It's official. I have redeemed myself in the meat cooking area (or rather the guy at the Whole Foods meat counter has helped me to succeed at meat cooking). After work today I went to the meat counter (after for some crazy reason having craved sausage for 2 days now) and said "Do you eat sausage?". The nice guy said "Yes I do! I've tried all of these. Which ones can I get for you?". To which I responded "Whatever ones you tell me to get and tell me how to cook!". He then proceeded to ask whether I liked chicken or pork and what I was serving with this and suggested a few, to which I agreed to do one of each that he recommended, and he gave me several tips on how to cook them! It was great! I came home followed the instruction that the guy had given to me and it worked perfectly! No crispy, crunchy, dried out mess of nastiness like my previous experience with cooking sausage (which is the sole reason I've been dubbed the girl not allowed to cook meat), but wonderfully moist, perfectly browned sausage! I chose to do a trio because they all sounded so good that it was hard to choose just one and came home with Pork Bratwurst, Pork Sausage with Basil and Garlic and Spicy Pork Sausage. I'm actually not sure which one I like the best, they all have such a wonderful flavor to them!! The secret to cooking sausage you ask? Water! Put about 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch water in the bottom of a large saute pan, place the sausages in the pan and cook at a low simmer until the water evaporates. This will steam the sausage. Once the water has evaporated, turn up the heat to medium and brown on all sides.
To serve with my wonderfully cooked sausages, I roasted some vegetables! I placed halved and quatered baby parsnips, golden beets, russet potatoes and crimini mushrooms in a small bowl. To the bowl I added some olive oil to coat, chopped fresh sage, lavendar salt and fresh ground black pepper. I spread the vegetables out onto a baking sheet covered with foil and sprayed with cooking spray. Then I sprinkled some chopped green garlic scapes and thinly sliced and quartered blood oranges over top. This was baked in the oven at 425 degrees for about 25 minutes, just until the vegetables were cooked through and starting to brown.
Meanwhile, I made a quick salad using the heirloom lettuce from my bin and some shredded carrot. I also made an easy balsamic vinaigrette for this (balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper and fresh orange juice from half a navel orange whisked together) and poured over top of the lettuce. Sliced cucumber was served alongside.
It sounds like a bit of effort was put into this meal, but really from beginning to end it only took me 30 minutes!! How great is that? Very full of flavor, extremely filling and relatively healthy considering what we could have eaten tonight. It was also a pretty big hit. Dylan even loved the spicy sausage! (Of course I'm sure she covered it with ketchup before allowing it anywhere near her mouth!)
That's how I cook sausage and you're right it does work perfect!
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