Brunch Recipes

Sausage Biscuits
(Lauren)

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup shortening
1 pound hot sausage
1/4 cup hot water
1 pkg dry yeast
1 cup whole buttermilk
melted butter, for basting

Preheat oven to 400. Brown and crumble sausage and drain well on paper towels. Set aside to cool. Combine all dry ingredients well and cut in shortening with a fork. In a separate bowl, combine dry yeast and warm water and dissolve for five minutes. Add the cooked and crumbled sausage to the flour mixture. Combine water and yeast with buttermilk. Add buttermilk mixture to the flour and sausage.

Flour your board very well and knead the dough about five times and roll out dough to about 3/4 inch thickness. Do not over knead. Cut with a biscuit cutter, size of your choice. Bake about 10-12 minutes or just until the tops are slightly brown. Baste immediately with melted butter and serve.

*Note: Lauren usually freezes the raw cut biscuits and stores them in her freezer. To freeze, lay them out on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and freeze for a couple of hours. Then transfer them to a freezer-tight container. When you are ready to serve, simply place the frozen biscuits on a pan and bake immediately. There is no need to thaw them out and you can bake as many or as few as you would like. Also, do not be discouraged if they do not come out perfect the first time. This recipe takes a bit of practice, but when you get the hang of it...they are a hit!

**Note: You may also do ham and cheese. Just omit the sausage and replace with 1 cup cooked, chopped ham and 1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese.

Breakfast Casserole
(Meghan)

8 eggs
2 cups milk
French bread, cubed (just enough to cover the bottom of the casserole dish)
1 bundle fresh green onions, chopped
1 cup sliced ham
1 cup sour cream
1 cup swiss cheese, shredded
1 cup parmesan cheese (optional)
1 cup monterey jack cheese, shredded
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Place bread in the bottom of a greased 9x13 casserole dish. Sprinkle ham, green onions, monterey jack cheese, and swiss cheese on top. In a mixing bowl, beat eggs, milk, dijon mustard, salt, and pepper and pour over the layered ingredients in the casserole dish. Spread sour cream over the top and let soak in the refridgerator overnight.

Bake at 350 covered for one hour. (Optional) Remove from oven and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Put back into oven until cheese melts.

Note: Go ahead and get the sour cream out of the refridgerator while putting the other ingredients together. This allows it to be easily spread across the top of the casserole.

Cider
(Meghan)

1 bottle of apple juice (Meghan uses Motts)
1 orange
cinnamon sticks

Heat apple juice in a pot on the stovetop. Slice entire orange and drop into the heating apple juice. Add 2-3 cinnamon sticks and stir. Simmer and serve.

Monkey Bread
(Mary Colleen)

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp cinnamon (Mary Colleen used 2 tsp)
2 cans (16.3 oz each) Pillsbury Grands Homestyle refridgerated buttermilk biscuits
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, if desired (she used pecans)
1/2 cup raisins, if desired
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar (she used dark brown sugar, but will probably use
light brown next time)
3/4 cup butter or margarine, melted (she used 1 stick of unsalted butter, but will
use salted butter next time for the given amount)

Heat oven to 350. Lightly grease 12-cup fluted tube pan with shortening or cooking spray. In a large Ziploc bag, mix sugar and cinnamon. Separate dough into 16 biscuits. Put in Ziploc bag and shake to coat with sugar and cinnamon mixture. Arrange biscuit pieces in pan. Add walnuts (pecans) and raisins (optional) among biscuit pieces. In small bowl, mix brown sugar and butter. (Mary Colleen mixed these in a pan on the stove and melted them down to a syrup) Pour over biscuit pieces. Bake 28-32 minutes or until golden brown and no longer doughy in the center. Cool in pan about 10 minutes. Turn upside down onto serving plate and serve warm.