Nancy Lesonand I both love sausages of all kinds. We keep them on hand for quickie weeknight meals and for some recipes better suited to a weekend cooking project.
We agree that it's better to buy sausage in links than loose. If you need the sausage loose, you can always have the fun of squeezing it out of the casing like meat toothpaste.
Nancy Leson’s new favorite sausage recipe is the Bean and Sausage Gratinfrom Molly Stevens’ new “All About Dinner.” I’m looking forward to trying that one, too.
One of my favorite speed dinners is rice with sweet and smoky Chinese Lop Cheong sausage. Cut the links lengthwise, then crosswise into small pieces. When the rice is done, mix them in with chopped greens, oyster sauce and sesame oil. Re-cover and let it all cook for about five minutes in the residual heat. Fast and easy.
Nancy loves Hempler’s Andouille sausage, which she likes to slice lengthwise and pan-grill. I use them in my inauthentic variations on shrimp etouffe and shrimp and grits. But I can never resist eating one cold, straight from the package.
Nance also lovesUli’s and Rainshadow Meats’ products. And for vegetarians there’s the wide variety of Field Roast products, including their Mexican Chipotle sausage. Nance loves the flavor, but thinks the texture still needs work.
I always keep some Mexican chorizo from La Huerta, my neighborhood Latin market in Tacoma, on hand for chorizo and potato tacos. I also like to take ready-made chili from canned and bland by adding it to some browned chorizo for an easy-speedy weeknight meal.
"Sausages are just funny. I don’t know why. I can’t explain it.” – Phoebe Waller-Bridge
