Sausage & Rice

Sausage is a great food that is second only to bacon. Italian Hot Sausage is what I grew up on. After marriage, my wife insisted that I use the sweet sausage for the kids instead of hot. In my opinion , the sweet sausage has no taste. In order to have taste in my meals, I started to use sweet and hot sausage. Eventually, only the sweet sausage was left in the dish. Now, I only cook with the Italian Hot Sausage.

This dish is just a simple type of Paella without the expensive seafood and saffron (I once received saffron as a Christmas Gift.) In a deep saute pan add oil, minced garlic, 1 cup chopped onion, and one cup of red or green pepper. Saute for about 5 minutes. Add to the pan about 1 to 1.5 pounds of Hot Italian Sausage cut into one inch pieces. Continue to saute until the sausage is almost done. Don't drain the juice. Next add 1 cup of rice and saute for a minute then add 2 cups of chicken broth. Yes, I am cooking dinner, note the steam rising. I wish I could share with you the smell of this cooking, but they are still working on that computer technology.

Always use chicken broth when cooking rice, it simply adds more flavor to the dish. Bring to boil then lower the heat to simmer, cover and cook for about 20 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed. Taste the rice to see if it is done, if not add more broth or water. Salt and pepper to taste.

I usually worry about Max getting a hold of the leftovers, but my family will snack on this and there won't be any left for my lunch the next day.