Opal Chef Ryan Camp's Succotash

Chef Ryan Camp’s succotash takes the Native American comfort food favorite and puts it over the top. I sampled it recently working on a writeup of Opal, restaurant extraordinaire and home of Mount Pleasant’s wildly popular happy hour (think shrimp bruschetta, oysters, chef’s charcuterie board and great drinkable options).

Camp’s recipe includes fennel sausage he makes in-house with white wine, garlic, fennel pollen, toasted fennel seed, Aleppo pepper, oregano, thyme, salt and pepper. I’ll be opting for his suggestion to use a good store bought Italian sausage. I satisfy my sausage needs with fennel-forward Italian links from Whole Foods or New York Butcher Shoppe.

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves garlic minced

1/4 cup white wine

1/2 cup chicken stock

1 10 ounce package frozen butterbeans, cooked according to packet instructions

2 Italian sausage patties

2 ears corn on the cobb

3 leaves fresh basil

1 cup spinach

1/4 cup heavy cream

Brown sausage patties over medium heat, about 5 minutes per side. Set aside and crumble when cool enough to handle.

Cook the corn on a low boil for 7 minutes. Remove kernels from cob when cool.

Heat oil in a large saute pan over medium heat and add garlic, stirring and cooking until fragrant, about a minute. Deglaze pan with white wine, add butter beans and stock. Cook over medium low heat till soft and creamy.

Toss corn, sausage, basil, spinach and cream into the pan and reduce till it all pulls together. Season to taste.