Sausage & Egg Biscuit Sliders

We all love sliders. I mean, how can you not love a miniature burger? Honestly, I made them small because the only breakfast sausage patties at my closest grocery store are small, but I am really keen on the idea of making them small from now on. What an adorable breakfast!

I actually have another, slightly larger batch of these biscuits in the oven as I type this, while my boyfriend makes some thick-cut bacon to go with them. We love breakfast food around here, even (especially!) around mid-afternoon on weekends.

There are 2 keys to making these biscuits turn out beautifully.

1) I'm serious about the butter & milk being very cold.

2) Do not overmix, follow the kneading directions. It's worth it, and it's not difficult.

Best Flaky Biscuits

makes 10-12 depending on size.

2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons butter (7 for dough, 1 for brushing on top)

3/4 cup very cold milk + 2 tbsp for brushing on top

Preheat the oven to 425º.

Slice off 1 tbsp of butter and set aside. Cut the remaining butter into thin slices and place in the freezer for a few minutes.

In a medium/large bowl, whisk together the flour, paking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the frozen thin butter and cut it in with a pastry cutter. When the mixture looks like lumpy crumbs, pour the milk in and stir with the pastry cutter until it just barely forms a dough. Dump out onto a clean surface and press into a solid rectangle. Fold it in thirds (like a letter), press out to the original rectangle's size, and repeat 3 or 4 times until the dough is fairly smooth. Roll or press out to about 1/2" thick and cut with cutters. Brush the tops with a mixture of milk & melted butter before placing in the oven for about 10 minutes or until lightly browned on top.

Now to make them into breakfast sliders!

While the biscuits are in the oven, cook some sausage patties (I used 8). Crack 4 eggs into a bowl and lightly beat them with salt & fresh ground black pepper. Cook them in a skillet omelet style with some butter. Cut out egg rounds with the same cutter you used for the biscuits.

Assemble the sandwiches as soon as everything's cool enough to touch.

Spicy Sausage Rigatoni

You haven't seen much savory stuff here in a while, I know. I didn't think anyone was on to me but I got an email this morning from a reader (hi!), and I can't help but fulfill the request promptly, considering how seldom I get emails from this blog. And I was already halfway through typing up the carrot cake... Oh well!

One of my best friends was brave enough to move into an apartment around the corner from mine. I say brave because everyone who lives close enough to eat with me daily ends up puttin on a little weight...but it's not my fault! Portions, people! Anyway, this friend has developed a habit of coming over for dinner as often as possible (shock!). Fortunately, he has also developed a habit of bringing ingredients. Sometimes it's a couple of things I forgot to pick up at the store, and sometimes it's, "Surprise! It's sausage night!" And that is how this recipe came to be.

Luckily I keep a stash of various kinds of canned tomatoes, pastas, fresh herbs, and cheese handy, so that sausage was a good surprise. I went for rigatoni mostly because the other options were shells or lasagna, and I put sherry in the sauce because I can't help but put sherry in everything. (If you don't have any, go buy it. Then put it in every meat, fish, or mushroom dish you make, and you will thank me.) Sherry just might be my official favorite ingredient this year.

I didn't have as many fresh herbs on hand as I would've liked, but the sauce is lovely with just thyme. This recipe serves 3, or 2 if one has a bottomless stomach. It's also pretty fast, like, light speed compared to most of the stuff I cook!

Spicy Sausage Rigatoni
3 or 4 links spicy Italian sausage
about 1/2 a box of rigatoni
1 tsp olive oil
1/4 cup sherry
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 15-oz can plain tomato sauce
1 15-oz can diced plum tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato paste
3 branches worth of fresh thyme (about 1 tsp)
salt to taste
1/4 tsp black pepper
parmesan, romano, or asiago cheese for garnish

Measure out the amount of water needed according to the pasta box, and bring it to a boil. Place the sausage links carefully and boil until fully cooked. Remove the sausages with tongs but leave the water, you will cook the pasta in it momentarily, and it will be delicious.

In another sauce pot, sautée the minced garlic in olive oil over medium-high heat until fragrant, then add the sherry. When the noise stops, add the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, thyme, salt and pepper. Stir well and bring to a boil, add a little water if it looks too solid. Turn heat down to medium and let simmer, stirring often. Slice the sausages about 1/4" thick and add them to the sauce. You should probably start the pasta around this time.

When the pasta is drained and ready, remove the sauce from heat and stir in some cheese. Serve over pasta immediately, preferably with some garlic bread and red wine. And more cheese on top, obviously.