We have had a wild few weeks in this household! We traveled the very tip of Maine with a mostly potty trained toddler to visit family before the new baby comes. We have been working on getting the last few house projects finished that we’ve been putting off since our post Harvey flood remodel. And this past weekend, we got to see the Rolling Stones in concert, which was a dream come true for my dad. He hasn’t seen them since the 80’s. They were one of those bands that were a soundtrack to my childhood, and it was an incredible experience to see them with my family. It brought back many memories, including my three older brothers singing, “if you cry sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need” when I was whining, instead of “if you try sometimes” to the song “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”. Listening to the Rolling Stones makes me think of happy evenings spent running around my parent’s backyard, playing in our tree house, playing basketball with my brothers, and eating popsicles.

Another wonderful childhood memory I have is waking up to the smell of sausage browning on the stove and warm biscuits fluffing in the oven. Growing up in the south, we would get sausage gravy on special weekends. Mostly, it occurred if we had company or it was someones birthday. Or on the magical weekends my mom just got a hankering. I am still working on perfecting my gluten and dairy free biscuit recipe, but this sausage gravy was a hit! My parents came to stay with us for the concert this weekend, and this sausage gravy was Gammy approved.

The trick with this gravy, as with most gravy, is to make sure you’re taking it slow and steady when making the roux. You want to get a really nice color on it before adding in the milk. That is where all of your flavor comes from. You don’t want any uncooked flour taste happening.

You can serve this gravy with biscuits, as would be traditional, but we had it on gluten free bagels with a little mozzarella and Parmesan on top (broiled for 30 seconds). It would be delicious on basically any carby vehicle.

Gluten Free, Dairy Free Sausage Gravy

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 lb breakfast sausage

1/3 cup brown rice flour

1/3 avocado oil

1 Tablespoon arrowroot starch

5 cups oat milk

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Brown breakfast sausage in a heavy bottom pot, such as a dutch oven. Remove with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl for later.
2. Place oil and brown rice flour in same heavy bottom pot with the leftover sausage grease and heat over medium. Continuously whisk mixture. If the mixture is boiling rigorously, turn down to medium low. You do not want to burn this roux and have to start over!
3. Cook on medium-medium low for 15-30 minutes.
4. When your roux turns a nice nutty tan color and gets a nice toasty aroma, add in the arrowroot starch to help with thickening. Cook for an addition 2-3 minutes.
5. Add oat milk and whisk vigorously. Bring to a low simmer and add salt and pepper (~1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper-you want visible pepper throughout the dish).
6. Cook until gravy begins to thicken. Add sausage to gravy.
7. Serve with gluten free biscuits, bagels, or English muffins.

Enjoy!