Monday, May 26, 2008

Quick Collard Greens with Merguez Sausage and Couscous

It's late, so just a quick note on this recipe. If you don't care for lamb, I recommend that you use another type of sausage, as merguez (or at least the merguez that I had) has a rather strong taste...  of lamb. I think that next time I might try it with a chicken and garlic sausage that they had at the wursthaus where I got the merguez. Other than that, it's a solid recipe for an ingredient (collard greens) that initially had me staring blankly at it. I bet pine nuts would do well in this dish, too. Original recipe here


Quick Collard Greens with Merguez Sausage and Couscous
Serves 4 to 6 as a main dish

2 pounds collard greens, stemmed
1 1/2 pounds merguez sausage links
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped shallot
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins or currants
10 ounces plain couscous, cooked according to package directions (I do mine in chicken broth)

Bring a large pot of salted water to  boil; add greens and boil until soft, about 2 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup cooking liquid. Cool greens slightly and cut into 1-inch strips.

Place sausages and 1/2 cup water in heavy large skillet. Cook over medium heat until water evaporates and sausages start to brown, about 12 minutes. Continue cooking until sausages are cooked through, 12 to 15 minutes longer, depending on size of links. 

Meanwhile, heat oil in another heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add shallot and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add crushed red pepper, garlic, and spices and stir 1 minute. Add greens and cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in raisins. Add reserved 1 cup cooking liquid to skillet; bring to simmer. Partially cover pan and cook until liquid has reduced slightly, about 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. 

Divide couscous among plates; top with greens and sausages. 

9 comments:

Brave Sir Robin said...

Hmm, my comment is gone?

I plan on making this, but with chicken sausage.

I'm pretty sure I can't get lamb sausage here.

Bee said...

I'm sceptical about my ability to procure correct sausage and collard greens for this recipe; like BSR, I might need to get creative with substitutes!

Anne said...

I'm sure the recipe is very flexible. I couldn't find the chicken garlic sausage that I wanted to use for it this week, so I'm making it with a random one that sounded good. Merguez is spicy, so if you're not using a spicy sausage, you might consider increasing the amount of crushed red pepper in the greens.

Bee, if you can't find collards, I bet chard (or even kale) would work, but you'd have to adjust cooking times. Depending on how young it is, I don't think that chard would need as much blanching time as the collards did--if any, given that you're going to braise them anyway. You might have to experiment.

Bee said...

Anne,

Those are good ideas! Lots of chard and kale around here. Kale, maybe?

BTW, little daughter and I were inspecting the veg garden and we can spot several tufts of green emerging.

Bee said...

This is nothing to do with collard greens . . . but just a little "Hello" to check up on you.

You have posted even less than I have this week -- which leads me to conclude that you have been busy, busy. I hope you are OK, otherwise.

I wanted you to know that I made the Sour Cream Pound cake today -- with great success. I served it at my all-day fundraiser tea, and it was perfect for the occasion. It goes a LONG, long way. Also, I managed to get it out of the Bundt pan without mishap this time.

Bee said...

Where is Anne?

Anne said...

Hello! I'm here--things have been, as you said, busy busy. All is well, I just find myself with little time for posting. Hopefully that will change soon. Until then, I'm so glad that you're enjoying the sour cream cake! It really is perfect for a tea.

Hope you're having a lovely weekend!

Brave Sir Robin said...

Sounds like we've all three been busy -



I miss our little three way chats!

btw - My Austin trip was totally devoid of anything good to eat.

Bee said...

Anne,
I look forward to resuming our conversations about food!

BSR,
Ditto! And that is a big shame that you didn't get any good food while in Austin.