Yet another experiment in crockpot cooking.
Ingredients:
- 3 lbs red potatoes, cleaned and halved
- 4 links andouille sausage, rough dice
- 1 C onion, rough dice
- 1/2 C carrot, rough dice
- 1/2 C celery, rough dice
- garlic (to taste)
- chicken stock
- vegetable stock
- olive oil
- chipotle powder
- crushed red pepper flake
- crushed habanero pepper flake
- Stovetop smoker
- Wood for smoker (either sawdust or chips), hickory, maple, cherry, apple (whatever you prefer).
- Boil potatoes in chicken stock until fork tender (~ 15-20 minutes). Drain, let cool.
- If using wood chips, soak in water for 30 minutes before placing in smoker. If using sawdust, place in smoker according to directions. Place drip pan and grill in smoker, then place potatoes on grill. Place smoker on stove burners on medium heat.
- Smoke potatoes for about 30 minutes. They'll develop a nice mahogony color around the edges (using BBQ terms, "bark"). Remove smoker from heat and let cool.
- While potatoes are cooling, heat a little olive oil in a sauce pan over medium heat.
- When warm, add garlic and sautee briefly (don't let it turn brown), then add mire poix (the onions, carrots, and celery) and sweat the mixture. Add salt, pepper, and a dash of chipotle powder (to taste). Sweat for a few minutes.
- Add sausage to pot, and let the mixture heat through.
- While heating, large dice the potatoes and place them in your crock pot.
- Add the mire poix/sausage mixture to the crock.
- Add enough vegetable stock (or water) to cover the mixture.
- Dust the top of the soup with any combination of chili powder (chipotle, crushed red pepper, habanero flake, etc.). This is very much to taste, so add as much or as little as you wish.
- Put the lid on the crock and let 'er rip for anywhere from 4-6 hours.
