Dinner tonight was determined by 2 purchases - one intentional and the other unintentional. The unintentional issue became apparent when I discovered 2 partial sleeves of celery in the fridge as I was tucking away my new 3rd sleeve… My memory obviously hadn’t accompanied the rest of my body to the grocery.
The intentional purchase was a pack of 3 semi-air dried sausages by a regional sausage maker. These are an old style Southern sausage* which has become quite hard to find. So I grabbed the lone package like lightening!
Tonight I cooked up half a white onion and 3 ribs of celery in olive oil. Once the onion was beginning to get some color and the celery a tad softened one link of semi-dry (coarsely chopped) was added to the pot. Gave a stir and increased the heat while a can of white beans were opened and rinsed. Beans added and stirred. Nuked a cup of water and whisked in a little roast chicken Better Than Bullion. Poured the liquid in the pot, added a dried red pepper blend and thyme, brought to a slow simmer and put a lid on it. Half and hour later stirred in the chopped celery leaves. After another half hour had an amazingly rich bowl of beans! That sausage has just enough funk to really make the whole thing special.
Fortunately I have 2 more links of the sausage! And 2 1/2 sleeves of celery…
*Here is a little more info about this style of sausage (my find was a different brand). The author is a historian who used to write about regional foods for this state blog. His writing led me to a great many good meals and helped me get to know the state I relocated to in ways a transplant usually can’t.
