Sausage and Peppers

This year's garden has been a mixed bag - great crop of cucumbers and zucchini early in the season, some good cherry tomatoes, and some not so good regular and plum tomatoes. I think that something's getting at the tomatoes (squirrels? birds?) just as they turn red and before I can pick them.

One pleasant surprise, however, have been the green peppers. I have tried every year to grow green peppers, but have never been successful until this year. I have had lots of them, all edible and delicious.

This morning I picked a bunch, and discovered we had some Italian sausage in the freezer, so I decided to bring some of the Jersey Shore boardwalk into my house and make sausage and peppers for lunch.

Sausage & Peppers

To pierce or not to pierce?

Most cookbooks will tell you not to pierce sausage before you cook it, because the juices run out, but guess what? If you don't pierce them, the skin splits and the juices run anyway, so go ahead and pierce.

Cook the sausages first in a skillet. Get them good and brown on each side and try not to burn them. Then turn the heat way low, cover, and cook for about 5-10 minutes on each side until they're cooked through.

Take the sausages out of the skillet and set aside.

Slice the green peppers (and onion if you want) long-ways. Cook in the same skillet, in the sausage fat, at high heat, tossing often to prevent burning. Cook until soft.

Return the sausages to the skillet and mix thoroughly with the peppers and onions. Cover and let sit until ready to eat.

Best served on a good Italian roll.

Easy Pickens BBQ & More is a family-based barbecue team and catering service, serving South Jersey and the greater Delaware Valley. We specialize in ribs, chicken, and beef, smoked or grilled to perfection according to your tastes. "& More" means we are more than just barbecue; we offer a variety of Italian and Southern comfort foods, as well as desserts. 
Are you planning a cook-out? Let us do the work while you relax and entertain.

Red Beans and Rice

Do you smell that? It's ham hocks, son. Nothing else on the world smells like that. I love the smell of ham hocks in the morning!

 

It is a New Years Day tradition for me to make Red Beans and Rice. Southern tradition calls for black-eyed peas and some form of pork and greens to bring good luck in the new year. I have nothing against black-eyed peas, but I like red beans better, so that's what I have stuck to for the past few years. Substitute rice for greens and I have my very own tradition.

My recipe is derived from the Prudhomme Family Cookbook and includes red kidney beans, smoked ham hocks, andouille, and what the great Justin Wilson used to call the "holy trinity" - uh-yuh, sell-ray, and green peppah. Until recently, andouille was not easily available in New Jersey, sow in the past I had to substitute kielbasa, but thanks to Emeril and Johnsonville, I can now use the real thing. New Orleans natives may not agree to the validity of Johnsonville andouille as "real", but where I live it will have to do.

It's a fairly simple process, soak the beans overnight, dice and sauté the onion, celery, and peppers. When the vegetables are cooked, combine with diced andouille, beans (drained), and ham hocks. Cover with just enough water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, covered, for about two hours. Remove ham hocks, separate the meat from the bones, put the meat back in the pot and continue to simmer, uncovered, stirring often, until the mixture reaches your desired thickness. Serve over rice. 

Your kitchen will smell amazing!

What are your New Years Day food traditions?

Easy Pickens BBQ & More is a family-based barbecue team and catering service, serving South Jersey and the greater Delaware Valley. We specialize in ribs, chicken, and beef, smoked or grilled to perfection according to your tastes. "& More" means we are more than just barbecue; we offer a variety of Italian and Southern comfort foods, as well as desserts. 
Are you planning a cook-out? Let us do the work while you relax and entertain.