Sweet Potatoes, Peppers, Onions and Sausage

     Every now and then the inspiration for a recipe comes from a single ingredient. That's what happened here. I had bought some Maple Honey Brats from Toohill Beef and they had been sitting in my freezer for a while. I didn't just want to grill them and call it a day. Toohill's stuff deserves a little more effort than that. It seemed a skillet was in order. I decided to go with the theme of the sweetness of the brats and go sweet for the overall theme. It came out wonderfully. The sweetness of the ingredients played well with the savory undertones of the brats. Basically, it tasted really good.

Sweet Potato, Pepper, Onion and Sausage

Ingredients

• 4 sweet potatoes, peeled
• 1 large, sweet onion, cut into 1" pieces
• 2 sweet red bell peppers, cut into 1" pieces
• 1lb. Toohill Maple Honey Brats (obviously, if you're not in Illinois, these may be a bit harder to get. In a pinch, you can substitute sweet Italian sausage)
• 1 teaspoon sage
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

1. Cook the bratwurst however you want. Seriously, It doesn't really matter. Just don't boil them. That would be horrifying. (It was raining like crazy the day I made this, so I couldn't grill them. I wound up cooking them on a grill pan on the stove) Cut into about 1" pieces.
2. Parboil the potatoes. (time parboiling may vary. It took me about 10-12 minutes after dropping the potatoes into boiling water)
3. While the potatoes are parboiling, heat the oil in a skillet and all the peppers and onions. Saute for about 5-7 minutes on medium-high heat.
4. When the potatoes are done parboiling, remove them from the water and cut them up into 1-2" inch pieces. Toss them into the skillet and cook an additional 2-4 minutes depending on how big your potato pieces are. They should be approaching fork tender at this point. 
5. Add the cut up sausages. Cook another 2 minutes. Add sage and toss to coat evenly. (Cooking times are going to vary. What you're looking for is fork tender potatoes, and peppers and onions with a little bit of crunch. Obviously, the brats should be cooked well enough that you don't poison anyone. That's always critical. Good luck.)

Good times!