Fried Sausages and Apples from The Hamilton Cookbook

 These Fried Sausages and Apples are from the well-researched book The Hamilton Cookbook by my friend Laura Kumin of the blog, Mother Would Know.

When Laura asked if I would be willing to review her new book, I jumped at the chance.

In the book, Laura explores what it was like to eat with Alexander Hamilton, the Revolutionary War hero, and the subject of the incredibly popular musical Hamilton. The book is a collection of historical information about the time period, authentic recipes, and hints for entertaining like the founding fathers.

While Laura out "nerds" me when it comes to history, I also was a fan of learning about U.S. history for most of my life. Growing up, I loved reading historical novels, especially those about Presidents' wives, especially Abigail Adams and Rachel Jackson. I can't remember the name of the author or the series, but I do remember reading a sequence of historical novels about the presidents' wives, which also gave insight into the issues at the time.

Heroes or flawed characters, the lives and times, and writings, of the founding fathers are fascinating, especially Alexander Hamilton. Folks are pretty "hungry" for more information about the author of the Federalist Papers.

Hamilton, the musical, is incredibly popular right now. I'm trying not to pay too much attention because I haven't figured out how to score a ticket to see the show (you pretty much have to buy a subscription to an entire season's run at the venue, or buy the tickets on the secondary market here in Southern California). The competition is fierce.

In the meantime, I get to entertain like a revolutionary!

This book would be an amazing Christmas gift for your favorite Hamilton: The Musical fan. They'll learn about who Hamilton was, his world (both in the West Indies and in Colonial and Federal America), what cooking was like during his time, and what dining was like in his world in the West Indies and the Mainland. The details are fascinating.

Finally, the book provides several original and adapted recipes from Alexander Hamilton's day, including breakfast recipes, soups, seafood, meats, vegetables, a salad, and sweets. It's such an enjoyable read.

I chose to make the recipe, Fried Sausages and Apples. This recipe was interesting, in that you make both an applesauce and an apple side dish, all in the same skillet. By the way, it was delicious.

Here's a great article from NPR about the book. Congratulations Laura!

Laura adapted this recipe from "Fried Sausages" by Hannah Glasse in The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy, first published in 1747.

Yield: 2 servings

Fried Sausages and Apples

ingredients:

• 1/2 to 3/4 pound of thick country sausage. I used pork kielbasa. 
• 4 large apples, peeled and quartered. The apples should be suitable for baking. I used two Fuji apples and two Granny Smith. 

instructions:

1. Thinly slice half of the apple quarters. 
2. In a 12 inch skillet, start cooking the sausages over medium high heat. As soon as the sausages begin to render their juices, add the thin apple slices. Turn the sausages and the apple slices so that they brown evenly. 
3. Once the apple slices begin to brown, add the apple quarters, and stir occasionally. After 2 to 3 minutes, cover the pan and cook for about 5 minutes. Uncover the pan and continue cooking until the sausages are fully cooked. Continue to turn the sausages so that they brown evenly. The total time depends on the thickness of the sausages, normally about 15 minutes. The thin apple slices should soften into a chunky applesauce. 
4. Serve the sausages with the applesauce and apple chunks. This dish would be great with a salad and bread. 

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