Herbed Whole Grain Biscuits with First Fresh Chicken Sausage, Jalapeno Pimento Cheese, and Arugula


I love a good sausage biscuit, but lately I've been trying to eat a little lighter and a little leaner when it comes to meat. But hey, after trying the tasty chicken sausages from local company First Fresh Foods in Gainesville....I realized something. 
I don't miss the pork and don't have to sacrifice on flavor.
 

I made two dishes with my chicken sausage samples. For a quick dinner a few nights ago, I cooked off some of the Mild Italian sausage links, added some marinara, and tossed with rice pasta. 
Fast, easy, good. And the Italian sausage contains a whopping 78% less fat than traditional pork sausage. That's a huge plus!

As most sausages come in casings and I generally just don't like the texture of casings....I take them off. This sausage is easy to squeeze out of the casing and reshape however you like. 
Below is the Breakfast sausage that I used for my sausage biscuits. It cooks up beautifully, holds together well, and is moist and juicy. Very flavorful. This one has 58% less fat than pork sausage. Score again!
First Fresh chicken sausages are also gluten-free, contain no MSG, and no meat by-products. You can read more about the First Fresh company and their practice at their website. Also be sure to peruse the wide array of recipes on the site and get coupons there.


I didn't expect to enjoy this chicken sausage as much as I did. It really did win me over. While I was noshing on my chicken sausage biscuit, I confessed to my husband Jay that I could bypass pork sausage any day for this one. So so good.
So if you want to whip up something special for your weekend breakfast, you gotta try my recipe for these biscuits. 
They are kinda fancy. And don't be scared to make biscuits...they really aren't so hard or time-consuming and the pay off is well worth it. Let me know how yours come out!



Herbed Whole Grain Biscuits with First Fresh Chicken Sausage, Jalapeno Pimento Cheese, and Arugula
Makes 8 large biscuits

Biscuits {biscuit recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen}:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour 
1 teaspoon mixed herbs {I used Penzey's Bavarian seasoning}
1 tablespoon sugar 
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
10 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
 
1 cup full fat, chilled buttermilk {do use a good local buttermilk if you can, not that watery, tasteless stuff}

Preheat oven to 400 °F and cover baking sheet with parchment paper.  Whisk flours, herbs, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda in large, wide bowl. Using fingertips, rub cold butter into dry ingredients until the mixture resembles a coarse meal, Add 3/4 cup buttermilk and stir until large clumps form and dough begins to come together. Add more buttermilk if needed if mixture is too dry. Reach hands into bowl and knead mixture briefly until it just holds together. Transfer dough to a lightly floured counter and pat out until 3/4-inch thick. Using a 3-inch round cutter, press straight down into dough and transfer biscuits to prepared sheet, spacing two inches apart. You can re-pat together scraps once to get an extra biscuit or two. Bake until biscuits are golden brown on top, about 15 minutes. 

4 links of First Fresh Breakfast chicken sausage, casings removed and shaped into 2 1/2 to 3-inch patties
2 teaspoons grape seed or coconut oil
Pimento Cheese {I used jalapeno variety and took it out early from the fridge so it was close to room temp}
Baby Arugula

Once patties are shaped, cook the sausage in a medium skillet over medium heat with oil. Once sausages are fully cooked and lightly browned, remove from pan and place on a paper towel-lined plate to drain.

Use a serrated knife to cut open biscuits in half. Place a tablespoon of pimento cheese on bottom half of biscuit and top with warm sausage patty. You can add a little more pimento if you like. 
I like.
Top with a small bunch of arugula. Place other biscuit half on top and dive in.


Disclaimer: Although I received product for this post from First Fresh Foods, all opinions expressed and the recipe/recipe photos are uniquely mine.



*For more great recipes using First Fresh chicken sausages, see some of my fellow AFBS bloggers posts:


http://www.thesophisticatedcaveman.com/chicken-sausage-fen…/
http://thefrontporchgourmet.com/2016/03/21/breakfast-with-first-fresh-chicken-sausage/


Comments

  1. Oh good, another biscuit recipe to try. I'm had some hit and miss ones since I took the biscuit class but I'm learning from my mistakes! That chicken sausage looks super tasty!

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  2. I really like First Fresh Chicken Sausage and love that you made patties out of it. I have a pack in the freezer and I think I just found tomorrow's breakfast!

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