Smothered String Beans

A one pot meal, what cook doesn't like that?  This has all the food groups: the veggies, the starch, the meats, and very little fat.  My Mom and I love these, Donald not so much.  Hope you do!

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. of fresh string beans, snapped into bite-size pieces
• 2 lbs. of new potatoes, peeled and cut in half
• ½ lb. of ham, cubed
• ½ lb. of smoked sausage, cut into semi-circles
• ¼ C. of vegetable oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• 4 cloves of minced garlic
• 1 can of Rotel tomatoes
• 1 C. chicken broth
• ½ T. kosher salt
• ½ T. Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning

Directions:

1. In a Dutch oven, add onions with oil and cook until limp over a medium-low heat, about 10 minutes  
2. Add garlic for an additional minute
3. Add sausage and ham and fry for about 10 minutes
4. Add tomatoes, salt, Tony’s, beans and chicken broth
5. Cook over medium heat, covered for 15 minutes
6. Add potatoes and cook for an additional 20 minutes, covered
7. Serve steaming hot

Tips and Tricks:

• I use Bryan Cajun Smoked Sausage.
• The times are tricky.  It really depends on the firmness of the string beans.  It usually takes about 15 minutes for them to start to wilt.  If they aren’t wilted at 15 minutes wait until they are to add the potatoes.
• We usually make these when we have ham leftover from a holiday or gathering.  If not you can just buy a ham steak and cut it into chunks.