green bean and farmer sausage stew

When all else fails and I'm experiencing a writing block, I do what any clever housewife would do, I distract you by showing you the food we eat.

Today I'm showing you a truly traditional Mennonite late summer supper that Terry's maternal Grandma taught me.

You'll need a heavy pot or at least a decent heavy casserole with a good lid. The next thing you need is smoked Farmer Sausage. Oh boy, did I just lose a whack of readers here? I'm actually curious to know if you can buy smoked farmer sausage where you live. If you can't find it, try using any smoked sausage. I'm also curious to know if Farmer Sausage is another one of those Canadian things that I've taken for granted for my whole life. We can even buy it in Costco here although the kind I buy at a small family owned business is much better.

Put a layer of sausage at the bottom of your pot. Chop up a pile of fresh green beans. (Notice there are no quantities here? The green beans are the most important vegetable in this dish and they really break down so I would say use twice as much as your family would eat in a meal.

On top of the green beans, add a large chopped onion. Then add chopped fresh carrots or a bag of precut mini carrots.

On top of the onion, dice up some fresh new potatoes. Don't bother peeling them. On top of this throw on a good handful of chopped fresh parsley. Make sure you use fresh, not the stuff they sweep up off the floor after they have put the dried stuff in bottles. This is important.
Add about 1/2 inch of water in the bottom of the pot, and a good grind of fresh pepper and salt. You can add more salt and pepper to taste when you eat it. Summer savory or in German Papukrut is also very yummy in this and also Green Bean Soup. You could add the Summer Savory instead of the Parsely.

Then put the pot in the oven at 325 to 350 for about 4 hours. Check it maybe once or twice in between to make sure it isn't dry in the bottom of the pot. If it is sizzlin' add a bit more water. You want to keep it moist. This recipe would also work really well in a crock pot.
Have you Mennonite women made this and if you have how has your recipe differed? Every one's mom always made every recipe just a pinch different right?
The fragrance of this stew is fabulous. Serve it with some crusty bread and watch the pot disappear.

Have a wonderful day my friends, I hope your weekend is fantastic.

Comments

  1. I live in Mennonite Country so no problem getting farmer sausage here! I have made this dish as well and yes "maybe a pinch different here and there" but basically the same. Do all Mennonite women have the same recipes?? lol
    Truly a wonderful dish for autumn!

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  2. Betty, do you add other ingredients? I add "paypakuit" sp? or summer savory to my green bean soup.
    I suppose these recipes have been handed down verbally for generations.

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  3. I've never heard of Farmer Sausage stew...soup, yes but not stew.
    It looks perfect for a cool day like today.

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  4. I've never heard of this recipe, but it sounds & looks yummy, so I think I might just have to try it.
    Vange

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  5. oh yes, i can't beleive that we live across the country yet we share so many similar eating tratitions. we also add pefferkraut to our soup but no this casserole. sometimes , we add fressh over ripe tomatoes over the beeans which gives it some moisture. i guess these mennonite recipes have been handed down many generations all the way from russia. one more thing to add to next weeks menu! it has been awile since i made this, probably two years ago. variety of farmer sausage is in abundance here in southern manitoba. we have our favorites too. have a good weekend and "lout gout schmatje" or "lass gut schmecken".

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  6. Lovella, that looks delicious, and being the sausage lover that I am, I am going to save this recipe for the cold weather. It may become our new favorite dish around here!

    I personally have never heard sausage labeled "farmer sausage" but maybe in other parts of the country they call it that...

    Baked stews are always yummy. I have a recipe for one made with beef.

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  7. Yes Lovella I do add 'papakrut' to green bean soup, actually I add that to 'summa borsht' and cabbage borsht as well. Can you tell I like 'papakrut'? lol
    I have added whatever vegetable that is in season to this autumn stew and it always tastes good.

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  8. I too have often wondered if farmer sausage is just one of those Canadian or Mennonite things. Sort of like roll kuchen and Shreddies.

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  9. Lovella, I've lived in Kentucky, Texas, and Florida, and I've never heard of "Farmer's Sausage," but perhaps it's simply called something else here. This recipe looks so yummy. I'm saving this for cooler weather. ;)

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  10. After I finished reading this post and wrote my first comment, I literally got the little boy in the car and went to purchase all the ingredients. I cut the veggies and the little boy helped by putting them in the pot. He called it his "firefighter soup." And so it is in the oven as I write. We will enjoy this firefighter soup for dinner tonight. Thanks for the idea!

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  11. What ties us Mennonites together more than Farmer Sausage...You could almost make that the question to discern who is Mennonite and who is not!! smile
    Although Farmer Sausage is invading the non-Mennonite world now too! It's just tooo good to keep all to ourselves!!!

    Yes, I make that casserole...it is great in my crock pot.
    Vic's favorite is the green bean/farmer sausage soup !!

    Love your cooking photos and instructions...ever thought of hosting your own TV cooking show??? I'd watch!!

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  12. oh yes one of my favorites farmer sausage and green beans. Got to love that mennonite food it's so comforting!

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  13. Oh my you should post that wonderful stew on Recipe round-up this coming week...yummy.

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  14. I make this as a soup but it only has summer savory, salt & pepper - no parsley!

    Yum, I am now craving a bowl. Should have made some early this week when it was cool!

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  15. We've enjoyed making this dish on the BBQ in an aluminum foil container.
    I laughed when I realized I had misread your spice to be papayakruit. I just kept reading, thinking "don't know what that is", but stopped short when you said summer savory. My mom always called it Pfefferkraut and I never knew where I could get ahold of it because I didn't know what it was really called. She would just mysteriously show up with it all dried and ready to put in my pantry for the next year. This summer I finally found out what it was called, when I saw it at Neufeld Farms and asked about it. It's great in any soup with beans or peas.

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  16. This looks like a great meal to throw in the crock-pot, so it's all ready when I get home from work. I'm usually exhausted and the last thing I want to do is make dinner! Will have to give this one a try :)

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  17. Now here's a Mennonite dish I've never made...don't think I've ever had it. But I'm going to give it a try real soon...with farmer sausage from Rempel Meats. I have 'paperkraut' growing in my herb garden, so we'll add a little of that for good measure. I think I need a new Le Creuset pot though.

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  18. Okay . .I added the bit about Summer Savory on the post after finally looking how to spell it . .It is a low German Word.
    Savory is translated papukrut. It has the little dots above the u.

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  19. In order to have Mennonite farmer sausage in Texas, I have to bring it along from Canada (a suitcase gets heavy very quickly when you add farmer sausage to the clothes!). Because of the many Germans who settled in parts of Texas, we do have other smoked sausages and they can be substituted for farmer sausage (some brats, some kielbasa, etc.) but it's not quite the same. My sister sent me the link to your blog today so that I can enjoy it like she does.

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  20. Hi, I am stuck on your blog today,(new to this blogging thing) love all the recipes and the comments that go with it. I should be in my garden weeding,,, but your blog is just amazing. My husband loves Summer Borcht, do you have a recipe for it?
    The pictures of you in your grad dress are so stunning even if it is 30 years later.
    Thanks for sharing your stories with us.
    Alvina

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  21. Seriously, you bake this at 350 degrees (F) for 4 to 5 hours? Doesn't it just about burn up by then? Did you mean to type 250 degrees? I am having a hard time imagining that these ingredients can survive that long in the oven at that temperature without being blackened.

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  22. Annonymus. . .yes. .seriously. If you have a very small batch of stew or do not have a very heavy pot with a very heavy lid. . .the time would change.

    I actually put one in today .. had it in for close to 2 hours. . and then I put it in the fridge for tomorrows dinner. . .I'll give it another 2 hours tomorrow. It's flavours need time to blend.]
    If your stove it quite hot. . bring it down to 300. . .

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  23. This post is helpful even if it was posted 5 years ago! I found you after trying to figure out what papukrut is in English, my grandmother only knew it in low german and in southern Minnesota NO ONE would know what i was talking about! Farmer sausage is definitely a Canadian, sure there are smoked sausages but nothing like what i can get up in southern manitoba. Thanks for your help!

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  24. OK, it's official; I'm drooling. I live in the Okanagan and buying Mennonite foods is problematic at best. I was trolling around the area trying to find Suaromp (savory) and ended up at a small market dealing with the produce manager. He said, if it grew from the earth anywhere in the world, his guy could get it! He made a call and yes he could get it. Price? $15.00 a pound! I ordered in 5 pounds, brought it home, vacuum packed it and froze it. Now I have a supply for the next year or so. Next, I want Päpakrut (summer savory). The suggestion of Neufeld Farms is a good thing, I'll give it a try. Farmer Sausage? I also shop at Rempel and Sons Meat Shop in Abbotsford. Known them since Lawerence and Rita started the place. Did you know they make it in two different forms? One is the normal type of ring an inch and a half thick or so, the other is in full baloney size. I tell them how thick I want the slices. They end up about the same size and shape as a hamburger patty. Good for those who prefer to remove the outer skin. For those unaware of farmer sausage, it's a lightly seasoned, pure pork, smoked sausage. Rempels have their own formula, make it on site and smoke it right there out back of the shop. It's at its best when it just comes out from the smoke house. You snap off a piece, the juices run down your arm, shove it into your mouth and bite off a hunk. Ohbahyo!

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