Sausage and Bean (and Kale) Casserole

I am celebrating my 14^th participation in The Secret Recipe Club, a food blogger recipe exchange where bloggers are paired and reveal their partner and what recipe they prepared on a designated day. For this month’s club, I was assigned to Fake Ginger, named for the author's "unnaturally red hair" (her words) and her extreme dislike of fresh ginger - hilarious. Amanda is mom to three little boys, and her husband is proudly serving our country overseas. Her blog is full of recipes and beautiful photos of what she cooks, bakes (LOTS of baking going on at her house!), Thirsty Thursday libations, and her kids and dog. A fun read. I had trouble selecting a recipe as a number made the short list: zucchini fritters, lentil and collard soup, chicken with cranberry mustard sauce, but I finally decided on sausage and bean casserole because I had a ton of (homemade baked) beans to use. I don’t know how I got the notion in my head that greens go so well with sausage and beans, but I do, and we had kale from the last farmers’ market of the season that was screamin’ to be sautéed and thrown in the dish for good measure.

The result? We both declared it a winner, a keeper for sure, and we wholeheartedly agree with Amanda that it’s reminiscent of a quick cooking cassoulet, one of Craig's faves. Like other fall dishes, this is warming, hearty comfort food at its finest and easy peasey. It’s tangy, slightly sweet, and the breadcrumbs give it nice texture. And it has a lot of flexibility in terms of what kinds of beans you use. Since my baked beans were prepared similarly to the beans in this recipe, they worked well with no changes. If you're using plain cannellini beans, you would want to look at Amanda's original recipe. I also threw in a few canned roma tomatoes that I diced, and the kale provides a wonderful nutritional boost to this homey, one dish meal (I did roast some green beans too to round out our meal). The recipe below reflects the changes I made.

Sausage, Bean, and Kale Casserole

Serves 4 and could be easily doubled

A big bunch of kale

Chicken stock

1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
3 links chicken or turkey sausage, about 9 ounces (I used Trader Joe’s spicy chicken sausage), cut into 1/4 inch-thick slices
2  garlic cloves, minced
1  cup prepared baked beans, preferably homemade

1 cup diced tomatoes with their juices (canned is fine)

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper

Homemade bread crumbs or panko

Preheat oven to 375F.

Remove stems from kale and coarsely chop. Wash kale (residual water will help steam it).

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat, add kale, and sauté 1 minute. Add enough stock to steam and soften the kale, cooking about 12 to 15 minutes. Remove kale and set aside.

Add olive oil to pan and heat. Add onion and sausage to pan; sauté for 5 minutes or until browned. Add garlic, and sauté for 2 minutes.

Stir in beans, tomatoes, and spices. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes until any liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat. Mix in kale and stir to combine.

(At this point, I transferred the bean mixture to a baking dish coated with cooking spray.) Sprinkle with enough bread crumbs to evenly cover the bean mixture, and spritz with olive oil (or cooking spray) to moisten the bread crumbs.

Bake at 375° for 15 to 20 minutes or until browned. 

(Leftovers with roasted green beans)

Print here.

Beer-Glazed Sausages with Apples and Green Beans – A Perfect Fall Dinner

When the leaves start to turn colors and temperatures head south, my palate changes. Dramatically. Soups, stews, chili, hot dishes (aka casseroles), gratins, hearty mac & cheese, and pumpkin pie. I crave rich flavors and spices. Things that warm from the inside out. And the foods I want are specific to the season. Pumpkins, apples, root vegetables, "super food" greens, Brussels sprouts, cranberries, apple cider. Even dark beers and smoky sausages, things I usually don’t eat. Meals full of hearty, filling, comfort food. Dishes that evoke nostalgia. And certain smells are those of fall, such as apple spice cake just out of the oven loaded with cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger.

I was really impressed with the recipes in last month’s Better Homes & Gardens. I made two dishes from the magazine that highlight the best of fall, the first being butternut squash posole with chicken and kale that was full of flavor and quite easy, and the other beer-glazed sausages with apples and green beans. It was a one-pot wonder that comes together in half an hour. Simmering sausages in beer is a classic preparation, but in this recipe, the beer first forms a caramelized, ever-so-slightly sweet, and savory glaze thanks in part to a bit of cider vinegar and another fall flavor, sage, and then they are browned to form a wonderful crust on them. Apples are sautéed in a bit of butter and the green beans are also steamed in the beer until tender-crisp. Make sure you use a robust beer. The recipe recommends a Belgium-style wheat beer, with its coriander and orange notes, compliments the smoky sausage (I used Shock Top Belgian White). I served it with homemade, melt-in-your-mouth (Weight Watchers!) buttermilk biscuits – something I’ve never made before and they were so easy and so tender, which I will post about soon – and buttermilk coleslaw.

Beer-Glazed Sausages with Apples and Green Beans

Serves 4

1 12 ounce bottle Belgium-style wheat beer

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1 package smoked turkey kielbasa, cut in 2-inch pieces

1/2 pound fresh green beans

2 tablespoons butter, divided

2 medium cooking apples, cored and thinly sliced (leave the skins on)

2 tablespoons packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

1 tablespoon sage, finely minced

In a large saucepan combine 1/2 of the beer and the crushed red pepper; bring to boiling. Add sausage and green beans. Return to a simmer, cover and cook 5 to 8 minutes or until beans are tender. Drain. Set aside.

Melt 1 tablespoon butter; add apples. Cook, turning occasionally, until apples are just tender. Transfer to a platter.

Add sausage to skillet. Cook, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides. Add to platter; cover. Drain fat from skillet.

Carefully add remaining beer to skillet because it will; stir to scrape up browned bits. Add remaining 1 tablespoon butter, brown sugar, cider vinegar, and sage. Bring to boiling; reduce heat and boil gently, uncovered, 5 to 6 minutes or until slightly thickened. Return sausage and green beans to skillet to coat in glaze. Fold in apples. Return to serving platter.

 Print here.