Mother’s Day Brunch Favorites

Ingredients

Sausage Gravy

• 8 oz breakfast sausage
• 2 Tbsp shortening or veg oil
• 3 Tbsp flour
• 1 1/2 c milk

Biscuits

• 2 c flour
• 2 Tbsp baking powder
• 1 scant Tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 5 Tbsp cold, unsalted butter, cubed
• 1 c milk

Preparation

Sausage Gravy

1. Cook the sausage in a med skillet, breaking it up as it cooks to brown
2. Remove sausage crumbles with a slotted spoon and set aside on a paper towel
3. Add shortening to the skillet
4. Slowly stir in flour and stir until smooth
5. Gradually add milk, stirring constantly until thick and bubbly
6. Stir in sausage crumbles and serve over biscuits

Biscuits

1. Preheat oven to 425
2. Sift flour, baking powder, sugar and salt into a food processor
3. Add butter and pulse until rough crumbs form
4. Transfer to a mixing bowl, add milk and mix by hand until it becomes a ball of dough
5. Plop the dough onto a well floured surface and pat it down into a rectangle about 1 inch thick
6. Fold it over and pat it down again
7. Repeat and cover the dough loosely with a kitchen towel and let it rest for 30 min
8. Pat the dough out gently into a 10x 6 rectangle
9. Cut the dough into circles with a floured cookie cutter
10. Don’t twist it around
11. Place the biscuits on a cooking sheet and bake for 10-15 min until golden

Ingredients

• 1 sheet of flaky pastry dough
• 8 bacon slices chopped
• 1 1/2 c shredded gruyere cheese
• 4 eggs
• 1 3/4 c half & half
• 1/2 tsp salt

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 425
2. Roll out the dough to a 12 inch circle
3. Pat it into a 9 inch pie dish
4. Pierce the bottom of the dough with a fork a few times and stick it in the freezer for 5 min
5. Bake for about 10 min until lightly golden
6. Transfer to a cooling rack and reduce oven temp to 375
7. Fry the bacon to crisp and set aside on paper towels
8. Sprinkle 1/2 of the cheese over the crust
9. Whisk the eggs
10. Whisk in the 1/2&1/2 and salt
11. Stir in remaining cheese and bacon and pour into the crust
12. Bake for 30 – 35 min until crust is golden and a toothpick comes out clean
13. Let cool about 10 min
14. Slice and serve

Ingredients

• 3 eggs lightly beaten
• 1 c half and half
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tsp firmly packed light brown sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 4 1 1/2 inch thick slices of rustic bread
• 8 slices of Serrano ham
• 4 slices gruyere cheese
• Sifted confectioners sugar to dust
• Raspberry preserves to serve on the side

Preparation

1. Preheat a panini press if you have one. If not, you can sauté it in a skillet with butter
2. In a bowl, whisk together eggs, half and half, vanilla, brown sugar and salt
3. Pour into a shallow bowl
4. Slice a pocket into each slice of bread to stuff
5. Stuff each one with 2 slices of ham and one slice of cheese
6. Pinch the opening closed
7. Soak each stuffed slice in the egg mix for 2 min on each side
8. Press or sauté until crisp and golden. 2 – 3 min in a press or a couple of min per side in a pan
9. Dust with powdered sugar and serve with raspberry preserves

Ingredients

• Yukon gold potatoes, sliced in half
• Olive oil to coat a metal baking pan
• Salt

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Coat the bottom of the pan with oil
3. Place the potatoes in, cut side down. If they don’t touch the metal, they don’t crisp
4. Sprinkle with salt and drizzle with oil
5. Bake for 40 min to 1 hr. Check after 40 min to see if the cut sides are starting to crisp
6. They will turn golden and crispy and the centers will be soft and delicious