Potato Sausage Stew, Slow Cooker Version

Potato sausage stew in my slow cooker

Finally, this Saturday I made it to the Homegrown Market here in Fairbanks to see what they were stocking in the middle of the winter. I saw lots of Alaska animal products – eggs, chicken, salmon, halibut, rabbit, local grass-fed beef, reindeer sausage, and potato sausage. The potato sausage, in particular, caught my eye and I picked some up with the idea I’d make some stew for after running and skiing this weekend. The recipe was only half-formed in my head when I started making it early in the morning, but it all came together so well I want to share it.

Ingredients

2 bottles Guinness beer

1 cup Red wine

1 cup Water

4 tbsp Smart Balance spread

1 White onion, chopped

4 Garlic cloves

1 pint Baby portabella mushrooms

4 Potato sausages (I’m sure other sausages will do quite fine. The sausage I used was mild.)

3 Garnet yams, sliced lengthwise and quartered and chopped into 1/4 inch slices

4 Yukon gold potatoes, cut into large cubes

1 tbsp Thyme 1 tsp Black pepper, fresh ground

2 tbps Basil, chopped (i used basil packed in oil)

1/2 cup Wild and brown rice bend, uncooked

Salt to taste

Fresh spinach leaves (about a handful per serving of stew)

Instructions Pour beer and wine into your slow cooker along and heat on High while you’re prepping the rest of the ingredients. Add in the Smart Balance spread. Cook sausages until they are browned and slice into bite-sized pieces. Saute the onions, garlic, and mushrooms in a small amount of olive oil until the onions are translucent. Cut and slice potatoes and add them, along with the sausage and sauted veggies, into the slow cooker.

Add spices and cover. Cook on High for 3 hours. Add wild rice mix and cook on low for another hour minimum. Stew should thicken as potatoes begin to disintegrate into the liquid. Serve on top of a handful of spinach leaves so they are just wilted as you eat.

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