Beer-Braised Sausage and Red Peppers (from Dessert Diva)

My contribution this month is a delicious Beer-Braised Sausage and Red Peppers that I have slightly adapted from my favorite food blogger, Annie's Eats. We have had this no less than 3 times in the past month...that's how much we love it!  I hope you enjoy it as much as we have!

Ingredients
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 lb. cooked kielbasa sausages, sliced
1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
2 large red bell peppers, sliced
2 tbsp. flour
1 bottle of beer
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
3 tbsp. fresh thyme, chopped

Directions
In a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil. Add the sausages and cook, stirring often, until browned, about 4-5 minutes. Transfer to a plate and keep warm. Add the onion and bell pepper to the pot, reduce the heat to medium and saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the flour and cook, stirring, until golden, about 1-2 minutes.

Whisk in the beer until smooth and bubbly. Add the chicken broth and thyme, whisking to blend. Bring to a simmer. Return the sausages to the pot. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and cook until flavors are blended, about 15 minutes. Enjoy!

Serves 4-6

Yats Chili Cheese Etouffee

For this month's copy cat meal I made Yats Chili Cheese Etouffee, which I love to eat and say :) I am including the recipe below. The next time I make it, I will change a few things: I think i will saute the chopped veggies in a different pan and then add them to the roux, or maybe just cook it longer? They didn't soften up how I wanted. Also, I didn't put any onions in, to appease Mr. Gourmet Diva. :-) I thought it was pretty tasty and hope others do to!

1 stick butter
½ c. flour
1 c. chopped green onions
1 c. diced celery
1 c. diced bell peppers
1 c. diced onions
2 t. minced garlic
1 c. Rotel Original diced tomatoes
½ t. dried thyme
1 T. tomato paste
1 t. dried basil
¼ t. black pepper
¼ t. white pepper
¼ t. cayenne pepper
3 c. chicken stock
3 c. shredded aged cheddar
8 oz. half and half or heavy cream
1 t. chili powder
pinch ground coriander
pinch ground cumin
pinch ground cloves
dash Leas and Perrins Worcestershire sauce
Dash Tabasco sauce
1 lb cooked crawfish, shrimp and/or chicken
Cooked white rice

Make a roux by heating the butter in a heavy skillet over medium heat then blending in the flour, sonsistently stirring and scraping the bottom of the skillet. Cook until the roux is golden color

Add the green onions, celery, bell peppers, onions, garlic and tomatoes and cook until the onions have browned

Add the thyme, tomato paste, basil and peppers (black, white, and cayenne)

Add the stock, bring to a boil and simmer until the mixture becomes thick

Add the cheese, half and half, chili powder, coriander, cumin, cloves, Lea and Perrins and Tabasco and stir until the cheese and half and half are blended in well

Gently stir in the crawfish, shrimp and/or chicken and serve with white rice. Garnish with chopped green onions and drizzle with some dry sherry.

Serves 6-8