Recipe: Sausage and Corn Cake Pie (1960's)

SAUSAGE AND CORN CAKE PIE

12 small pork sausages
1 egg
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk
1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup sifted flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons sausage drippings

Barely wet the bottom of a heavy 10-inch skillet with water. Add the sausages, and simmer slowly, shaking the pan so the sausages will not stick. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until the sausages are plump and most of the fat has ben released. Drain off the fat and reserve. Brown the sausages over low heat, shaking the pan, for about 5 minutes. Drain the sausages on paper towels. Do not wash the skillet, as it is used to bake the pie.

Beat the egg lightly in a bowl, and stir in the buttermilk.

Mix the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt and sugar, and add gradually to the egg-buttermilk mixture. Add the sausage drippings and mix well.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Heat the skillet slightly. The bottom should have a light coating of fat. Add a little of the reserved sausage drippings if necessary. Arrange the partially cooked sausages like wheel spokes from the center of the skillet. Pour the corn cake batter over the sausages.

Bake at 400 degrees F for about 25 minutes, or until the top is brown.

Serve from the skillet in wedges, or place a hot serving plate over the skillet, and turn it all upside down so the sausages are on top.

Makes 4-6 servings
Source: The Tuesday Magazine Soul Food Cookbook, 1969