Revealing the Winning Secrets For Biscuits and Gravy

Biscuits and gravy is a culinary combo made in foodie heaven. The buttery, flaky goodness of warm chive-cheddar biscuits paired with the savory richness of country sausage gravy is a comfort food staple that chef Melvin “Boots” Johnson has mastered.

The self-described Southern chef, popularly known as Chef Boots, exclusively reveals to Cuisine Noir the steps for serving up his acclaimed biscuits and gravy recipe.

Mixing Up Biscuits

“First thing you’ve got to do is make sure your butter is frozen,” instructs Chef Boots about a key ingredient for his signature biscuits and gravy recipe. Begin by grating the frozen butter (he likes to use a cheese grater).

He points out the grated, frozen butter will be incorporated with the biscuit dough to create “little flakes of butter that goes throughout your whole biscuit so you have those nice layers.”

Next, place your dry ingredients (flour, baking powder and kosher salt) in a mixing bowl. “Add that grated, frozen butter along with shredded Cheddar cheese and dried chives. Mix it all together,” instructs Chef Boots. “Make a ‘well’ inside of the flour mixture—just like how you see people when they’re making pasta.” Set this aside.

In another bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and honey. “You whip that together to where the honey is infused with the buttermilk,” details the chef, who opts to use a large spoon to blend the ingredients.

“You’ll then pour the buttermilk and honey mixture into the center of the ‘well’ you created with the flour and other dry ingredients and mix it together,” he says.

“You could do this with an electric mixer, using the dough hook, slowly folding in the buttermilk and honey mixture, until it comes together,” notes Chef Boots.

“If you’re doing it by hand, you’re going to take your hand and kind of emulate a ‘paddle.’ You’ll slowly, as you’re going around the bowl, fold in some of the flour from the outside of your ‘well’ into the buttermilk/honey mixture. With your other hand you’ll keep turning your bowl around and around, creating that motion of a mixer. What you’re doing is folding [the ingredients] in slowly until it all comes together.”

GET THE FULL RECIPE:  Harlem Biscuit Company Biscuits

The Roll Out

Once the dough begins forming small “pebbles,” knead the flour together into a ball. Place the dough ball onto a floured surface. “You’re then going to take your floured rolling pin and roll out the dough to a 1/2-inch thickness,” coaches the chef.

Roll out the dough into a rectangular shape so it’s long enough to fold into thirds. Then, use the rolling pin to roll out the dough into a half-inch thickness and fold the dough into thirds once more. You’ll repeat this step one more time.

“The last time you roll out the dough, that’s when you want to make sure you roll it out to be about the size of the pan you’ll be baking your biscuits in,” details Chef Boots, who likes to use a greased cookie sheet for this recipe yielding a dozen biscuits.

The culinary pro prefers to shape his biscuits into 3-inch squares, opting to place them touching each other on the cookie sheet. Then he bakes the biscuits in the oven set at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes. Once done, the chef says the biscuits will be “gold on top and they’ll look fluffy.”

Get That Gravy!

For biscuits and gravy to be magical on the plate, Chef Boots likes to blend in what he calls a “sausage seasoning kit” to add extra flavor to his gravy. “Instead of making sausage for the gravy, I just add the sausage spices,” notes the culinary pro.

This spice mix consists of salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes, dried sage and thyme, ground nutmeg, brown sugar and granulated onion and garlic.

The chef opts for a “good, heavy pot” to cook the gravy; he prefers cast iron for heat retention. Begin making the gravy by melting butter and cook the ground pork on high heat. “Add your diced onions and sauté it with the butter and fat from the meat.

Chop and add the fresh sage and thyme, reserving half for later use. Now add the sausage seasoning kit spices along with salt, black pepper and chicken bouillon. The chicken bouillon gives the pork some balance, a flavored salt [taste],” he notes.

Next, turn the heat to medium and add flour to the mixture in the pot. “The flour is going to make your [gravy’s] roux with all the butter and oil,” says Chef Boots about this step for thickening the gravy.

“Then once you get the roux going, you don’t want to [brown] it where it’s giving any color. You just want to get the roux to where it binds and soaks up all the fat that’s in there,” he says. “My gravy is white, but it has a little hint of red hue, mostly because of the tabasco.”

GET THE FULL RECIPE: Harlem Biscuit Company Sausage Seasoning Kit

Pay Attention to Your Pot

Further turn down the heat to a simmer and begin adding milk, a little at a time, to the roux and cooked ground pork in the pot. “This is the tricky part of it. You have to be very, very careful not to have that heat too high because you’ll scorch the flour—and if you do that, your flavor’s gone,” cautions Chef Boots.

“Once that milk incorporates with the flour, you’ll see the gravy thickening. When you get to that stage, you can add the rest of the fresh herbs along with the tabasco, cayenne and paprika. Adding the rest of the fresh sage and thyme at the end gives you a stronger flavor.”

GET THE FULL RECIPE – Harlem Biscuit Company Country Sausage Gravy

Serving Up Biscuits and Gravy

Reserve about 30 minutes total for the prep and cooking of these biscuits and gravy, says the culinary pro. Chef Boots likes to serve his signature dish this way, “You want a nice, warm biscuit. Crack it open and you’ll see all that steam coming from it. Smother it with gravy and add some green onions on top and you’re ready to go. I added fried chicken skins on top when I did  [the show] ‘Beat Bobby Flay.’”

As for the main thing to remember when recreating Chef Boots’ biscuits and gravy recipe at home, he shares, “If you want to do your biscuits ahead of time so you can spend your time watching your gravy, that’s perfect. It’s a very critical point when you’re adding that milk to the roux because the flour can scorch quickly. So you’ve got to make sure you’re paying attention to your pot.”