Cooking Lesson #105 Low Country Egg Pie With Old-Fashioned Sausage Gravy

Low Country Egg Pie

How you doin’? I really like the foods of the old South, especially dishes that can be easily adapted to restaurant brunch menus. This is a Southern country take on a French quiche from my Customs House Restaurant kitchens back in the 1980’s. I made it this weekend and it still stands up.
 
Prep time:  30 minutes
Cook time:  10 minutes
Bake time:  1 hour or so
Cool time:  10 minutes
 
Ingredients
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 cup chopped yellow onion
12 ounces spicy ground breakfast pork sausage
4 large eggs
1/2 cup liquid Ranch-style salad dressing (you can use blue cheese dressing as well)
2/3 cup whole milk
5-ounces sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded
1 teaspoon pepper sauce (Tabasco works well)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 (9-inch) unbaked deep-dish pie crust
Old-Fashioned Country Gravy (see recipe below)
 
Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 425°F.
2. Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium heat.  Sauté the onion until soft.
3. Add the sausage and cook until evenly brown.  Drain, crumble, and set aside.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, Ranch dressing and milk.  Stir in shredded Cheddar cheese and mix well.
5. Season with hot sauce, salt, pepper and sugar.
6. Put the unbaked pie shell on a foil-lined baking pan to prevent messing up your oven.
7. Spread the onion and sausage mixture in the bottom of the unbaked crust.  Cover with the egg mixture. Tap the pie pan lightly to remove air and to level the filling.
8. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes.  
9. Reduce the heat to 350°F and bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until filling is puffed and golden brown. If the crust starts to brown too early cover the pie with aluminum foil.
10. Remove from oven, prick top with a knife, and let cool on a rack 10 minutes before serving.

ChefSecret:

• About midway through baking, rotate the pie from front to back.

• Make it a real Southern Dish by topping it with a little Old-Fashioned “Heart Attack” Sausage Gravy (see recipe below).

                                              Old-Fashioned Sausage Gravy
 
Ingredients
6 ounces spicy ground breakfast pork sausage
2-1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce (Tabasco)
1-1/2 cups whole milk
 
Directions

1. While the pie is cooling, make the gravy.
2. Crumble the sausage into medium skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until browned and no longer pink, stirring frequently.
3. Using a wire whisk, stir in the flour, salt, pepper and hot sauce. 
4. Gradually stir in the milk. Cook until the mixture thickens, stirring constantly.  If too thick, remove from heat and stir in a little more milk.
5. Serve the Old-Fashioned Country Gravy hot over the warm egg pie.

Covid-19 Quip of the Day: “Maybe if we start telling people the brain is an app, they’ll start using it—please wear a mask and practice social-distancing to stop the spread.”
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