Buttermilk/Pork Belly Biscuits with Basic Red-Eye Gravy



perfect thanksgiving breakfast

 It is rare that I get to enjoy a fresh cooked breakfast during the work week. Normally I have a cup or 2 of coffee with a bowl of cereal, oatmeal, or leftover baked goods (cookies, tea breads, etc). Even with the added bonus of working from home twice a week I still usually don't have the time to make a hot breakfast because I use the extra time to cleanup the apartment, take the trash out, do laundry, plan blog posts, etc.
Last Thursday, in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday here in the US I was offered the opportunity to wake up and enjoy a hot fresh breakfast in the middle of the week! I took advantage by getting out of bed and baking up a quick batch of buttermilk biscuits, red-eye gravy, and scrambled eggs(with shredded Manchego and chives)! The biscuits had a simple twist, rather then using extra butter or shortening I used some of the leftover fat from the pork belly I had already made. The red-eye gravy was a  thin and sweet topping for the biscuits that tasted great and was nearly effortless to prepare.
Easy Buttermilk Biscuits (w/Pork Belly drippings)
makes about a dozen biscuits
2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons pork belly grease (or shortening, additional butter, etc)
1 cup chilled buttermilk
Preheat oven to 450 F degrees.
In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Use your fingertips and rub butter &  pork fat into dry ingredients until mixture looks like crumbs. Make a well in the center and pour in the chilled buttermilk. Stir until the dough comes together, which will be very sticky.
Turn the dough onto a floured surface, dust top with flour and gently fold the dough over on itself a few times. Press the dough into a 1-inch thick round, cut biscuits with a 2-inch cutter (I do not own a biscuit cutter, I used a lowball glass as my biscuit cutter). Place biscuits on baking sheet so that they are barely touching. Reform the scrap dough and continue to cut biscuits.
Bake until biscuits are golden on top, approximately 15 to 20 minutes.

Basic Red-Eye Gravy
2 pieces ham or pork belly
at least 1/2 cup leftover coffee (I need coffee if I am up early and baking, so I made a little extra before I tackled the biscuits)
2 teaspoons brown sugar
Cook pork belly gently on both sides and put aside the leftover drippings. Add drippings, leftover coffee, and brown sugar to a small pan over low heat until sufficiently mixed and combined.
Pour over biscuits and enjoy!