sausage to the rescue

I have a confession. It is really hard to get back into the swing of cooking and cleaning and real-life after nearly 3 weeks of being out-of-town and having company. I have no drive or motivation to do … ANYTHING!

Dave is knee-deep in tax season, so we are like ships in the night.

Connor works from 2:30 PM to midnight, five to six days a week, so he’s rarely home for dinner.

And although I didn’t have jet lag in the usual sense, I now realize that although I wasn’t waking up in the middle of the night… I am tired all day long!

I mean, when 3:30 or 4:00 hits each afternoon… I’m ready for bed! It takes all my power to stay up. Seriously, I feel like I need toothpicks to hold my eyes open! I think the latest I’ve hit the sack since our house-guests left is 8:00 PM. My usual bedtime is 10:30 or 11:00.

Enough of my first-world woes. I did get somewhat inspired by a package of sausage, of all things.

It’s a really good sausage! Aidells sausage from Costco. And one of my favorite flavors ~ Habanero with Pepper Jack!

I went on the Aidells website and found a recipe to zip up to our liking. Here is one of the two sausage dishes we had for dinner on Sunday night…

Corn, Potato & Sausage Chowder

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium onion, peeled and diced
1 yellow bell pepper; cored, seeded, and diced
1 garlic clove, peeled and minced
1 jalapeño pepper; cored, seeded, and finely minced
1 pound russet potatoes, peeled and diced
3 cups chicken broth, divided
2 cups water
4 cups frozen or fresh corn kernels
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 Aidells Habanero & Pepper Jack Chicken Sausage links, cut into 1/4-inch thick slices
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Fresh cilantro, garnish

Melt the 3 tablespoons butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, jalapeño, and garlic and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes.

Add the potato and 2 cups of broth. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook until the potatoes are just tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the remaining 1 cup broth, water, corn, and cream. Bring to a simmer.

In a small bowl, combine the flour and the 2 tablespoons room temperature butter using your fingers or a fork. Stir into the chowder and stir constantly until the chowder returns to a simmer and thickens slightly.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a heavy skillet and brown the sausage on all sides over medium-low heat, for 4 to 5 minutes. Stir sausage into chowder, and season with salt and pepper.

Serve in bowls and garnish with fresh cilantro sprigs.

Serves 6 to 8