Texas Style Smoked Sausage Potato Skillet

Hello Saturday! How are you this fine day? On the National Front, we should have Oatmeal Nut Waffles for breakfast, Eat Our Noodles sometime during the day and honor Johnny Appleseed. I’m not a fan of Oatmeal except in cookies, although Oatmeal Waffles might be interesting.

As for the noodles – just not in the mood, although with the cold snap we seem to be having, a big bowl of Chicken Noodle Soup would hit the spot just fine. As for Johnny Appleseed, he was a real person named John Chapman. Johnny Appleseed was a nickname due to the fact that he believed in the symbolic importance of apples so much he planted apple trees throughout most of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and parts of West Virginia. He was known for his kid, generous ways. Johnny Appleseed was a missionary for the New Church as well as a vegetarian and conservationist. I suppose, since it’s Saturday, and we have time on our hands, we could bake up a nice Apple Pie . . . Hum, that is a thought.

Saturdays in our house mean shopping. Last Saturday, our market was having an introductory sale on Texas Smoked Sausage. It was half the price of the other rope sausages in the sausage case. What the heck – I had a new recipe I wanted to try. Why not use a smoked sausage that was imported all the way from Texas? Yeah, that’s meant as a joke.

This recipe turned out very nicely, although the sausage was not as smoky in flavor as I had hoped. Everything cooked up in a single pan, so that’s always a plus. Enjoy!

Texas Style Smoked Sausage Potato Skillet
2 (12 oz) Texas Smoked Sausage Ropes
1/2 Yellow Onion, chopped
1/2 Red Bell Pepper, seeded and chopped
1 large Jalapeno Pepper, stemmed and chopped
Olive Oil to lightly coat skillet
Mesquite Seasoning to taste
20 oz Southern-Style Diced Potatoes
Salt to taste
Black Pepper to taste
1/2 cup Beef Stock

Slice sausage into bite-size coin-cut rounds, set aside. Peel and dice onion, set aside. Stem, core, seed and dice bell pepper, set aside. Stem jalapeno pepper, retaining seeds as desired for heat. Set aside.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Warm a little oil in the pan. Add sausage, season with Mesquite Seasoning and cook until browned, about 8 minutes, stirring as needed. Remove sausage from the skillet, reserving the drippings in the pan.

Add onions and peppers to the skillet. Sauté over medium heat until vegetables and tender yet crisp, about 6 minutes. Stir in the diced potatoes, spread out evenly. Cook until potatoes begin to brown, about 5 minutes. Turn and continue to brown another 3 or 4 minutes.

Return sausage to the skillet, season with salt and pepper. Add beef stock and cook, covered, until potatoes are tender and everything is heated through, about 12 minutes longer.

Serve and enjoy.

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The Lord is kind and merciful