YES, sausage and potato go very well together. A chef of Chef Sandy Daza’s caliber knows that only too well, so when he recently did a special exhibition cooking demonstration for the United States Potato Board (USPB) in conjunction with the U.S. Potato Safari held at Marco Polo Hotel Davao, one of the three dishes that he presented was Mixed Sausages and Crispy U.S. Potatoes.
The U.S. Potato Safari was a promotion put together by the USPB that encouraged hotels and restaurants to come up with a creative menu using U.S. Frozen Potatoes and offer it to the dining public for a limited period. Now on its third year, the U.S. Potato Safari had its first two editions in Cebu, and in Davao this year, it had an impressive list of participating establishments, such as Claude’s Le Café de Ville, Marco Polo Hotel Davao and Waterfront Insular Davao. Every year, it had a celebrity chef preparing an exhibition lunch or dinner. It was Chef Sau Del Rosario on the first year, Chef Stefano Verillo of Marco Polo Hotel Cebu on the second year, and, now, Chef Sandy Daza doing an exhibition cooking demo and lunch.
Chef Sandy featured three dishes—U.S. Potato Baked Seafood, Mixed Sausages and Crispy U.S. Potatoes, and U.S. Potato Beef Caldereta—and here’s the recipe for his Mixed Sausages and Crispy U.S. Potatoes. He used U.S. Hash-browns in the dish for the U.S. Frozen Potato component to give the dish not just added texture but an interesting crunch as well.
3 pcs. U.S. Hash-browns
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
3 Tbsps. olive oil
2 pcs. Bratwurst Sausage, sliced
2 pcs. Hungarian Sausage, sliced
1 cup onions, sliced
3 cups cooking oil
1. Cut each hash-brown into 6. Set aside.
2. Combine flour and cornstarch. Season with salt and pepper. Mix well. Set aside.
3. In a wok, sauté sausage slices in olive oil until toasted. Add in onions and continue sautéing until onions are wilted. Transfer to a serving plate, letting the sausages occupy half of the plate.
4. Flatten hash-browns with the back of a large spoon. Coat each one in the flour-and-cornstarch mixture, and deep-fry in hot oil until golden brown. Transfer to the empty half of the serving plate.
5. Serve immediately.
