Glass Onion’s Sausage Gravy For Shrimp & Grits (or just over biscuits)

The Glass Onion
1219 Savannah Hwy.
843- 225-1717
www.ilovetheglassonion.com
Few West Ashley restaurants have garnered more national acclaim than the Glass Onion in recent years. Owners and chefs Sarah O’Kelley and Chris Stewart strongly believe in the importance of eating seasonally, locally and naturally. So, you can always expect local seafood, all-natural meats, and vegetables from as close to home as they can get. “Here at the Glass Onion, we put our delicious, all natural sausage – Belle’s Country Links – to good use all hours of the day,” says Glass Onion co-owner and chef Sarah O’Kelley. “We serve it as an appetizer alongside our pimento cheese; we serve it as an entrée alongside our crispy duck leg; and here, we offer up our favorite brunch staple – Belle’s Sausage Gravy.  While this is of course outstanding over buttermilk biscuits, we also recommend adding fresh, local shrimp to make a very original shrimp and grits!”
Ingredients:
• 1 pound Belle’s Country Links, removed from casing and minced
• 1 cup diced onion (about 1 small onion)
• 1 cup diced green bell pepper (about 1 medium bell pepper)
• 3 tablespoons sliced garlic (about 3 medium garlic cloves)
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 to 2 quarts chicken stock (or whole milk)
• 1 tablespoon heavy cream (optional)
Directions:
Cook the sausage in a large, deep skillet or sauté pan over medium heat until browned, about 5 minutes, breaking the sausage up with a wooden spoon as it cooks.
Add onion, bell pepper, garlic, and butter; stir to combine. Cook until onions are translucent, about 10 minutes.
Slowly add flour a little at a time, stirring thoroughly between additions.
Once all flour is incorporated mixture should be thick and pasty. Slowly add stock (or milk) a little at a time, stirring thoroughly between additions.
Continue adding stock until desired consistency is achieved (some like thicker gravy; some like thinner). Simmer gravy until raw flour taste is gone, about 20 minutes.
Finish with cream if desired. Serve over biscuits! (Or for shrimp and grits: add 1 pound of peeled and deveined shrimp; cook until just pink and firm (about 5 minutes) and serve over grits!)
Tip: At the GO we use chicken stock for our gravy and then finish it with just a touch of cream, but whole milk is a fine substitution for the stock – just makes this more like a traditional sawmill gravy. If you are using milk there is no need to finish with cream.