This recipe, adapted from Saveur magazine, fills the bill. It's great made with venison sausage, but I've also made it several times with boar sausage and good old Pittsburgh kielbasa. Never tried it with Italian sausage, though. For a cold-weather dinner, serve with mashed potatoes, brown bread and mugs of beer.
4 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
6 large (about 7 inches) venison sausages
4 medium carrots, peeled and cut into large pieces
2 leeks, white part only, cleaned and cut into 1-inch pieces
2 Granny Smith apples, cored and cut into wedges
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 12-ounce bottle lager-style beer
1/4 cup demi-glace (optional)
1 small savoy cabbage, trimmed, cored and cut into large wedges
Melt 2 tablespoons butter with olive oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Working in batches, add sausages and brown on all sides, about 10 minutes total. Transfer sausages to a plate, cover with aluminum foil to keep warm and set aside.
Melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter in the same skillet, then add carrots, leeks and apples, stirring to coat vegetables and apples with butter. Season to taste with salt and pepper and cook until everything in the pan is glazed and slightly browned, about 10 minutes. Pick apple wedges out of skillet and set aside.
Add beer and demi-glace (if using), and, with a wooden spoon, loosen any brown bits stuck to the bottom of the skillet. Reduce heat to medium-low, then cover and cook for 20 minutes. Return sausages and apples to the skillet, then add cabbage wedges, lining them up over the top of the mixture. Cover and cook until vegetables are tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. Makes 6 servings.
Adapted from Saveur magazine
Thursday, January 06, 2000
