Sausage

Not just any bean. Ellen’s choice. Shell beans: Red beans, lima beans, cranberry beans, pinto, great northern. Just to name a few. These are beans that must be removed from their pod to be eaten. My Dad was a big fan of Ham Hock and beans made with great northern beans. And Hubs is a great fan of Red Beans and Rice. So that is what I made for this GFGF post.

3 tablespoons bacon drippings
1 lb andouille sausage, sliced ¼ inch thick (if not available use a good smoked sausage)
1 yellow onion, diced
2 stalks celery diced
2 cloves minced garlic
1 (16-ounce) package dried red kidney beans, soaked overnight, drained, and rinsed
10 cups chicken broth
1 Tbl salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp ground white pepper
2 Tbl vegetable oil.
1 bay leaf
Cooked rice

In a large bowl place dried beans and enough water to cover by 2 inches. Let stand at room temperature for 8 hours or overnight.

In a large Dutch oven, heat bacon drippings over medium-high heat. Add onion, and celery. Cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables are translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add drained beans, garlic, bay leaf, salt, and peppers.

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and simmer until beans are tender and liquid has thickened, about 1.5 hours. Remove bay leaves from pot; discard.

In a large skillet over medium-high heat saute sausage until browned. About 6 minutes. Add to the bean pot.

Serve over hot cooked rice. Garnish with sliced green onions and/or hot sauce if desired.

Usually served on Monday it is the traditional Laundry Day Meal.

This recipe is adapted from the Delta Queen Cookbook and was in the February 2013 Louisiana Cookin’ magazine

Did anyone use a different bean for this week’s choice? Visit and see.

Nancy

This week Good Friends Good Food is cooking with tomatoes. I have to let you know I don’t like raw tomatoes but I love them cooked – roasted, boiled, stewed, in stew, in green beans etc etc. But raw – no thanks.

When I ran across this soup from The Frog Commissary it just started calling out to me. After looking at the ingredients it looked delicious. And since it has/had turned cool when I found it I knew it would make a nice warm comforting meal.

I had plenty of canned tomatoes from this summer’s garden and an Eggplant from my Misfit Market.

Tomato, Sausage, and Eggplant Soup

1/3 cup plus 2 Tbsp. olive oil

4 1/2 cups cubed unpeeled eggplant (1/2″ cubes)

A splash or two of water

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cups chopped onions

1/2 cup chopped fennel (or celery if you can’t find)

2 Tbsp. minced garlic (I use less)

2 tsp. ground or crushed fennel seed

1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper (I use more)

4 bay leaves

1 tsp. dried basil

1 1/4 tsp. dried thyme

1 lb. sweet (or hot if you like) Italian sausage with casing removed

1 1/2 cups chicken stock1 28-oz. can tomato puree (I use crushed tomatoes in puree usually)

1 28-oz. can whole peeled tomatoes, chopped (save juice!)

Heat the 1/3 cup olive oil in a 4-5 qt. saucepan. Add the eggplant, a splash or two of water to help get it softening, and 1/2 tsp. of the salt. Saute over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, for 4-5 minutes or until just tender. Transfer the eggplant to a bowl. In the same pan, heat the remaining 2 Tbsp. olive oil. Add the onions, fennel, garlic, fennel seed, pepper, bay leaves, the remaining 1 tsp. salt, basil and thyme. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, for 5-6 minutes.
Add the sausage and saute 5-6 minutes, breaking up the meat into small pieces with a spoon. Add the chicken stock, tomato puree, chopped tomatoes with their juice, and the eggplant. Cover and simmer 10-15 minutes.

If the soup seems too thick, add more chicken stock (Which I did. It was very thick). Remove the bay leaves and serve.

And did I mention it is KETO friendly?

(Taken from The Frog Commissary Cookbook) You can also find the recipe HERE.

What else can you do with tomatoes? Check out posts from