Maple Chipotle Biscuits with Chicken Apple Sausage Gravy

I've never been a biscuits and gravy person.  I don't know why.  I like biscuits...I like gravy...I like certain kinds of sausage.  The Mr feels about the same.  The last time he had biscuits and gravy was at a popular breakfast chain restaurant in Niagara Falls in 2010 and it was quite possibly the worst biscuits and gravy ever made.  Is anyone here old enough to remember the smell of freshly copied dittos or carbon paper?  That's what it tasted like!  It was disgusting.

Lately I was seeing a lot of different cooking shows telling their audiences that it was impossible to make good gravy out of skim milk.  That ticks me off.  Don't tell me what I can and can't make.  So the rebel in me was out to prove that was a myth and I also set out to rectify the Mr's horrid biscuits and gravy experience but of course put my own spin on it.

When I served it to the Mr for dinner, he gave the look. The whole sink back in your chair, eyes widening thing, said it was awesome and the Trader Joe's sausage made it really good.  When I informed him that Joe had nothing to do with it and I, in fact, made the sausage I thought he was going to explode with pride.  "You made that sausage?!  You rock!!!"

Indeed...I do.

Maple Chipotle Biscuits with Chicken Apple Sausage Gravy

Maple Chipotle Biscuits
(Biscuit recipe only adapted from Pinch My Salt)
(Makes 10)


1 1/4 cup cake flour
3/4 cup AP flour (plus a little more for work surface)
1 1/2 tsp Hain Baking Powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup lowfat buttermilk
1 tbsp Trader Joe's organic maple sugar
2 La Costena Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce  (seeds discarded)

Preheat oven to 500 degrees

Cut butter into small cubes and refrigerate until needed.

In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt until blended.

Take 2 of the chipotle peppers and discard the seeds.  (I wear food grade gloves when handling them.  Those babies will burn your fingers for hours!)  Dice the peppers.

Grab your butter cubes, add in your peppers and cut into the flour with a pastry blender or two forks until it resembles crumbs.

Pour in the buttermilk and combine until dough comes together in a ball.  Turn out dough onto floured work surface. Flour your hands and lightly knead dough a few times until it's blended. Pat into a circle, 3/4 – 1" thick.

Dunk biscuit cutter (or the top of a drinking glass) into flour and cut biscuits. You can form the extra dough into an extra biscuit. Put cut biscuits together on the baking sheet so the sides touch.

Bake the biscuits on the middle rack for 8-10 minutes until they are golden brown. Remove biscuits to a wire rack to cool for a few minutes.  Don't they look delicious?

For the gravy:
(Makes 6 servings)

Sausage portion:

1 lb Gold'n Plump Ground Chicken
1 granny smith apple
1 tbsp TJ's maple sugar
2 tbsp poultry seasoning
1 tsp nutmeg

Gravy-
3 tbsp butter
1/4 cup flour
3 cups skim milk  (yeah that's right, I said it!)
1 tbsp coarse black pepper
1 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Peel, core and cube apple.  Put in a saucepan with 1 tbsp water on medium low heat and stew it down until soft.  Let cool.

In a large bowl add chicken, cooled apples, poultry seasoning, nutmeg and maple sugar.  Mix until combined.  Add to a deep skillet, break it up as it cooks until a nice crust is on it then set aside on a plate. Make sure you keep any browned bits of meat stuck to the pan.  You'll need it for the gravy!

Reduce heat to medium and to the skillet (and any drippings/flavor bits leftover) add the butter and stir until it melts.  Add the flour and stir it until it's tan in color so you can get your roux on!  Add the milk and whisk until it thickens up, get the pepper and sausage and add them into the gravy.  Stir well making sure you get all  of the yummy bits off the bottom so it can flavor the gravy.  Reduce to a simmer for 15 minutes giving the occasional stir and taking care it doesn't burn or get too thick.

Makes 6 servings (each serving of gravy covers 2 biscuits quite nicely).  Top the maple chipotle biscuits or your favorite kind!

So how does that scandalous skim milk gravy taste?  I should warn you, you may never make full fat gravy again.  The sweet apple-y goodness of the sausage gravy with the peppery kick enveloping the flavorful biscuits, you've got a perfect balance of sweet n' heat.  Good things happen when you dare to buck cooking tradition!

A nice full Sunday morning serving of 2 biscuits and gravy for just over 500 calories with half the fat and a fraction of the sodium of a big name breakfast restaurant or about 375 calories for 1 biscuit and generous gravy?  That's slap yo' mama good!

Nutritional information per biscuit:  Calories 142  Total Fat 5g  Sat Fat 3g  Mono Fat 1g  Cholesterol 12mg  Sodium 163mg  Potassium 83mg  Total Carbs 21g  Fiber 1g  Protein 3g  Vitamin A  4%  Calcium 3%  Iron 3%

Nutritional information for gravy per serving:  Calories 234  Total Fat 13g  Sat Fat 5g  Mono Fat 2g  Cholesterol 71mg Sodium 148mg  Potassium 44mg  Total Carbs 17g  Fiber 1g  Sugars 9g  Protein 17g  Vitamin A 9%  Vitamin C 2%  Calcium 17%  Iron 4%

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