Sawmill Sausage Gravy

Ingredients

• 1 lb bulk country breakfast sausage
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 cups whole milk
• 1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper, plus more to taste
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp rubbed sage
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter (only if the sausage is lean)

Before you cook

• Measure the milk into a pitcher and let it sit out while you work so it is not refrigerator-cold.
• Measure the flour into a small bowl.

Steps

1. Crumble the sausage into a cold 12-inch cast-iron skillet in walnut-sized lumps.
2. Set the skillet over medium heat and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, breaking the meat down with a wooden spoon every couple of minutes, until no pink remains and dark brown crust has formed on the bottom of the pan.
3. Look at the fat in the pan; if there is less than about 3 tablespoons, add the butter and let it melt.
4. Sprinkle the flour evenly over the sausage and stir constantly for 2 minutes, until the flour disappears and the mixture smells toasty rather than raw.
5. Pour in about 1 cup of the milk and stir hard, scraping the browned bits up off the bottom until the mixture is a thick paste with no lumps.
6. Pour in the remaining 2 cups milk in a steady stream while stirring.
7. Bring the gravy to a gentle simmer, stirring often, and cook 5 to 7 minutes, until it coats the back of a spoon and holds a line when you draw a finger through it.
8. Stir in the black pepper, salt, sage and cayenne.
9. Taste and add more pepper until you can plainly taste it; sawmill gravy should be aggressively peppery.
10. Thin with a splash of milk if it has gone past thick, and ladle it hot over split biscuits.