Sunday, August 30, 2009

Smothered Sausage and Potatoes

A couple weeks ago, hubby and I had dinner his mom's house. She smothered fresh chicken sausage and potatoes together, and it. was. delicious. If you want to know Cajun cooking beyond gumbo and jamabalya, this is it. It is the ultimate comfort food. The past week or so, I've found myself craving it. The light savoriness of the chicken sausage paired with the sweet earthiness of potatoes. So so good.


Now, I realize the picture isn't pretty. It couldn't be helped; the food wasn't pretty. Sometimes it won't be. Perhaps I could have spruced it up with some parsley or taken out the sausage then repositioned it atop a layer of potatoes, but that would have been dishonest. It's a delicious jumble; let's celebrate that fact.

Smothered Sausage and Potatoes
  • 1 lb fresh chicken sausage, cut into 2 inch pieces
  • 6-8 medium sized potatoes, sliced into 1/4 inch thick rounds then cut in half
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 4 tbsp butter, divided
  • Chacheres or seasoned salt to taste

In a large skillet (one with a lid) over medium melt 2 tbsp butter, then brown the sausage in it. If there's enough room, place the onions around the edge of the pan so they can begin to cook. The sausage only needs a few minutes on each side. Most likely, the casing will shrink, causing the meat to mushroom out the ends; it's perfectly okay.

After the sausage has browned, pour the potato slices on top and gently fold them in. Cover the skillet and reduce the temperature to medium low. Over the next 30-40 minutes, try to lift the lid as little as possible, stirring very infrequently. You'll find the potatoes release a great deal of liquid and prevent things from sticking; if you remove the lid too much, you'll lose that liquid.

Once the potatoes have cooked through, remove the lid. Cut the remaining 2 tbsp of butter into chunks and scatter across the top of the dish. Season to taste with Chacheres. Cover and cook an additional 10-15 minutes, stirring more frequently. Your potatoes should lose definition and mash up a bit, though not much. You still want chunks of potatoes.

This goes great with garlic bread, and I bet it'd be grand with a salad.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I've not tried this with chicken sausage! I've always used a fresh pork/beef sausage, removing it from the casing before browning. Absolutely delicious dish! It can be eaten with a maple syrup drizzled over it or ketchup :)