Cookbook talk:Lentil and Sausage Stew

This sounds similar to my recipe (I lived in Schwaebisch Gmuend for two years), as noted, without the tomato paste or honey. Also, I don't recall ever having had sausages in this, but why not? I use salt pork, as this is what seems to be the closest thing (to Bauchfleisch--smoked pork belly) readily available in the U.S., and I don't use a carrot or garlic; instead I chop up some celery. Sometimes I use a potato (for thickening), and sometimes not, but usually not as many as suggested here. The vinegar is, indeed, essential!

The really important thing is the roux-based sauce. Most recipes (including this one) don't tell you that you have to cook the flour in the fat (for a brown roux) very carefully so as not to burn it, and that this may take a half-hour to forty-five minutes. If you don't do this, your sauce will be bitter. This is especially tricky if you use the butter, as suggested; you might have better luck with oil or pork fat (I use the latter). These aren't as easily burned. If done properly, your roux-based sauce should be a nice, thick gravy, and you may not need the potatoes.

Greetings from Virginia!
 * Wanted to point out that I personally have only heard of it with Bauchfleisch(as mentioned similar to salt pork) AND Saitenwurst(a type of sausage; can't get it in the US as far as I have seen; closest thing is hotdogs with natural casing, but they are a lot different), but I think it is a regional thing, what you put in it.