What’s Stu Cooking

This recipe was inspired by a favorite dish of mine - grillades and grits - along with a recipe from a muched loved cookbook - Sausage and Mash. Make sure you use a sausage with a high meat content. I like the chipolatas because they are generally meatier than most of the sausages I can find here in England, plus they fry up to leave a brown sticky goo in the pan that really flavors the sauce nicely.

• 1 lb chipolata sausages or other meaty sausage
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1-2 green peppers, 1 inch dice
• 1 large, mild red chili pepper
• 2 shallots minced (garlic or onion could substitute)
• 1 teaspoon fresh or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 tablespoon four mashed up with 1 tablespoon softened butter
• 200 ml red wine
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 125 ml chicken stock
• 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste
• chopped basil or parsley for garnish

Heat the oil in a heavy frying pan. When hot melt in the butter, add the sausages and cook over moderate heat for 8 to 10 minutes or until the sausages have browned and left a nice sticky residue in the pan. Remove the sausages, pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the fat and reduce the heat on the pan.

Briefly cook the peppers and shallots in the oil for just a few minutes and then add the thyme followed shortly by the red wine. Simmer the wine until the smell of the alcohol has diminished - about 5 minutes - then add the sugar and salt. Pour in the chicken stock and return to a simmer. Using a fork, stir in the butter and flour mixture in small bits until it is well combined and the sauce is slightly thickened. Bring the sauce back to a simmer.

Add the sausages to the pan, turning to coat with the sauce. Cook over low heat for 15-20 minutes or until the sauce is nice and thick. The cooking time is important to blend the flavors of the sausages and peppers and to mellow the sharpness of the wine and taste of the flower. If the sauce starts to get too thick before this time is up then just stir in hot water a splash or two at a time. If you didn’t add a red chili with the green pepper then you might want to add a few dashes of Tabasco sauce just a minute or two before it’s done cooking to give the sauce a peppery feistyness (don’t make it hot though, you’re going for mild here).

Serve garnished with the chopped fresh herbs. This dish is fantastic when spooned over grits (for my Southern readers) or polenta (for my European readers). Sauteed rocket and baby greens or a fresh salad make a great accompaniment.

I’ve started a new weblog for posting my random musings. Some of you might remember Brain Stew, my first attempt at keeping a blog. Things have changed, I haven’t gotten any less lazy, it’s just that blogging just got a little bit easier (see Tumblr).

Brain Stu 2.0

Just got back from Kim’s birthday trip to Tuscany. Gastronomic highlights included:

• Pizza in Pisa: Down a side alley away from the tourist traps I found a small pizzeria that was full of locals - proof enough that it was going to be special. And it was.
• Il Pozzo in the Garfagnana: After a casual drive through the mountains north of Pisa, we stopped off for lunch at a village restaurant, Il Pozzo. I think we were the only tourists having lunch there that day and the place was full. I’d have to say that this was the best taste of Tuscan food we had. Sam’s Gnocchi was amazing. Kim had perfectly charred beef ribs cooked in a wood burning oven that was visible from the dining room. I had farro salad and sausages with white beans.
• Florence: Expensive. We just snacked on sandwiches.
• The Coast: At the resort, Kim had a wonderful seafood foil bake with several kinds of fresh fish plus baby zucchini, tiny clams, and prawns. On the following day we walked along the seaside in Marina di Pisa and Tirrenia. I had a one of a kind panini with wild boar ham, cheese, asparagus cream and truffle cream.
• Gelato: Oh yes.

If you ever go to Tuscany and plan to make a gastro-tour, I highly recommend the book Tasting Tuscany. It’s a tour guide and recipe book in one.

I only wish we had a few more days holiday…