Chicken Breakfast Biscuits with Gravy

When Justin and I were trying to come up with dinner ideas, he randomly asked me, "Why doesn't anyone ever put chicken and eggs together?" I've seen a few omelets with chicken on menus before, but he's right that it's not very common. I don't know exactly why that is, but I do know that these breakfast biscuits we decided to make with both of them are quite delicious. I think they're going to be make frequent appearances on our meal lists.

When trying to decide how we were going to combine the two, I immediately thought of some sort of sandwich because at many fast food restaurants you can now get chicken breakfast sandwiches, in addition to the usual egg ones. If we just combine the two, voila! To tie it together a bit more, I decided to make some white gravy to go on the sandwiches--Justin's a little iffy about eggs and white gravy, but after giving this recipe a taste with just a little of the gravy, he piled on the rest of his portion of gravy and happily gobbled it all down.

I cut my chicken into strips to make them fry a bit faster, but if you prefer whole, boneless breasts, I'm sure that would work just fine, too. The first night, I made my homemade biscuits from a new recipe I was trying out, and they came out like hockey pucks. The next night I just opted to use some Grands biscuits, and that was a much better plan. I love homemade biscuits, but sometimes they're just not worth the trouble. They don't really have a starring role here, so using store-bought ones is a much better option anyway.


Ingredients

1 c flour
1 tbsp Cajun seasoning
2 tsp pepper, divided
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp onion powder
4 boneless chicken breasts
Vegetable oil
2 c milk, divided
7 eggs, divided
8 prepared biscuits


Directions

In a medium bowl, combine flour, Cajun seasoning, 1 1/2 tsp pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. Mix well, and set aside. Slice chicken breasts into 4-6 strips each. Coat chicken strips in flour mixture. Add 1" of oil to a large skillet (preferably cast iron) and place over medium-high heat. Combine 1/2 c milk and 1 egg in another bowl, and beat well. Dip chicken strips in egg mixture and then back into flour mixture. Reserve remaining flour mixture. When oil is hot enough, gently place strips in oil, spacing out so that they aren't touching. You may have to cook them in batches, depending on the number of strips and the size of your skillet. Cook until golden brown, about 15-20 minutes. Remove strips from pan and drain on a paper towel-lined plate.

Drain the oil out of the pan, reserving 1/3 c to use for the gravy. Return the pan to the burner over medium heat, and add the reserved oil. Stir in 1/2 c of the remaining flour mixture to make a roux, and whisk to combine. Allow to cook 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently. (If you find that there is still a lot of oil forming a layer on top of the roux, add more flour a tablespoon at a time until the oil is better combined. If you have to add a lot of flour, you may also need to add a little extra milk in the next step.) Slowly drizzle the remaining 1/2 c of milk into the pan, and whisk well. Cook until gravy reaches desired thickness. Remove from heat and stir in remaining 1/2 tsp pepper.

Whisk remaining 6 eggs, and scramble them, seasoning as desired. Cut biscuits in half, and fill with eggs, chicken strips, and gravy. Serve hot.


Servings: 8