Hash: a Mix-and-Match Potpourri

California-based sausage maker Bruce Aidells has a knack for creating hearty dishes that, naturally enough, use sausages. For my taste, he does for sausages what Maida Heatter does for sugar and butter, and that’s saying a delicious mouthful.

Recently, while looking through his book “Hot Links and Country Flavors” (Alfred A. Knopf: 1990), I was inspired by a recipe for andouille hash. Judging from the generous way Aidells uses it, I’d assume andouille is one of his favorite sausages. And no wonder. Andouille sausage with its chunky texture and spicy and smoky flavors does a lot for ordinary ingredients.

Aidells’ hash recipe (he credits it to Regina’s, a Creole restaurant in San Francisco) is a simple mixture of potatoes, onion, green peppers, green onions, andouille sausage and a generous dash of cayenne pepper.

In playing with the recipe I skipped the green peppers, substituting cabbage, then added rosemary, the perfect partner for sausage. Since plain andouille sausage has enough heat for my taste, I didn’t add cayenne.

What I created, in homage to Aidells, is a delicious skillet dinner for two that I call Cajun-Style Choucroute. Serve this with beer, rye bread and maybe an orange and spinach salad.

CAJUN-STYLE CHOUCROUTE

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 medium unpeeled potatoes, partially cooked

6 to 8 ounces andouille sausage, thinly sliced

1/2 teaspoon crushed dried rosemary

2 cups chopped cabbage

1/2 cup chopped green onions, white and green parts

Freshly ground pepper

Salt

2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

Heat butter and olive oil in large non-stick skillet. Slice potatoes 1/4-inch thick. Add potatoes to skillet and saute over medium heat until browned on both sides, about 10 minutes. Add sausage and saute another 5 to 10 minutes, until nicely browned. Add rosemary, cabbage, green onions and plenty of pepper. Cover and cook over medium-high heat until cabbage is firm-tender, about 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt. Add balsamic vinegar. Serve hot. Makes 2 servings.

Note : Andouille sausage is firm, spicy sausage, available in some butcher shops and gourmet food stores. Chorizo, uncooked Mexican sausage with fiery flavor, can be substituted, although it will bring a different texture to the dish. Instead of slicing chorizo, crumble it in. Saute until completely cooked, then drain off all but 2 tablespoons fat before adding rosemary, cabbage and other ingredients.

Balsamic vinegar cuts the slightly fatty taste of the dish and is necessary to this recipe. However, if it isn’t available, any good-quality red wine vinegar can be substituted.