What I Learned Over Christmas

Several new culinary thoughts to share --

-- Tomatoes in cole slaw work surprisingly well. (Add them at the end though because their delicate nature won't survive the tossing of the cabbage.)

-- My friends, Melanie and Craig, hosted a bbq tasting at their house. I've never had the option to dunk my meat into so many sauces. The winner -- Big Bob Gibson's Red Sauce, followed closely behind Big Bob Gibson's White Sauce. And, no, Big Bob Gibson did not pay me. The red sauce was a perfect  harmony of tanginess, sweet and robust tomatoes. And the white sauce was reminiscent of Miracle Whip. But not in a bad way. Just that hint of Miracle Whip that I remember so fondly from my great aunt's sandwiches.

-- Deviled eggs don't survive well in a fall.

Before:

After:

--And when all else fails, pull out a Paula Deen recipe. My mom made this sausage pie on Christmas Day. I, along with everyone else, was addicted to it. She had pulled it off a community board, who referenced the recipe from the Food Network. I looked it up, only to find it was originally a Paula Deen recipe. Of course it would  be. Who else would be endorsing sausage, cream cheese and pastry?

Here's the recipe:

Ron's Tybee Island Sausage Pie (from Paula Deen)

1 pound ground sausage
1/3 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon butter
3/4 cup milk
1 (3-ounce) package cream cheese
3 eggs
1 cup shredded cheddar
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt (use less if the sausage is salty)
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 (9-inch) deep-dish pie crust, partially baked and cooled

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

In a heavy skillet over medium heat, crumble the sausage with a fork. Saute the sausage until completely cooked. Drain off the fat, remove the sausage, and set aside. Melt the butter in another skillet over medium heat. Saute the onions in the butter until tender. Add the milk and heat until steam rises, but do not boil the milk. Cut the cream cheese into small pieces, add it to the onion mixture, and remove the pan from the heat. In a large bowl, beat the eggs, then add the cheddar, the onion mixture, the Worcestershire, salt, and pepper. Mix thoroughly and pour this into the piecrust. Top with cooked sausage, and bake for 30 minutes, or until set.

Comments

[Mom]

Andrea! Glad to see you are posting again. But how dare you post MY RECIPE. Do you remember where you put Big Bob Gibson's barbeque sauce? I can't seem to find it.

[Carolyn]

I found you searching for the roquamole recipe and happened to see this sausage pie. Being a Savannah girl myself, I have a similar one you might like to try. Very retro, but people cannot resist it.

Sausage Cheese Squares

2 cans crescent rolls
1 pound of sage sausage
1 block cream cheese
2 cups cheddar cheese

Saute sausage until brown and drain. Mix in cream cheese until it all melts together. Press 1 can crescent rolls onto a sheet pan (do not separate) and then top with sausage. Sprinkle most of cheese atop sausage. Press the other can of crescent rolls on top and top off with a last bits of cheese. Bake away at 350ish for 15-25 minutes (until lightly golden brown). Yummy.....

[Laura]

My arteries are clogging just looking at that Paula Deen recipe, but I bet it sure does taste good!

The deviled eggs were delicious! And so were those strawberry thingies!

[Andrea]

Carolyn --
Thank you so much for the recipe! Can't wait to try it! And what can't you do with crescent rolls? Thank goodness for them.

Laura --
Good to see you on New Year's! Here's the strawberry recipe: http://madisonandmayberry.typepad.com/madison_mayberry/2007/01/a_recipe_to_sho.html

And the deviled egg recipe:
http://madisonandmayberry.typepad.com/madison_mayberry/2007/11/a-tale-of-two-s.html

[one food guy]

Oh those poor delicious looking eggs, all covered in carpet fuzz! That sausage pie sure looks delicious, a true southern treat I'm sure!

[Melanie]

Glad you enjoyed your visit! Come back anytime and we can dip our BBQ into lots of sauces... however, we can expand on this idea and have lots of toppings for ice cream, or lots of add-ins for milk (chocolate, strawberry, vanilla), or lots of things to put inside wontons...ohwait, we already did that one, too! We'll get creative!