Buttermilk Biscuits and Sausage Gravy

Ingredients

• 320g plain flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp fine salt
• 115g very cold unsalted butter, cubed
• 240ml cold buttermilk, plus 1 tbsp for brushing
• 450g bulk pork breakfast sausage (sage-seasoned)
• 40g plain flour, for the gravy
• 700ml whole milk
• 1.5 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• Salt, to taste

Before you cook

• Cube the butter and return it to the freezer for 10 minutes so it stays hard
• Measure the buttermilk and keep it in the fridge until the moment you need it
• Whisk the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt together in a wide bowl
• Heat the oven to 220C and line a baking tray with parchment

Steps

1. Tip the frozen butter cubes into the flour mixture and rub them in with your fingertips until the biggest pieces are the size of peas, leaving plenty of visible flakes.
2. Pour in the cold buttermilk and stir with a fork just until a shaggy, barely-holding dough forms, stopping while dry patches still show.
3. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and pat it into a rough rectangle about 2cm thick.
4. Fold the rectangle in thirds like a letter, pat it flat again, and repeat this fold three more times to build the layers that make a biscuit pull apart.
5. Pat the finished dough out to 2.5cm thick and cut rounds with a 6cm cutter, pressing straight down without twisting so the edges can rise.
6. Arrange the rounds on the lined tray with their sides just touching, brush the tops with buttermilk, and bake for 14 to 16 minutes until deeply golden and roughly doubled in height.
7. Set the biscuits aside on a rack and put a large heavy skillet over medium heat.
8. Crumble the sausage into the dry skillet and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, breaking it into rough bite-sized pieces, until browned and the fat has rendered out.
9. Sprinkle the 40g of flour over the sausage and stir constantly for 2 minutes so the raw flour taste cooks off and the mixture looks like wet sand.
10. Pour in the milk in three additions, stirring hard after each one to keep the gravy smooth.
11. Simmer the gravy for 5 to 8 minutes, stirring often, until it coats the back of a spoon and holds a line when you draw a finger through it.
12. Season with the black pepper, the nutmeg and salt to taste, going heavier on the pepper than feels sensible.
13. Split the warm biscuits in half, lay them cut side up on plates, and ladle the gravy generously over the top.