Truck Stop Biscuit Gravy - cooking recipe

Ingredients

Meat Mixture (please see note below)
8 ounces lean ground beef
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt, to taste (amount will vary greatly depending upon how salty your sausage seasoning is)
1 teaspoon sausage seasoning (a spice blend containing fennel and other spices)
Cream Sauce
2 1/2 cups skim milk
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
8 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese, cut into small chunks, at room temperature (neufchatel)
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, to taste
2 -3 drops hot sauce (such as Tabasco) (optional)

Preparation

NOTE: If desired, use 8 ounces of lean turkey bulk breakfast sausage (such as Jimmy Dean), and omit the beef, sausage seasoning, salt, and pepper.
Whisk together flour and milk and leave near the stove (you may need to re-whisk right before adding it later).
In a large skillet, brown & crumble meat until no longer pink; push cooked meat to on side of the pan, tilt to allow fat to drip to the opposite side; remove from heat and drain fat (I drop in a slice of bread to sop up the fat, then remove and discard).
If you chose to use ground beef, sprinkle meat with pepper and the sausage seasoning, and some salt to taste (only add half now); if you used the turkey sausage, do not add any seasonings at this point.
Add the milk mixture to meat and return pan to the burner, over medium heat.
Add cheese and stir, breaking up with your spoon, cooking and stirring until cheese completely melts into the sauce (it will look very curdled at first- this will disappear once it fully melts), lowering heat to medium low if needed to keep from boiling; this will take about 10 minutes or so- stir often.
Once cheese is fully melted and sauce is slightly thickened, add Worcestershire sauce and, if desired, a few drops of Tabasco sauce.
Taste and add more of any seasoning (including the rest of the salt, if needed) until it tastes savory.
Continue cooking over low heat until sauce is as thick as you prefer (it will also thicken up more as it cools)- I usually only leave it another 5 minutes.
Serve over warm fresh cooked biscuits that have been split open.