fancy schmancy sausage

mrsdewinter

Hi all,

Any thoughts for a half pound of smoked sausages that have landed in my fridge? I picked up a packet of four (made by a butchers in Galway; yes, I fell for the sales patter when I hit the Xmas fair at the RDS on Friday) but I have no idea what to do with them.

Any recipe ideas for hearty stews, casseroles, etc, which I can make today and freeze into portions for during the week?

I've tins of borlotti, kidney and pinto beans, plus chickpeas, here in my pantry. I also have onion, garlic and tinned tomatoes...

Any pointers?

Zuiderzee

With the beans and good pork, I'd try something like a Cassoulet at this time of year.
Google search sausage cassoulet, something suitable will turn up.

It is a French staple, especially around Toulouse

olaola

Yeah, DEFO cassoulet!

Nyoms

TrueDub

+1 on the cassoulet!

If you don't fancy that, go for simple bangers & mash. Lots of creamy mashed potato, your fancy sausages (grilled, fried or done in the oven) and some thick gravy, preferably with onions.

Zuiderzee

Found a recipe, reworked it a little.
An easy and satisfying version of a traditional French casserole.
A dash of white wine would also be a good idea

Prep: 10 min - Bake: 35 min

2 tablespoons Butter
2 medium (1/2 cup) carrots, chopped
1 medium (1/2 cup) onion, chopped
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh garlic
2 cans beans, rinsed, drained
4 sausages cut into 3rds
1 can tomato
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Heat oven to 350°F.
Oil a caserole dish casserole.
Melt butter in 10-inch skillet until sizzling; add carrots, onion and garlic. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until onions are softened (3 to 5 minutes).
Brown the sausages

Combine onion mixture, beans, sausage, tomatos and thyme in prepared casserole.
Cover; bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until bubbly and carrots are crisply tender. Sprinkle with parsley.

To add a special touch to this dish, sprinkle a bread crumb topping over the casserole.
To prepare the topping, combine 1 tablespoon Butter,
1/2 cup dried bread crumbs,
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon chopped garlic in a pan.
Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until bread crumbs are golden brown (3 to 5 minutes).
Sprinkle crumb topping over bean mixture.
Bake as directed above.

Makes 4 servings

I'd do the Chikpeas separatley, with corriander and red onion.
Delia Smith has a good recipe for chickpea cakes

nompere

This is a recipe that Nigel Slater cooked a couple of weeks ago on his current series of "simple suppers".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/sausage_and_bean_soup_15225

It looked wonderful - my TV isn't equipped for smell yet!

I reckon it would work for any interesting sausages.

Zuiderzee

Decided to take my own advice :P

Cooked a cassoulet based on the suggested ingredients



2 tablespoons Butter
2 medium (1/2 cup) carrots, chopped
1 medium (1/2 cup) leek, chopped
1 medium (1/2 cup) onion, chopped
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh garlic
800 gm soaked homegrown or 2 cans haricot beans, rinsed, drained
I added some tinned kidney beans to bulk out the white beans.
4 sausages cut into 3rds
- pick what you like, I a mix of apple leek and peppered from a local butcher.
100 gm black pudding (optional)
100 gm bacon or rashers, diced (optional)

1 can chopped tomato
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Heat oven to 180°C.
Oil a casserole dish casserole.
Melt butter in a pan until sizzling; add carrots, onion and garlic.
Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until onions are softened (3 to 5 minutes).
Brown the sausages, bacon and black pudding.
Combine onion mixture, meats, sausage, tomato's and thyme in prepared casserole.
Cover; bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until bubbly and carrots are crisply tender. Sprinkle with parsley.

Again, I am trying to take a French dish and give it an Irish twist, and it came out quite well.
I grew and dried Haricot and Borlotti beans this year.
But if you cannot find Haricot beans, there is an option - not great but it's still there - that is to buy baked beans and rinse off the tomato sauce, but there will always be a slight hint of that flavour which is not the idea for me.

mrsdewinter

Hey, OP here - thanks for all the suggestions!

I'm afraid I got impatient and ended up simply browning the sausages, tipping them onto a plate for a little while, turning down the heat and frying a chopped onion in the same pan. Then I returned the sausages to the pan, along with a tin of *cannellini beans and a tin of chopped tomatoes and a dash of tobasco.

Fairly nom nom... but now I wish I'd held off and checked out these recipes first!

Thanks again...

* oops, must have been borlotti beans.