Soujouk is a Lebanese sausage with a very spicy, complex, earthy flavor. There's not enough fat rendered with soujouk to need the draining and defatting described below.

serves 8

Ingredients:
2 lb soujouk
2 lb seedless grapes
1 lb dried apricots (california!!  NOT turkish)

Advance Preparation:
Slice sausage into 1" slices.
Slice grapes in half, lengthwise.
Bake at 350F for 2-3 hours to render fat.
Drain. Refrigerate liquid to congeal fat.
Meanwhile:
Chop apricots coarsely
Cover with water, bring to a boil, and simmer gently for 1 hour.
Reserve.

Final Preparation:
Remove fat from sausage- grape liquid. Add to sausage.
Add apricot-water mixture and mix well.
Bake for additional hour at 350F.

Variations:
Use sweet or hot Italian sausage. (Andouille [hmm.. My spell checker just told me that Andouille doesn't exist and maybe I should try Intel instead] might be nice). The defatting step is important with either one to avoid having a lot of grease.

Comments:
The original recipe is from my wife's more-or-less cousin, Rob Nolan, and uses whole sweet Italian sausage (poked lots with a fork) and omits the apricots.  It's a wonderful recipe in its own right.  Huge advantage is its simplicity (not to mention its great taste).

When I did Babette's Brunch, I couldn't resist slipping in something of my own.  I don't remember whether i used fresh or dried apricots.  I waffle back and forth over which is better - especially when I can only get apricots that were picked green and allowed to die until softish (maybe).  I served it on a bed of wild rice.  Nobody complained.