So we've all been busy and the blog has been slow, but I'm hoping we'll be able to pick things up for the summer. Yay! I've tried some new recipes and foods in the last few weeks, but none of them have been winners. So instead I present a really easy recipe that I like to make once in a while.
Beans and Brats (serves 2-3 adults):
2 or 3 of your favorite bratwurst sausages, sliced into 1/2-inch rounds (I use fake, of course, but I still haven't found any that brown up nicely, so real will probably be even tastier in this recipe)
1 medium onion, diced
1 15-oz can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 15-oz can diced tomatoes, not drained
3 Tbs unsulphured molasses
1. Heat a large nonstick pan, with a little oil, on medium and brown up the brats, then set them aside. 3-4 minutes.
2. In the same skillet, turn up the heat a bit and saute your onions until they're soft and maybe a little brown. 5 minutes or so.
3. Add tomatoes, beans, molasses, and put the brats back in. Season with salt and pepper and simmer 10 or 15 minutes until the sauce thickens a bit and the flavors concentrate. If it gets too thick, add a little water. When you think you're done give it a taste--if it doesn't have a nice sweetish flavor it needs more cooking or more molasses.
And that's it. The original recipe called for leeks, and it turned out good that way, but onions are cheaper and easier to work with, so I generally use them. You can also dice a potato into it for extra veggie power and such, but I think it's unnecessary.
P.S. I've been looking for/experimenting to find a nice, basic pasta salad recipe with a lot of flavor, so if anyone has ideas that'd be super. I've been looking for something Italian dressing-y or vinaigrette-y.
Wow. This. Was. Good.
ReplyDeleteEven though I probably didn't make it right. I've never in my life used or bought molasses, and I tried to buy what seemed the most orthodox variety, but it turned out to be probably more bitter than normal. I got blackstrap molasses. The bitterness was good, but probably not quite called for.
Awesome, though. Makes me never want to eat canned pork'n'beans again.
We're going to try the potato suggestion next time. I assume you'd have to dice it fairly fine in order to sautee it?
Yeah, I think blackstrap is more bitter than what we've got. I forget the name but ours has a rabbit on it.
ReplyDeleteI can't remember how we did the potatoes but I think we did them medium-small. Depends whether you want them more boiled or fried flavored. Veggie brats aren't always worth browning ahead (some of them just fall apart) so our potatoes really depend on what kind of brats I can find.