In yesterday’s post, I mentioned making a chili-like dish with garlic sausage and black beans. Since it’s my own concoction, I thought I’d give the recipe, such as it is. I had leftover black beans, so the amounts are approximate. I would guess I used two cans worth of beans. As for the sausage…that garlic sausage—from Herring Brothers Meats in Guilford, Maine—is, in a word, incredible. It turned a good dish into something truly memorable.

For readers who don’t live in central Maine and can’t get sausage from Herring Brothers, here is my advice: Buy the best local sausage you can find. This dish will taste just fine with any sausage you use, but the better the sausage, the better the taste. (It’s just like cooking with wine. Where in the world did the notion get started that bad wine will produce a good flavor?)

1 tablespoons of oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 pound of very good local sausage (I used a garlic sausage)
Two cloves of garlic, chopped
Two cans of black beans, drained
1 (28 ounce) can of diced tomatoes, blended smooth (I did not drain the tomatoes and used the liquid in the can.)
3 tablespoons of chili powder
½ tablespoon of cumin
Red pepper flakes to taste. I used a good-sized pinch.

In a big, deep frying pan, heat the oil. Add the onions and cook for five minutes or so. Add the sausage, either as chunks or broken up, and cook until done. Add the garlic, and stir for about a minute. Add everything else and simmer for at least 45 minutes. We ate ours on top of rice, but it would be fine alone, too. For those who like things hot—I do not—some kind of hot pepper could be added. We also had grated cheese on top. We used cheddar, because that’s what we had. A milder cheese, such as Monetary Jack, would be good, too.

Sour cream? Also a good addition. Unfortunately, we didn’t have any. Next time, maybe.

Addendum: We added leftover corn to the beans and sausage. (My husband, Clif, thinks it’s more photogenic this way.)