Breakfast Chicken Biscuits

Last year you may recall that we did a chicken biscuit breakfast meal trying to replicate something tasty we'd had while eating out.

Since then we've refined that idea a bit and come up with something really amazing that will satisfy your breakfast or dinner cravings, that's actually a bit like a scaled down version of the world-shatteringly awesome Fried Chicken Benedict we made a few years back.

The idea is to use fried chicken, out-of-this-world gravy with an interesting breakfast slant, buttermilk biscuits, and an egg for some extra breakfast goodness.

We want the chicken to be as tender and juicy as possible, so we're both going to use thighs instead of breasts, and we're going to marinate the meat overnight. For the marinade, simply the place the chicken in a shallow dish and pour in a mixture of buttermilk (enough to just cover the chicken), some garlic powder, and a few dashes of hot sauce, such as Tabasco.

For the “Red Eye” gravy you’ll need:

•    ½ cup flour
•    ¼ cup butter
•    ½ - 1 pound pork sausage
•    ½  - 1 cup cup brewed medium to dark roast coffee (use more for a stronger coffee flavor)
•    1 cup milk
•    1 cup heavy cream
•    2 tbsp hot sauce (Tabasco, Frank’s Red Hot, or whatever you prefer!)
•    1 tbsp garlic powder
•    Salt and pepper to taste

This isn't traditional red eye gravy, which usually only consists of grease, brewed coffee, and an add-in like beef bouillon. Instead, we're taking the idea of a coffee-based gravy and simply adding it to a traditional pan gravy recipe.

To start the gravy we need a nice thick base, so first off make a roux by melting and briefly stirring together the flour, butter, and a few teaspoons of milk. When it gets nice and thick (the yellow substance above the meat in the photo below), add in the breakfast sausage and let it begin to cook in the butter and flour.

Once the sausage is browned evenly, pour in your brewed coffee. Start with a small amount like 1/2 - 3/4 cup, because you can always add in more if the coffee taste isn't prevalent enough later.

Next we add in our milk and heavy cream. The mixture of cream and milk makes the end result much creamier and tastier, but if you are wanting to cut out fat just use entirely milk instead.

After about 20 minutes of simmering you'll have an amazing gravy ready to cover our chicken and biscuits!

Speaking of, while that's simmering Megan is putting together the homemade biscuits (also buttermilk of course - we've got a theme going here!) getting ready to go in the oven.

Now as it's all coming together its time to fry the chicken, which only takes a few minutes (about 7 depending on size, but even as little as 5 for small pieces). Here's our marinated chicken:

Before getting fried in a pan of hot oil, they are dredged in a mixture of flour, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika. For more flavor, throw in a dash of cayenne or chili powder.

With the frying done, it's finally time to start assembling! Here we've got a biscuit that's been ladled over with a hefty helping of red eye gravy.

Here we've added on a piece of perfectly fried chicken that's crispy on the outside but tender on the inside.

Top it with a fried egg and you've got a hearty, all-in-one meal!