Puff Pastry Appetizers with Bratwurst and Andouille Sausages

My husband and I don't collaborate often in matters culinary, mostly because my menu making and grocery shopping and dinner starting are all usually done while he's busy at work.  But when we do get together, it's often amazing.

We were tasked with bringing a dish to a family Thanksgiving gathering, and rather than my usual dessert category, I wanted to make an interesting savory appetizer.  With Dear Husband's help, it was decided that I'd start with a puff pastry base and make two incarnations, both laden with sausage: one with bratwurst, and one with andouille (Cajun smoked sausage). 


The bratwurst variation used a special seasonal sausage made with Spaten beer by our local German deli and restaurant, Siegi's.  We used Siegi's for the Cajun version, also.  While choosing our sausages, we tasted a few kinds of cheese available at the deli to determine the best pairings.  Jarlsberg (like Swiss) was chosen for the bratwurst and smoked cheddar was chosen for the andouille.

A test run of cooking helped me decide what other toppings would pair well.  Sauerkraut and onions were a no-brainer for the brats.  The andouille was a little tricker.  Thinking back to my favorite Cajun dishes, bell pepper repeatedly popped up as an ingredient.  I used both green and yellow bells.  I also tried and really liked diced sun-dried tomato- it added richness.

The veggies were sauteed in butter before the diced sausage was added and heated through.  Then the mess was spread onto a sheet of puff pastry and sprinkled with cheese before baking according to the puff pastry package directions.  With the heavy load of toppings, baking times were a little longer than expected, but still worthwhile.

While the puff pastry was a little limp underneath, the overall effect was achieved and the appetizers garnered rave reviews.  Next time, I might put squares of pastry into mini muffin tins and make little pouches instead of a big pizza style sheet.

Spaten beer bratwurst.  Achtung!

Smoked andouille sausage.  Ha eee, I gah-ron-tee!

Andouille with yellow and green bell pepper.

Diced sun-dried tomatoes.

Bratwurst with red onions.

Puff pastry on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.

Bratwurst, drained sauerkraut, red onion, and Jarlsberg cheese.

Andouille, bell pepper, sun-dried tomato, and smoked cheddar cheese.

Day Ten: Red Beans with Andouille Sausage

Day ten of Operation: Expand Horizons brought a simple dish from the minions over at Martha Stewart Omnimedia: Everyday Food's Red Beans with Andouille Sausage. This one is completely idiot-proof, cheap, filling, and weeknight simple.

Recipes from Everyday Food have shown themselves to often be quite bland, so from the start, I made a modification to the recipe. It calls for adding the sausage to the beans after they are cooked- I left it in while the beans simmered to add flavor.

Don't skip the important overnight soak of the dried beans. I'm glad I looked through the soaked and drained beans instead of just dumping them into the pot- there were several dozen "rogue beans" that had not benefited from the soak and looked as though they hadn't been in water at all. I picked them all out. Who wants random hard, undercooked beans ruining the pot of deliciousness?

I served the red beans and sausage over plain white rice, and we had cornbread and iced tea on the side to round out a fine Southern meal.

Properly soaked beans on the left; rogue beans on the right. Remove them and discard.