Improvised Sausage Cheesy Chowder

So, the original plan for today was a hearty meaty stew using bison chip steak. Think medieval tavern food, fit for a knight who just got back from rescuing a maiden from a dragon. I woke up this morning, went to go grab the chip steak from the freezer to get that defrosting, and there was no chip steak to be had. 

I was salty, but then I saw the turkey kielbasa sausage hanging out in the freezer below where the chip steak should have been. I remembered that I also had some andouille sausage in the fridge leftover from when I made jambalaya a while ago, and then a plan started to form.

I found this recipe online, and took inspiration from it: https://www.honeyandbirch.com/potato-kielbasa-soup/

I didn't have carrots, which are part of that recipe. I also decided to add black beans to the soup, since the andouille sausage has a spicy kick, and for some reason my brain associates black beans with spicy things. The beans add protein too which is nice. The components of the soup other than one can of beans and around a pound of sausage are:

1 can diced potatoes

2 big stalks of celery cut up into small pieces

1 medium minced onion

2 cups of dairy (whole milk or heavy cream, I used a cup of each)

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 quart low sodium chicken stock

1/3 cup grated parmesan (most of it went into the soup, some went on top as a garnish)

1 tbsp olive oil for frying + 1/4 cup olive oil for making a roux later

1/4 cup flour for the roux

2 tbsp dried parsley

1 tbsp dried thyme

2 tsp minced fresh rosemary

2 tsp minced garlic

Garlic salt and pepper to taste (regular salt is cool too, I always use garlic salt instead because I like garlic too much)


I started by cutting everything into small soup friendly pieces

I fried the onion and rosemary in the tablespoon of olive oil until soft, then added the garlic, celery, and sausage (sausage was pre cooked). Once the celery was just softened, I added the chicken stock, 1 cup of my dairy mixture, and the cheeses (parm and cheddar). I stirred until the cheese had melted into the soup, and added my thyme, parsley, salt, and pepper.


I was originally going to just serve it then, but I wanted to thicken the soup using a roux. I got out a small sauce pan, added 1/4 cup olive oil and stirred the 1/4 cup flour into it. Then I added the other cup of my dairy mixture, and whisked vigorously until it became smooth. You may need to add more liquid to the oil-flour mixture to make it into a paste light enough to stir into the soup easily, you're kinda looking for a thick pancake batter consistency.












I mixed the roux into the soup, tested the seasoning level one more time, and then it was done! I served this with a sprinkle of some more parmesan and dried parsley on top.


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