Lyon-Style Sausage Cooked in Beaujolais
From the gastronomic capital of France…

This is a rather typical meal found in most “Bouchons” in Lyon. A bouchon is a type of Bistro, but with a more limited menu, that serves traditional Lyonnaise cuisine, such as sausages, duck pâté or roast pork. Some would say that compared to other forms of French cooking such as the much heralded nouvelle cuisine, the dishes are quite fatty and heavily oriented around meat. I can only tip my hat and remain eternally grateful and indeed, vive la difference! Not everybody is recognized as a bouchon but suffice to say there are approximately twenty “officially certified” traditional bouchons, but a larger number of establishments have defied the French culinary gods and describe themselves using the term. How impertinent-anything for a Euro! Some of you are wondering what all this talk about “corks, plugs or stoppers” is all about. There are a couple of explanations as to how these restaurants came to be known as bouchons. The most likely one seems to be that it derives from the 16th century expression for a bunch of twisted straw. Why straw, well some would add that these roadside stops also had facilities to take care of horses (straw to rub down the horses) and it served as a welcoming sign to the weary rider much like exit signs for food and gas on the turnpike. Eventually these bundles began to appear on signs to designate the restaurants and eventually the restaurants themselves became known as bouchons. Some of the typical light favorites one might find at a bouchon include: Chicken liver salad, pork head cheese, marinated herring, warm Lyonnaise sausage served with lentils, blood sausage, chicken thighs stuffed with morels, Coq au vin, and pot au feu. All of this washed down with a bottle of Beaujolais. I can hardly wait for desert, maybe a praline tart or a piece of lemon meringue pie. My stomach is rumbling as I write, the hazards of this line of work!          

Lyonnaise Sausage Cooked in Baujolais Wine

This is an easy and delicious recipe and serves 4 to 6 of your favorite friends. First of all no need to panic if you suddenly discover you have no Lyonnaise sausage handy. You have two alternatives. First, you can grab an Air France flight and head directly to Lyon or second, you could go to you neighborhood butcher and select from his best pork and garlic sausages. I would not have too tough a time deciding on which option to choose…off to Lyon, bien sure! No question.

Ingredients:
1 lb of saucisson (that should give you close to 6 nice size sausage links) 
1/4 lb of shallots 
3/4 lb of pearl onions
1/2 lb of local mushrooms or champignons de Paris
Salt and fresh cracked pepper
Bouquet garni (1 bay leaf 3 sprigs thyme 4 large sprigs parsley)
2 chopped cloves of garlic
1 bottle of Beaujolais or Nouveau 

Directions:
In a larger pan sweat the diced shallots until almost tender but not brown.
Pour entire bottle of Beaujolais and simmer for 15 minutes.
Add your sausage, fork each one, the garlic, bouquet garni and gently simmer for 25 minutes.
Mid way through, turn the sausages over.
Meanwhile, caramelize the pearl onions in an covered casserole by adding one teaspoon of sugar, butter and 1/2 glass of water.
Add butter to your pan and heat the mushrooms
Place thick slices of sausage on a serving platter and add the pearl onions and mushrooms.
Reduce your sauce down to half and pour over the sausages.

Serve with steamed parsleyed baby potatoes and a nice green salad. Don’t forget the Beaujolais or a 2009 Beaujolais nouveau or “Village”.  For my diner, I chose a 2009 Laurent Martray Brouilly “Combiaty” Vieilles Vignes. What a treat!