May 14 2010

Le Ragoût Suzé

Published by at 7:57 am under Cooking

Caution: May be yummier than it appears

My unsurprisingly slapdash method of cooking makes it a little challenging to share my recipes with my adoring audience. That, and my father’s legacy of using up leftovers. Dad grew up outside London during WWII, and endured the seemingly endless rationing after it, so he never wasted food. Since I learned to cook from him, I also learned to use up leftovers.

When Dad died, my stepmother’s grandchildren remarked on how they’d miss his “snowflake soup”. No two were alike, since they were made from what was on hand and in the refrigerator on that particular day.

Making the fancily named stew on Thursday morning, I have to admit I felt slightly smug that I made it using ingredients Megan and I had on hand, right down to the parsley from her garden. I was immediately punished for this thought by breaking my nail. You may not be surprised to learn that it was the middle one.

I tried to be accurate as possible in measurements here, but keep the source in mind and adjust to your personal taste. And try to forgive the asides and editorials.

Chicken, Sausage, and Bean Ragoût

1 pound Italian sausage
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in 1/2 inch cubes
4 cloves garlic, crushed and minced (less if it scares you)
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 teaspoon dried sage
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce (bonus if you can pronounce it correctly)
One 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
One 15 ounce can white kidney beans (cannelini)
Salt & pepper to taste
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

I usually cook the garlic, onion, chicken, and sausage together at once. Hope that doesn’t horrify you. I used sweet Italian turkey sausage, which I removed from its casings (ew) and squished into pieces, but you could also use smoked sausage and slice it. If you’re a fungus fan, you could chop up a few mushrooms and throw them in.

When everything is cooked, about 10-15 minutes, pour in the wine to deglaze the pan. Now, some people think you should use cheap wine to cook with, but since the alcohol cooks off and you’re left with the flavor, I don’t think you should go too cheap here. Also it’s a good excuse to finish off the already open bottle of wine, unless you’re cooking in the morning, as I was, and the smell makes you shudder.

Add lemon zest, juice, sage, and Worcestershire sauce. I threw in some fennel seeds to accentuate the fennel flavor in the sausage. Stir in tomatoes. I used a can of whole tomatoes, which I cut up over the pot of stew, and a small can of tomato sauce, as well as some chopped up, slightly dented tomatoes I had on hand. Mix in beans, salt and pepper, and simmer for half an hour or so, until flavors blend. Can be made a day ahead. Stir in parsley just before serving, maybe with a salad and some warm bread.

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One response so far

One Response to “Le Ragoût Suzé”

  1. Joyon 14 May 2010 at 11:56 am

    Mmmm….this makes me hungry, just to read the recipe and seeing the photo.
    Yep! one should never use inferior wine when cooking .

    jx