Thursday, October 10, 2013

Total "In-Sausage-Sanity" -- We're Having Pigs-in-Biscuit Blankies

This evening I wanted to try the new sausages I picked up at Costco this past weekend..."Habanero w/ Pepper Jack Cheese Smoked Chicken Sausages" by Aidells. They are gluten-free, no MSG, no nitrites, and have no added hormones. I would never have purchased a sausage with habanero peppers in it because it is such a spicy variety of pepper (they happen to be my brother's favorite pepper...he eats them dried and flaked on EVERYTHING). When we were at Costco Sunday, they just happened to have the Aidells team there letting you try their different varieties...and I cautiously tasted this one fully expecting to regret it. Instead, I loved it. It wasn't crazy spicy at all and they had a wonderful flavor. So, I went ahead and picked up a package. I planned to wait until this weekend to use them at breakfast time...but decided to "start the weekend early" by making them for dinner tonight. You are never...EVER going to guess what silliness I embarked on tonight when putting dinner together. I had planned to either grill or saute the sausages and roast some brussels sprouts and maybe make some biscuits to go with them...and then, that crazy little light bulb went off in my head yet AGAIN! I prepped my sprouts and began sauteing the sausages in a skillet with a tiny splash of olive oil. Then, as I mixed my Easy Black Pepper Cheddar Biscuit dough together...I started wondering if I could somehow use my biscuits as a "wrap of sorts"...and then it hit me like a ton of...pigs-in-blankets!  What the heck...why not make wheat and grain-free Pigs-in-Biscuit Blankies!!! LOL So, I did an experiment using only "my" sausage link. Just in case it turned out awful, I didn't want to waste an entire batch of biscuit dough...not with the weekend only days away and 2 nice weekend breakfasts to look forward to!

So, I found myself just standing there in my kitchen...staring at my sausage link, wondering how in the heck I was going to wrap that biscuit dough around that dog and bake it without making a complete and utter mess. I knew that, ideally, I should be chilling my biscuit dough first, but I didn't feel like waiting around for that...I wanted a Pig-in-Biscuit Blankie NOW! So, I grabbed 3 small balls of soft dough and rolled each one between the palms of my hands, making "biscuit rope". I just wrapped 3 ropes around my sausage link (kind of like a barber pole) and put it on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and baked it at 350 degrees F for about 13 minutes, removed it and brushed it with some melted butter spiked with a dash of ground chipotle powder and popped it back in the oven for another 3 or 4 minutes until golden brown. My biscuit ropes swelled and puffed up as they baked around the sausage...but looked gorgeous to me (in a "not the most attractive sort of way"). I will admit...I was standing there by myself in the kitchen, smiling at my Pig-in-Biscuit Blankie, much the way a proud Mommy smiles at her precious baby...LOL.

When hubby called to see if I wanted him to pick up anything at the store on his way home...I blurted into the phone..."You are NEVER going to believe this...it's complete "In-Sausage-Sanity" -- I made Pigs-in-Biscuit Blankies!" I don't know why or where that word came from -- but it's what came out of my mouth at that moment. Alright, enough chatter - I decided to make my brussels sprouts on the stove instead of the oven since it was tied up (I made a more attractive one for hubby after he got home because I chilled the dough before making his and made the biscuit ropes thinner and prettier since I had all that experience under my belt from making 1 of them already!  ;-)  I didn't take a picture of his -- just mine before I ate it -- I couldn't wait for his to finish cooking; the suspense was getting to me! The sprouts turned out delicious, too. I sliced my sprouts about 1/4" thick and put them in a glass covered casserole with 1 tablespoon of water and microwaved for 5 minutes to steam them and soften a bit. I then moved them to a skillet with some olive oil and sauteed for about 5 minutes and then added some butter and diced sauteed sausage. We had Pigs-in-Biscuit Blankies with Brussels Sprouts & Sausage for dinner -- I believe that qualifies as total "In-Sausage-Sanity"!  I snapped a few photos of my silly dinner below as well as my biscuit recipe in case you'd like to experience "In-Sausage-Sanity" for yourself -- oh, and make it easier on yourself and chill the dough a bit first -- it makes for better "biscuit ropes" to wrap around your sausages or dogs. These would be great wrapped around a nice Applegate Grass-fed Beef Hot Dog, too! Enjoy!






Easy Cheddar Black Pepper Biscuits

Ingredients:


2 cups blanched almond flour
3 tablespoons "cold" butter, diced
1 egg (or 1/4 cup Egg Beaters)
1 cup sharp shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/2 - 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
2 teaspoons baking powder (aluminum free)
1/2 cup heavy cream 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Lightly grease a baking pan or line with non-stick foil or parchment paper.  

In a medium bowl, add almond flour, butter, egg, 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese, salt, black pepper, baking powdercut in with a pastry cutter/dough blender until crumbly and all flour is slightly moistened and cheese is pulverized into the mixture. Stir in cream and remaining 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese; mix in lightly.  Divide and roll dough into 10 to 12  balls (I make 10) and place on a lined cookie sheet; do not flatten dough balls (this will result in a thicker biscuit).  Bake at 350 degrees F for approximately 18-20 minutes or until light golden brown; be careful not to overcook.
   Remove from oven; brush tops with melted butter, if desired.


      

9 comments:

Unknown said...

You had me at Pigs-in-Biscuit Blankies! LOL. I have been wanting to try your cheddar biscuits and when you said Applegate, I said to myself, I do believe I have some of those in the freezer and sure enough the hot dogs are Applegate!! Guess what I'm having for lunch tomorrow? :-)

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

LOL, Loretta! You might want to scoop a few biscuits and bake them simply as biscuits, too while you are at it so you can try them that way. To make the little ropes to wrap around the hot dogs, it is easier to work with if you chill the dough a bit -- maybe 30 minutes to it isn't so soft. Don't worry if they don't look perfect -- they puff up as they cook around the sausage or hot dogs. Hope you enjoy your lunch tomorrow! :-)

Sonshine Strong said...

We made the cheddar biscuits last weekend and loved them! I just happen to have some of these sausages in my freezer, so I think I'll give these a try for lunch either tomorrow or Sunday. Looks really good!!
~Cindy

becca said...

Oh. Fabulous. I just started craving a pigs in a blanket the other night. And, I have been making the stew out of your cheddar biscuits! I actually changed the recipe to make buttermilk biscuits--like my southern family loves! They are approved. :)

Patricia said...

Excellent idea! I'm glad u tried those habanero ones from Aidells - now I will too - i've been waiting and waiting for the Amy Lu Andouille ones to come back and they never have so these will be a good substitute. Have a super weekend!

rhodeanie said...

One of my favorite breakfast treats are the sausage stuffed rolls by Sister Schubert. Well, of course, I won't be buying them anymore. So when I read your Pigs in Biscuit Blankie, I thought that I would try rolling the biscuit dough as usual around a piece of sausage, making a ball encasing the sausage, and baking it. Do you think that would work?

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi rhodeanie! OMG -- those are the rolls I always bought at the holiday time to make as part of our breakfasts -- they were great, weren't they! They also used to have a cheddar roll that we loved but they stopped making. I bet it work turn out good -- what you could do is do like I did with these -- get your little sausage link and make a batch of biscuit dough and just wrap it around a couple of them first and bake as a "test run" -- that way if you aren't happy with how they turn out, you can still make the rest of the dough into biscuits! :-)

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi Patricia -- our Costco hasn't gotten the Amy Lu back either. We like these a lot, too, and they weren't as spicy as I feared they might be. I enjoyed them on my pizza tonight! Hope you have a great weekend, too! :-)

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi becca! Hope you like the pigs in blankies, too! Somewhere on my blog I have buttermilk biscuits, too...and I liked them a lot -- never added it to my cheddar biscuits though -- I will have to try that some day! Glad you are enjoying them! :-)