 1/2 cups well-shaken cold buttermilk
(drop biscuits can be made by adding an extra 3/4 cup of buttermilk)

Preheat oven to 500F with rack in the middle.  Sift dry ingredients together.  White Lily is a very light flour made from a soft red winter wheat, which is common in the South.  It is low in gluten and makes light and fluffy biscuits.  Look for a similar flour if possible.  If using all-purpose flour sift two or three times.  Add  lard and work it into the flour mixture.   Make a well in the flour mixture and add the buttermilk.  Gradually work into the dough.  Turn the dough out on a floured surface and need about 8 times.  Roll the dough out  so it's about a half inch thick.  Using a fork dipped in flour prick the rolled out dough every half inch or so.  Cut out as many biscuits as you can.  Place biscuits on baking sheet almost touching each other.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until crusty and golden-brown.  If they are cooking unevenly rotate baking sheet after 6 minutes.

For drop biscuits add the extra milk to make a stiff batter.  Spoon out onto baking sheet.  My wife, M, prefers these because they save on mess.  And she likes to make cute mini-biscuits.  I suspect it's because she's an elf.  I can't prove this, though I have seen her drink a cup of syrup.

Sausage Gravy

recipe given to me verbally by my friend's West Virginia mom

Equipment needed:
heavy bottomed pot

Ingredients:
sausage (raw, made from any type of meat)
flour
milk
salt
pepper

This recipe is variable depending on how much sausage you have.  And I think it's better to experiment a little and make it to your taste depending on how thick or thin you want the gravy.  Add the sausage to the pot and place over medium heat.  If the sausage is encased squeeze it out of the casing.  You can use any type of sausage for this: pork, chicken, turkey, lamb, buffalo, whatever you think sounds good.  I usually use a pork breakfast sausage and try to avoid anything very spicy like chorizo.  If the sausage is very lean you may have to add some butter or oil to keep it from sticking.  It's also possible to make the gravy without meat and use onions or mushrooms instead.  If you do this saute the vegetables in butter before proceeding with the recipe.  Brown the sausage completely stirring it to break it up into smaller chunks and to keep it from sticking (add fat if needed).  When sausage is brown, lightly coat in flour, still over medium heat.  This will be one to four tablespoons of flour depending on how much sausage you have.  Stir the flour in and let it brown for about a minute. 

Add about three times as much milk as needed to cover the sausage completely.  If your unsure about how much milk to add err on the side of less milk.  You can always add more milk later.  It's probably something like 4 cups milk for a half pound of sausage.  Increase heat to high and bring to a boil.  Once boiling reduce heat slightly but keep it boiling rapidly for a few minutes or until you can feel it start to thicken.  Stir as needed.  Reduce heat to low and let it simmer for a few more minutes and gravy will thicken some more.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Split biscuits in half and ladle gravy over them to serve.

Red Wattle is a rare hog breed known for having a fleshy wattle of unknown function on either side of its neck.

Whereas once there were many breeds of pigs farmed and eaten in the US, Red Wattle included, there are now only a few.  Intensive farming methods have decreased the diversity of food available.  According to Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life humans have eaten about 80,000 plant species in our history but now rely on just 8 species for 75% of our food.  As a result, many breeds of plants and animals that were once popular are now in danger of becoming extinct.  With fewer than 200 annual registrations in the US and less than 2000 individuals worldwide the Red Wattle pig is listed as "critical" for conservation efforts by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy. Through its "Ark of Taste," Slow Food International supports ongoing conservation efforts to save the Red Wattle.  What can you do to keep the Red Wattle and other rare livestock breeds from extinction?  EAT THEM.  It sounds counterintuitive, but by eating them and asking  for them at your local market you are increasing demand for Red Wattle pigs.  Since urbanites do not often keep livestock as pets the only feasible way for us to increase demand is to eat more heritage breeds. 

Don't worry; eating meat from heritage breeds is no sacrifice in taste.  The Red Wattle was selected in a blind taste test by chefs in St. Louis as the best tasting pork of seven samples.  Chefs around the country are recognizing the superior taste and quality of meat from rarer breeds of livestock--from chickens and turkeys to pigs, cows and buffaloes.  I think it's time for the rest of us to start looking for these products in our local markets to keep the food supply diverse and keep these breeds from extinction.

    Sunday morning was bitterly cold, but that didn't keep the farmers from their weekly ritual of setting up stands just north of Dupont Circle.  In spite of it being mid-January and the air being too cold to keep some produce from freezing there were a lot of options at the market.  Here's what I bought:

Lard, Yukon gold potatoes, pear cider, yellow onions, turnips, rainbow chard, grape tomatoes, buffalo half smokes, chicken breast (French cut poulet rouge), popping corn, tomato sauce, fuji apples, honey, raspberry jam, pecans, red cabbage, mesclun, radishes, country white bread, kalmata whole wheat bread, a raisin scone, dill and chive pasta, whole wheat and oat pasta, and goat cheese.