Beer for breakfast works really well as long as you stay away from the high-alcohol monsters. This is a simple dish that’s easy to showcase beer as an ingredient. You could use a Vienna lager or a Pilsner for this recipe; both are firm enough to let the brightness of the beer shine through, but not so bitter that they overpower the sausage and herbs.
Active preparation time: 45 minutes
Total time: 50 minutes
Serves: 2
Biscuits
2 cup flour
¼ tsp baking soda
1 Tbs baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
7 Tbs unsalted butter, cold and diced
1 cup (237 ml) buttermilk
4 Tbs melted butter
Salt
Preheat the oven to 425°F (232°C).
Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Place the dry ingredients in a food processor with the diced butter and pulse until it resembles a coarse meal. Add the buttermilk all at once and pulse just until the dough comes together.
Remove the dough from the food processor and roll to a ½ inch (1.3 cm) thickness. Use a biscuit cutter to create individual biscuits. Arrange the biscuits on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, brush lightly with the melted butter, and sprinkle with salt.
Porky Beer Gravy
¼ cup (59 ml) olive oil
1 lb (454 g) breakfast sausage, bulk
1 cup yellow onion, minced
3 Tbs butter
4 Tbs flour
2 cup (473 ml) Vienna lager or Pilsner
2 cup (473 ml) chicken stock
1½ cup (355 ml) heavy cream
1 Tbs fresh oregano, chopped
1 Tbs fresh rosemary, chopped
Salt
In a large sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and onion and cook thoroughly, breaking up the sausage with a whisk as it cooks. Add the butter and allow it to melt. Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Add the beer and chicken stock, bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer, then cook over low heat for 15 minutes. Stir in the cream, oregano, and rosemary. Season to taste with salt.
2 Tbs butter
2 eggs
4 fresh biscuits
3 cup (710 ml) sausage gravy
Fresh cracked black pepper
In a small nonstick pan, melt the butter and fry two eggs. Place two biscuits each on two plates, then pour the sausage gravy over the biscuits. Top each pair of biscuits with a fried egg and season with fresh cracked black pepper.
Beer Suggestions: The beer used in the gravy needs to be lighter on the ABV (this is breakfast, after all!), and we recommend Jack’s Abby Sunny Ridge Pilsner (Framingham, Massachusetts), Trumer Brauerei Berkeley Trumer Pils (Berkeley, California), and Upland Brewing Company Champagne Velvet (Bloomington, Indiana).
PHOTO: CHRISTOPHER CINA