An Old Favorite

Tonight, we're having an old favorite of mine - Koru Ragu or Swedish Sausage Stew. It's from a book I got from my former mother-in-law many, many years ago called "Complete Meals in One Dish". This meal is so easy and delicious - perfect for a weeknight meal.

Koru Ragu

1 pound sausages (I've made this with sliced up smoked sausages and smoked kielbasa)
3 tablespoons butter
½ cup diced onions
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup beef broth
1 pound potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 cups sliced carrots
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
1 bay leaf

Brown the sausages in a heavy skillet. Drain and reserve sausages. Melt butter in the same skillet and saute onions for about 5 minutes, until soft. Blend in the flour and then add the beef broth. Bring to a boil. Return sausages to pan. Add carrots, potatoes, salt, pepper and bay leaf. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes (add more beef broth, if necessary).

That's it. Easy as pie and quite delicious! Make it with your favorite kind of sausages and I'm sure it will be a hit. It's a great cold night meal. Yum!

Bangers and Mash - Lightened Up (Accidentally)

She Said:

I was trying to plan dinner yesterday and I looked in the freezer for some sort of protein. I pulled out a package of chicken & turkey mild Italian sausage. And that became my starting point. After looking around for recipes that had only ingredients that I already had on hand, this is what I found. Naturally, as I always do, I tweaked it a little.

Not-So-Classic Bangers and Mash

Makes 2 servings.

4 Russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 package very low sodium chicken instant broth & seasoning
1/2 cup warm milk
2 tablespoons melted butter
Olive oil
4 links chicken & turkey sausage
1/2 large onion, sliced and separated into rings
About 2 cups beef broth
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon crumbled dried oregano

Get the potatoes started in water as you would for regular mashed potatoes. Boil for 20 minutes or so. Drain, leaving the potatoes in the pan.

At the same time, heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Prick the sausages in a few places with a fork, and place them into the skillet. Cook, turning often, until golden brown and juices run clear. This should take about 20 minutes. Internal temperature should be 165º.

While the potatoes and sausages are cooking, start the gravy. Melt together 2 tablespoons of butter and the flour to make a roux. Cook for 2 minutes. Add 1 cup of the beef broth and whisk until smooth. Heat to boiling; boil and stir for 1 minute. Leave on a low heat to keep warm and add more beef broth as needed for the consistency desired. You can season to taste, if you wish.

Heat up the milk in a microwave or saucepan. Stir the instant broth into the milk until dissolved. Stir the milk mixture and melted butter into the cooked potatoes. Mash or whip the potatoes until smooth and creamy.

When the sausages are done, take them out of the skillet and place onto paper towels on a plate. In the same skillet, add the onion rings. Cook and stir over medium heat until the onions are golden and wilted, about 5 minutes.

To serve, scoop the potatoes onto the plate, arrange the sausages over the potatoes, top with the onions, drizzle with the gravy and sprinkle with oregano.

This was such a fun meal to eat and it was delicious! I was really surprised that I liked it as much as I did. I love that it was all made with things we had on hand. And did you notice? Almost no salt whatsoever. I don't know what's happening but we rarely use salt any more in our cooking and eating. It's just not that appealing any more. Go figure!

We had leftover potatoes, so they will be part of tonight's dinner. There is no wasting of mashed potatoes in this house!

Oh, the recipe said to pair this with a syrah. I didn't know if it would still work because it wasn't pork sausage, but that's what we had. And it worked beautifully!

The wine we had was a 2005 Penfolds Bin 128 Shiraz. It's a little pricey for a mid-week wine (at around $23) but we're running low on the cheaper stuff, so what choice did we have? :-)

OLS Wrap-Up

I have really been remiss!  I missed three postings for the One Local Summer Challenge.  And now it's over.  So, without further ado, these are the things that we made for the last three weeks.

Week 11 - Sausage, Peppers and Onions

Week 12 - Meatballs and Beets

Week 13 - Bison and Pepper Rice

That last one was one of my absolute favorites this whole summer - and one of the easiest to make!  It's a crock-pot meal, for goodness sake!  It definitely goes into the permanent rotation.