Bean & Sausage Stew
To make Dan's Bean & Sausage Stew, you will need:
(Serves 4)
01) Cook the Sausages
Place 12 sausages onto a baking tray and cook them in the oven according to the packaging instructions. Remember to keep checking them throughout the whole cooking process so that they don't burn. As soon as they are done, take them out of the oven and put them to one side.
02) Peel the Carrots
First, chop the thickest and thinnest ends of the carrot off. To peel, hold the carrot in your non-dominant hand, take the knife with your dominant hand and place your thumb at one end of the carrot. Now, use your index finger on the back of the blade to drive the knife slowly along the carrot to peel off the carrot's outer skin stopping when you reach your thumb. Rotate the carrot to peel all around and flip the carrot over to peel the other half. Repeat this with the other carrot.
03) Chop the Potatoes
Firstly if you don't like potato skins then you can peel the potato. To do this, hold the potato in your non-dominant hand, take the knife with your dominant hand and place your thumb at one end of the potato. Now, use your index finger on the back of the blade to drive the knife slowly along the potato to peel off the potato's outer skin stopping when you reach your thumb. Rotate the potato so you peel all around it until the potato is fully peeled. Repeat this with the other potato. Now, Chop the potato in half and half again. Chop these quarters in half longways and chop these halves from side to side into 3 or 4 pieces. Repeat this with the other potato
04) Wash the Potatoes and Carrots then Chop the Carrots
Wash out the potatoes and carrots under the cold water tap of your kitchen sink. Chop the carrot from side to side into small circular slices. Chop those slices into quarters or eighths.
05) Chop the Peppers
Before chopping the peppers, wash them under the cold water tap of your kitchen sink. Start by chopping the top of the pepper off (the end with the big green stem) and chop around the stem to get the first strips of the pepper. Pull out any loose seeds inside the pepper and then chop it down the middle. Chop the 2 halves down the middle as well. Slice out the white parts of the pepper quarters and chop these quarters from side to side small-ways into strips. Repeat this for the other two peppers.
06) Chop the Onions
Firstly, chop the top and bottom halves of the onion, then remove the brown skin off the onion and chop it in half. Chop each half from side to side and then chop each of those pieces finely. To chop finely means to chop them as small as possible.
07) Chop the Garlic
Remove the skin of the garlic. Under the skin are 8 segments, these are called cloves. Take out 2 of these cloves for the meal. Turn your knife sideways so that the flat sides of the knife face you and the garlic clove. Press down on the garlic clove with the knife to break the clove and allow you to remove the outer layer of the clove. Chop each clove from side to side and then chop those pieces up finely.
08) Heat up a Frying Pan
Spray low calorie cooking spray into a frying pan and put it on a cooker hob on medium heat. When the spray in the pan starts to disappear, the pan is hot enough to cook with.
09) Cook the Carrots and Potatoes
Put the carrots and potatoes into the pan first as they take the longest to cook. Stir and fry them for about 10 minutes or so until they soften.
10) Cook the rest of the Chopped Vegetables
With the carrots and potatoes softened, it's time to add in the rest of the chopped vegetables. Stir all the vegetables occasionally to prevent them from sticking to the pan for a further 5 minutes.
11) Add Stock and Chopped Tomatoes to the Stew
it's now time to add in the stock (chicken or vegetable) which you can make by boiling the kettle and filling a jug full of the boiling water to the measurement needed, in this case 400 ml (remember to refer to the instructions that come with the stock for further guidance) and then add in the tin of chopped tomatoes.
12) Add Beans and Cherry Tomatoes to the Stew
Put a colander into the sink. Pour out your tins of butter beans and mixed beans into the colander to drain the water from them. Rinse them under the cold water tap to get rid of the water from the tins. Add 2 teaspoons (small spoon) of smoked paprika to the stew in the pan and stir. Now you can add the beans and cherry tomatoes to the stew.
13) Add Tomato Puree to the Stew and season to taste
Add 4 tablespoons (big spoon) of tomato puree to the stew. Now you can begin to season the stew to your own tastes by adding in salt, pepper or any other seasoning you choose.
14) Chop the Sausages
Chop the sausages from side to side into smaller pieces. Make sure to chop them on a different surface to the one used for the vegetables in order to maintain good hygiene around the kitchen.
15) Mix the Sausages into the Stew and Simmer
Add the sausages to the stew, mixing it well into the stew. When you are done, put the pan on a low heat to simmer and leave for 20 minutes stirring occasionally.
16) Add Parsley to the Stew and Serve
After simmering for 20 minutes, you can add parsley to the stew. To do this, put your parsley on the same surface you chopped all the other vegetables on. Chop across the stems and branches (the pieces hold the parsley together) then chop the parsley finely with small, fast chopping motions; these motions are more like tapping the parsley onto the chopping board. When you are finished chopping, sprinkle the parley into the stew and stir. All that is left to do now is to serve the stew and that's it, you are done!
Well Done, You Did It!
You have made Dan's Bean & Sausage Stew. Now grab a fork and dig in!
Final Tips
1. Chop you vegetables earlier in the day so when it’s tea time, all you have to do is put everything into the pan. 2. You can save time chopping by buying already chopped vegetables from the supermarket. Preferably in the vegetable section not frozen veg. 3. This meal serves 4 people but if you are cooking for 2 people, then you can half the ingredients used.
Disclaimer
Videos made by Harden Family Pictures of Dan and Bean & Sausage Stew taken by Harden Family Cooking Spray picture taken by yackers1 - stock.adobe.com Beef Stock picture taken by David Pimborough - stock.adobe.com Tomato Puree picture taken by James - stock.adobe.com Butter Beans picture taken by Linda Bestwick - stock.adobe.com Other pictures taken from Pixabay And Adobe Stock