Organic on a Budget Merit Badge, Expert Level

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 6,962 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—9,905 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! ~MaryJane 

For this week’s Farm Kitchen/Organic on a Budget Expert Level Merit Badge, I harkened back fondly to when I knew Mr. Wonderful really had fallen for me. It wasn’t that sparkle in his baby blues, it wasn’t when he sat through an opera performance when there was a perfectly good football game on television, it wasn’t when he asked me to go camping and I sneakily turned it into glamping, it wasn’t even when he went to meet my Gramma Barbie.

No.

It was when he dreamily told me that he loved me more than biscuits and gravy.

That’s when I knew things were getting serious, folks. My guy can eat some biscuits and gravy. Like … a lot. And in pursuit of all things romantic and poetical, I have perfected my own recipe, organic style, of course.

photo by jeffreyw via Wikimedia Commons

To earn my Expert Level badge, I needed to teach two people my recipe, and/or gift them a yummy treat. This was to be harder than expected, seeing as how Mr. Wonderful can smell my cooking a mile away. I was concerned there wouldn’t be enough to gift. Ahem.

Note: nothing says love like having to triple a recipe. Can I get an amen?

Coconut Biscuits

These oh-so delish biscuits are swoon-worthy with fresh butter and local honey. Or maybe slathered in strawberry freezer jam. But if you’re out of those delights, do as we do: bury dem nuggets of heaven in some sausage gravy.
2 cups organic flour
1 T baking powder
1 1/2 t salt
6 T cold coconut oil (You can use butter if you prefer. I like the health benefits, plus the slightly sweet taste of coconut oil.)
1 cup buttermilk (If you’re like me—and I know you are—you’ll be out of buttermilk. Never fear! Add 1 T or so of white vinegar or lemon juice to 1 cup of milk. Let sit while you assemble the rest of your ingredients. Voila! Shh. Don’t tell anyone I accidently/on-purpose haven’t bought buttermilk since 1999.)

Mix together dry ingredients. (If you are using an oil other than coconut, you can add 1 T of sugar to your mix.) Cut in coconut oil. I like to use a food processor for this part, but you can also use a pastry cutter or even just your fingers. Slowly add in buttermilk until dough forms. Knead no more than 10 times. Flatten slightly and cut with a biscuit cutter, or if you’re like me, the biscuit cutter went the way of your buttermilk, so use a juice glass. Place biscuits in a cast-iron pan or on a cookie sheet, just touching a little bit—you know, like an awkward first date. Ha! You can brush the tops with melted butter or a little milk if you like, but if you’re like me (and we’ve established this already), you won’t remember and also you’ll be dying to get these babies cooked. Bake at 450°F for about 15 minutes.

Sausage Gravy

You can also make bacon gravy—just, you know … substitute bacon. Which is kinda good advice for most recipes. Out of salad? Substitute bacon. Can’t find the kale smoothie? Substitute bacon.

• Brown 1 lb sausage in a heavy skillet. Mr. Wonderful and I like the spicy kind. It goes wonderfully well with the slightly sweet biscuits. Also, it gives us spicy lips.

• Sprinkle 3 T flour over the cooked sausage and whisk

• Slowly whisk in 2 1/2 cups milk. This is not the time to go all low-fat on me, peeps. We’re having biscuits and gravy. Take your diet elsewhere and use whole milk or I’ll tell your mother.

• Salt and pepper to taste

Cook until thickened and hot. Pour over biscuits and test the limits of your significant other. Will they love you more than this plateful of piping-hot perfection? Don’t be offended if they don’t. Just have another helping.