However, most of the time I'm successful. And Stephen will let me know, one way or the other, just how successful of a culinary venture it was. It's something I kinda like about the guy. There are a few different (read: adorable) ways Stephen lets me know which meals are keepers:
Enough with my issues, and onto one of "the best things I've ever made." This is truly an easy, versatile recipe that you should keep in your arsenal. It's simple enough for everyday, but the addition of the sweet potato and chipotle to the biscuits and the substitution of chorizo for regular sausage really gives this recipe, for lack of better words, a "wow" factor. You could definitely have people over and serve them this. Definitely. I got the recipe from the great Homesick Texan. Who never fails.
There is the few-bites-into-the-meal, "This is one of the best things you've ever made" way.
Then there is the, "This is something you could make at a dinner party" way.
Then there is the "This-is-so-good-I'm-not-going-to-waste-time-telling-you-how-good-it-is, I'm -just-going-to-eat-it" way.
And my personal favorite occurs when I set in front of him a beautifully plated dinner and he just says, "Oh baby."
Now, if "Oh, baby" was some kind of rating system on this blog (and I'm thinking it definitely should be), this recipe would get 5 out of 5 "Oh, Baby's" (Oh, Babies? I think it's Oh, Babies, but I feel like things just got a little weird...)
Anyways, Stephen grew up in a house full of boys, eating things like biscuits and gravy. I did not. I've eaten traditional biscuits and gravy maybe once before, and I didn't like it. There's so much variation with biscuits and gravy, and I most likely was served frozen biscuits with gravy that came from a box. So, that could account for my unlikely, anti-Southern aversion to biscuits and gravy. Also, do you know what's in biscuits and gravy? Butter, lard, flour, buttermilk, cream, sausage... So, so bad for you. But as I've learned, so, so good when done right.
Enough with my issues, and onto one of "the best things I've ever made." This is truly an easy, versatile recipe that you should keep in your arsenal. It's simple enough for everyday, but the addition of the sweet potato and chipotle to the biscuits and the substitution of chorizo for regular sausage really gives this recipe, for lack of better words, a "wow" factor. You could definitely have people over and serve them this. Definitely. I got the recipe from the great Homesick Texan. Who never fails.
Sweet potato biscuits w/ chorizo cream gravy
Sweet potato biscuit ingredients:
1 sweet potato (about 1/2 pound)
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon chipotle powder
8 tablespoons (1 stick) of cold butter, sliced
1/2 cup buttermilk or half-and-half
Chorizo cream gravy ingredients:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/4 pound Mexican chorizo, crumbled
2 tablespoons of flour
1 1/2 cups of milk
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
Salt black pepper and chipotle powder to taste.
1 sweet potato (about 1/2 pound)
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon chipotle powder
8 tablespoons (1 stick) of cold butter, sliced
1/2 cup buttermilk or half-and-half
Chorizo cream gravy ingredients:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/4 pound Mexican chorizo, crumbled
2 tablespoons of flour
1 1/2 cups of milk
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
Salt black pepper and chipotle powder to taste.
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Poke holes in the sweet potato with a fork and place on a foil-lined sheet. Place in the oven and cook until tender, about 1 hour. Leaving the oven on, remove the sweet potato and slice in half, lengthwise. Scoop out 1/2 cup* of flesh, reserving the rest for another use. *I'd use more than 1/2 cup. I thought the biscuits turned out GREAT, but, if you like sweet potatoes at all, use more- I'd say maybe even a whole cup. This, however, is going to throw your recipe off a bit, so be prepared with some extra flour.*
2. Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and chipotle powder. Cut the stick of butter into pieces, and work into the flour mixture with your hands or a pastry blender until it resembles pea-sized crumbs. Stir in the 1/2 cup of cooked sweet potato and the buttermilk, mixing until a bit loose and sticky.
3. Pour dough out on a floured surface, and knead for a minute. The dough will be smooth but a bit wetter than a regular biscuit dough, so you can sprinkle more flour on the surface if you find it’s sticking too much. Take the dough into a ball, and hit it with a rolling pin, turning it and folding it in half every few whacks. Do this for a couple of minutes. Roll out dough until it’s a quarter of an inch thick and then fold it in half.
4. Using a round cutter (can use a glass or a cup if don’t have a biscuit cutter) cut out your biscuits from folded dough (I just used my hands and divided the dough up. No harm, no foul.). Place on a greased baking sheet or in a cast-iron skillet close together (so they rise up not out) and bake for 15 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.
5. While the biscuits are baking, make the chorizo gravy. Warm the oil in a skillet on medium heat, and cook the chorizo until browned. With a slotted spatula, remove chorizo from the skillet and place on a plate. Drain the oil from the pan reserving 2 tablespoons in the skillet.
6. Combine the oil in the pan with the flour in a hot skillet and while continuously stirring cook on medium low for a couple of minutes until a roux is formed. Add milk slowly to skillet and mix with the roux using either a whisk or wooden spoon (be sure and press out any lumps). Turn heat to low and continue stirring until mixture is thickened, a couple more minutes.
7. Stir in the chorizo and cilantro, and add salt, black pepper and chipotle powder to taste. If gravy is too thick for your taste, you can thin it by adding either more milk or water a tablespoon at a time. *Mine was a little thick, so I alternated adding milk and water until it thinned out- then checked again to make sure it had enough salt and pepper.*
To assemble the biscuits and gravy, slice each biscuit in half and drizzle with gravy.
Yield: 4 servings
2. Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and chipotle powder. Cut the stick of butter into pieces, and work into the flour mixture with your hands or a pastry blender until it resembles pea-sized crumbs. Stir in the 1/2 cup of cooked sweet potato and the buttermilk, mixing until a bit loose and sticky.
3. Pour dough out on a floured surface, and knead for a minute. The dough will be smooth but a bit wetter than a regular biscuit dough, so you can sprinkle more flour on the surface if you find it’s sticking too much. Take the dough into a ball, and hit it with a rolling pin, turning it and folding it in half every few whacks. Do this for a couple of minutes. Roll out dough until it’s a quarter of an inch thick and then fold it in half.
4. Using a round cutter (can use a glass or a cup if don’t have a biscuit cutter) cut out your biscuits from folded dough (I just used my hands and divided the dough up. No harm, no foul.). Place on a greased baking sheet or in a cast-iron skillet close together (so they rise up not out) and bake for 15 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.
5. While the biscuits are baking, make the chorizo gravy. Warm the oil in a skillet on medium heat, and cook the chorizo until browned. With a slotted spatula, remove chorizo from the skillet and place on a plate. Drain the oil from the pan reserving 2 tablespoons in the skillet.
6. Combine the oil in the pan with the flour in a hot skillet and while continuously stirring cook on medium low for a couple of minutes until a roux is formed. Add milk slowly to skillet and mix with the roux using either a whisk or wooden spoon (be sure and press out any lumps). Turn heat to low and continue stirring until mixture is thickened, a couple more minutes.
7. Stir in the chorizo and cilantro, and add salt, black pepper and chipotle powder to taste. If gravy is too thick for your taste, you can thin it by adding either more milk or water a tablespoon at a time. *Mine was a little thick, so I alternated adding milk and water until it thinned out- then checked again to make sure it had enough salt and pepper.*
To assemble the biscuits and gravy, slice each biscuit in half and drizzle with gravy.
Yield: 4 servings
yum.
Until next time.
-Amanda
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