Sausage+Beer Soup w/ Brussels Sprouts+White Beans – Scroll down for recipe

After nearly a month away from the blog and home

…first to see our daughter Emily in Pennsylvania..

       …and then to cruise via some stormy, leftover hurricane seas with my sister Helen from our favorite foreign spot, Quebec City, to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida… … 

Falling Water (above)

We had dinner at the Chateau Frontenac, Quebec City (above)  

Dave, Helen, and I in front of the ms Zuiderdam, our home for 12 days (above)

My new best goat found just off the Saint Laurence Seaway and the truly stellar Saguenay fjord at LE CHEVRIER DU NORD

They clean up.  (above)

At the Victorian Gardens in Halifax, Nova Scotia–the dahlia garden still blooming and resident ducks (above and below)  I thought of Dave’s cousins, who named their daughter Dahlia. I see why.

Lunch on shore in Halifax, Nova Scotia at Gahan’s. What else? Lobstah rolls. (above)

On Jordan Pond, Acadia National Park. Bar Harbor, Maine. (above)

Cape Elizabeth, Maine (above)

Seen walking down the street in Kennebunkport, Maine (above)

Dave and I with Paul Revere in Boston. (above)

Fall in Concord, Massachusetts with Trinity Congregational Church (above)

A common view for me in the ship’s dining room. (above)

A lunch just off the ship in Port Canaveral on the day before disembarking (above) 

I never go on a trip without at least a couple of good books to sustain me. This time, Louise Penny’s newest Armand Gamache (French-Canadian sleuth) mystery made the journey with us.  (Below)  A GREAT RECKONING is an entrancing, dancing whodunit story you won’t want to end. If you don’t know Louise’s work, begin–if you can– with the first volume,  STILL LIFE, and fall in love with exquisitely-drawn characters and a tiny Quebec village you’ll feel you know and love quite personally.  (They live where everybody knows their name a la Cheers.) I gave mine to Sue Hall or I’d loan it to you. I have every other volume in hard copy or on my iPad. You’ll have to sign for a loan, though.

Last supper including the ubiquitous crew photo bomb (above)

… … … summer is finally just barely turning to fall in Colorado. Our local bear is still making the rounds, but the trees that can have turned to gold, and many of my outdoor herbs are gone for the winter. (Luckily I brought a few pots in for the south window growing season before leaving.) Sage and thyme, however, are still snippable in the large herb garden out back. As I took the soup outdoors for photographing yesterday, a bitterly cold wind and rain arrived with a whipping gusto, producing a stunning double rainbow that signifies promise to me…

 

While I’m glad to be back in the saddle again, I brought the airport cold home with me and have spent several days in bed sipping tea being generally unhappy.  You know the kind of cold that keeps you even from reading or watching movies and forces you into the spare bedroom. Just plain old miserable. On the mend now and also past another birthday I sniffed and snorted through.

The birthday pie–Dave made it from scratch using my crust recipe from the blog! (above)  I don’t make Coconut Cream Pie. I’d eat it. All.

Dave cooked, took care of the dogs, and left me alone to suffer in silence as needed.  When at last well enough to shop and cook, you know I went for the soup pot. And…

While my newest soup might be perfect for an adult Halloween supper, full of favorite local fall ingredients, it would also warm you up any cold evening anywhere. It’s made in an easy flash. Sauté a few vegetables with some smoked sausage, add your favorite local ale with the broth, bring to a boil, add the sprouts and potatoes, season well, and reduce to simmer for a hot finish. #justaddcheese   Try this:

SAUSAGE AND BEER SOUP WITH BRUSSELS SPROUTS AND WHITE BEANS     

While this soup goes in my Gluten-Free category, please be certain any purchased/added ingredients are labeled “Gluten-Free.”   Serve with a couple of cold local ales or, if you’re wining, a red  Côtes du Rhône.

6-8 servings

• 2 tablespoons salted butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large onion, small dice
• 2 each, sliced:  peeled carrots and celery stalks
• 2 large cloves garlic, peeled, and minced
• Handful chopped fresh parsley
• 2 teaspoons fresh minced thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
• 3/4 pound sliced smoked sausage such as Sara’s Smoked Bratwurst or your favorite  smoked, pre-cooked kielbasa  (If using raw sausage, slice or crumble and cook first in a separate skillet and drain before adding to soup.)*
• 12 ounces brown/amber or Scottish ale–I like Laughing Lab, from Bristol Brewers*
• 2 cups water
• 6 cups chicken broth, low-sodium*
• Hot sauce–a few drops or to taste–I like Tabasco (Put bottle on the table for serving.)*
• 3 cups cooked white beans or two 15-ounce cans Cannelini or northern beans, drained and rinsed*
• 12 Brussels sprouts, trimmed and cut in half
• 1 large Russet potato, peeled, and diced into 1/2-inch cubes– such as Colorado potatoes from the San Luis Valley
• 2 ounces very sharp Cheddar, grated (about 1/2 cup after grating) — garnish

1. To a 10-quart soup pot, add butter and oil; heat one minute over medium flame and add onion, carrots, celery, garlic, parsley, thyme, 1/2 teaspoon each kosher salt and fresh ground pepper.  Cook, stirring often, until vegetables are softened–10 minutes or so.  Add sausage and cook, stirring, another 5 minutes.
2. Pour in beer, water, and broth; bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer. Add a few drops of hot sauce, as desired. Sprinkle with another 1/2 teaspoon each kosher salt and fresh ground pepper.  Taste and adjust seasonings, including hot sauce. Stir in cooked beans, Brussels Sprouts, and diced potato.  Simmer, don’t boil, until the Brussels Sprouts and potatoes are just tender–another 12-14 minutes.  Taste and adjust seasonings one last time.
3. Serve hot garnished with a little grated Cheddar cheese. Pass the hot sauce at the table.

*GLUTEN-FREE DIETS:  PLEASE CHECK INGREDIENTS/LABELS BEFORE USING

Cook’s Note:  If you’d like to freeze this, make it without the potatoes–perhaps adding more beans or even adding the potatoes later.  If you’ve chilled the leftovers until the next day, you’ll find a prettily thickened soup due to the starch in the potatoes–not quite a stew, but definitely less brothy. Do taste and season again, if needed.

                                            {printable recipe}

… … …

If you like this fall soup, you might also like my fellow blogger Lydia Walshin’s

Turkey, Red Bean, and Cabbage Soup

It’s at The Perfect Pantry dot com –a blog you’d enjoy, I know. I had been thinking about a new soup with similar ingredients when I saw Lydia’s inspirational bowl on Facebook.  Try it!

Sing a new song,

Alyce