Grits on a Shingle

• servings: 1 dozen biscuits

Ingredients

Kiss My Grits, page 15

For the buttermilk biscuits:

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling

1 tablespoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1//4 cup shortening

1 cup buttermilk

1 pound fresh link sausage or 24 small patties

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Prepare the grits and keep warm.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda into a large bowl.

Cut in the shortening with a pastry cutter or fork and knife and mix together until the dough has the consistency of acoarse meal.

Add the buttermilk and mix thoroughly. Knead until smooth. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Roll the dough from the center out to 1/2-inch thickness.

Cut the biscuits with a 2 1/4-inch biscuit cutter and place on a baking sheet.

Bake until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, remove the sausage from the casings and cook in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, until it loses all of its pink color. If using patties, fry them for 4 minutes on each side, or until they are golden brown and no longer pink within. Transfer to paper towels to drain.

To assemble the grits and sausage on the shingle, split the biscuits crosswise, spoon the grits over, and top with the crumbled sausage. If using patties, arrange one on each biscuit half and spoon the grits over it.

Notes

Dolly says: "One of my all-time favorite things to eat comes from the Squat and Gobble, a diner in Bluffton, South Carolina, that serves the best grits (next to Mama's). I used to eat a lot of grits in the early days, especially when I was homesick for Mama's cooking. Two open-face biscuits, always piping hot, were heaped with grits--you could have crumbled sausage right in or a sausage patty plopped on top. A little bit of butter, salt, pepper, and cheese turned the whole thing into a little bit of heaven. I make my own version, which always brings back memories of Squat and Gobble."