Breakfast Turtles with Swamp Gravy

I love breakfast. I love it so much I’ll have it for lunch. Or dinner. Or even at breakfast! And since I’m a Texas Country Boy at heart, breakfast often means eggs with bacon AND sausage, plus biscuits. Saturday, I decided to see what would happen if I put all of that together. According to my friends (not just me!) it was AWESOME!

In truth, I usually eat fruit and fruit smoothies for breakfast. I’m not saying you should copy me; I’m just pointing out that it isn’t until about noon or so that I consume anything else. Therefore, I satisfy my love for all things Breakfast later in the day. Another thing worth noting is how often I’ve eaten breakfast at 2 or 3 in the morning. As a working musician, I often end my night of work with a good breakfast at Joe’s Greasy Spoon or some such. There’s nothing better in the wee hours of the morning that a plate full of bacon and eggs. Followed by a piece of chocolate pie!

So, anyhoo… I had friends over Saturday morning. We were tired. We were hungry. We were on our third pot of coffee. As I rummaged in the fridge, I found leftover bacon, a pack of sausages, some eggs and a can of biscuits. The idea of breakfast for lunch hit me like a high inside pitch. I originally thought I’d put it all together as a sort of home made hot pocket thingie. The idea was that we could eat while we continued our work. But as I cooked the sausages I got the idea to save a couple on the side with which to make gravy. I shudder with excitement even as I write this. It was that good!

Settle in with a cup of coffee, friends, and I’ll show you how to make Breakfast Turtles with Swamp Gravy.

A naked turtle waits for Swamp Gravy.

Ingredients:

Turtles:

1 can large biscuits (think “grands”)
1 package sausage links (2 per turtle)
1 slice of bacon for each turtle
1 egg per turtle
half and half
salt
pepper
garlic powder

Swamp Gravy:

Up to 1 lb. breakfast sausage (see below)
Scant half-cup of flour
4 cups half and half or milk
1/2 teaspoon salt (or more to taste)
2 teaspoons black pepper
1/2-1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Optional: Jalapeno slices

Instructions:

Take everything out and get it ready, especially the eggs, which are best when at room temperature.

Fry bacon until done to your liking. Set aside to drain on paper towels. (You can also bake the bacon, which is awesome!)

Fry sausage until done throughout. Set aside to drain on paper towels. Save this pan, and the sausage grease.

While meat is frying, crack eggs into large bowl – one for each turtle. Using a whisk, beat them senseless. Then beat them some more.

Add a splash of half and half (per egg) to bowl and beat mercilessly.

Add spices and beat one more time.

Open can of biscuits. On a floured surface, flatten each biscuit until it’s about twice it’s normal size. Set aside. This is a good time to preheat your oven according to biscuit package directions.

Cook scrambled eggs in a large pan over medium-low heat. Cook until just shy of usual, as they will cook in the turtle.

Once all ingredients are cooked, assemble the turtles:

Lay out on flattened biscuit. Break a slice of bacon into two pieces and lay in center of biscuit. Slice two sausages in half legththwise and place on top of bacon. Top with scrambled eggs. Finally, place another biscuit over the top of it all. Stretch biscuit a bit if needed so that the edges of the two biscuits meet. Pinch the edges together to seal.

Bake according to biscuit package directions until they’re a nice golden brown.

While the turtles are baking, make your gravy.

Reheat the sausage grease over medium-low heat. If you have any leftover sausage, you can add up to a pound (cut into small pieces) back to the pan. Once it begins to sizzle a bit, add a little flour, stirring it into the grease. Continue to add flour until you’ve soaked up everything. Then, continue to cook while stirring for another minute.

Add the of half and half S-L-O-W-L-Y, stirring like crazy the whole time.

Once the half and half is thoroughly incorporated, add spices and, if using them, the jalapeno slices. Continue to cook gravy, stirring often. In truth, I like to stir constantly at least until I’m certain I have no lumps. It will take ten to twelve minutes for the gravy to thicken, which should be just about the time the turtles are ready to come out of the oven. If it gets too thick, just add a bit more milk to thin it out.

When the turtles look gorgeous and brown, remove from the oven and serve directly to plates. Pour some swamp gravy over the top of each turtle and serve immediately.

Notes:

You can take care of bacon and sausage all at once if you have two pans. However, I don’t recommend you do them in the same pan, as that will make it all taste the same. It will also change the flavor of the gravy.

Obvious sides include potatoes of some sort – hash browns, home fries, even tater tots or french fries; a selection of fresh fruit; or, for brunch, a nice side salad.

As you read through this recipe, keep in mind that the concept can be used with almost any filling you can imagine and enjoy. You could do Chicken Pot Pie Popovers, BBQ Beef Bombs, Pork Puffs and more!

Another thing to keep in mind is that you substitute pie crusts, phyllo dough or puff pastry for the biscuits. Just be sure to cook at the correct temperature for the proper time.

As you can see, there are many ways to play around with this recipe. With a little imagination, you can come up with numerous ways to adapt this one. So… off you go! Have fun, and

Play with your food!

Lane

I’ve got more Breakfast Recipes here.

Did you like this recipe? What recipes would you like to learn? Leave me a comment and tell me your thoughts! (And don’t forget to LIKE this post!) Share it using the tiles below.

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