On the Table: Sausage and Corn Bread Skillet

Last night, I wanted to make something for dinner that included sweet Italian sausage, since I had some in the fridge.  I originally started thinking along the lines of pasta, but then I remembered I had some corn meal that has been in the cabinet for a while; as part of my ongoing effort to clean out the cabinets, I thought maybe I could use the sausage and corn meal together.  The corn meal package (House-Autry brand) has a recipe on the back for Skillet Corn Bread, so I decided to use that as a jumping-off point for some experimentation.  The results were delicious!  It is substantial enough to stand alone as a main course, but if you want to have a really meat-tastic meal, this would be a great alternative to traditional corn bread that you could serve with chili.  Whichever you choose, make sure you save some leftovers, because it tastes pretty darn good the next day!  To prepare:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Finely dice half a yellow onion.  Put a large skillet (mine is 12 inches in diameter) over medium-high heat, and add enough canola oil to coat the bottom of the pan.  When the oil gets hot, add in the onions and turn the heat down to medium.  Cook for a few minutes, until the onions are translucent.  Remove the casing from half a pound of sweet Italian sausage and add it to the pan, breaking it up with a wooden spoon.  Continue cooking until the sausage is cooked through.  Remove from heat.

(You can do the following step while the sausage is cooking.)  In a large mixing bowl, combine the following: 2 cups of plain yellow corn meal; 1/2 cup of all purpose flour; 1 tablespoon of sugar; 1 teaspoon of salt; 1 tablespoon of baking powder; 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper; 1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger; and 1/4 teaspoon of ground mustard.  Add two eggs to the bowl, and use a fork to incorporate them into the rest of the ingredients.  Add two cups of milk, and use a fork to incorporate; the mixture should have the consistency of a fairly thick battter. 

Add the batter into the skillet, and stir to incorporate the sausage and onion; all ingredients should be well-distributed throughout the pan.

Put the skillet (uncovered) in the preheated oven and cook for approximately 15 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the middle of the bread comes out clean.

Serve with sour cream and hot sauce - yum!  (and maybe some vegetables on the side).

Enjoy!