St George's Day - Bangers & Mash

Today in England we celebrate St George's day. To mark the day I decided to cook some truly British grub in the form of bangers (sausage) and mash with caramelised onion and cider gravy...just a shame the dish didn't really go with the beautiful warm Spring day we have experienced today with the temperatures touching 20oc.

The sausages were delicious apricot and sage sausages and I believe sausages are the few savory foods that can get away with a pinch of fruit in them. Hubby has a sasuage making kit winging it's way to him now, so soon we'll hopefully be having a go and making our own sausages.

Bring on the summer I say - BBQ's, Pimms, Eton Mess, raspberries, eating alfresco, drinking wine on the patio, drinking cider with friends while camping...need I say more.

Chestnuts exploding on an open fire.

The last few days in the run up to Christmas can only be described as chaotic. A last minute change of plans (well my sister managed to get Take That tickets!) meant I was rushing up to Manchester, then back on the Sunday morning leaving 5 hours to sort the house out, cook for the Christmas party later on and construct a Hexenhaus (Gingerbread house).

This years pre-Christmas nibbles we're a bit of an eclectic mix of foods, it was all very much dependant on what I could get my hands on. The evening went down well and everyone commented on the food. Mother-in-Law was convinced I had brought the mini toad in the hole from M&S as she was so impressed! The evening was rounded off with chestnuts and brandy. I'm not a fan of chestnuts, but Hubby likes nothing more than roasting chestnuts over our open fire. We've also recently discovered an old ikea sieve works as the perfect roasting tin, just watch out for the exploding chestnuts! Hubby could have stopped this happening, by piercing the skin of the chestnuts. We also tried a trick we saw on Jamie at Home - Christmas episode by dropping hot, shelled chestnuts into brandy. According to hubby and father-in-law they tasted delicious.

I have a slight confession over the Hexenhaus. The kit was from Lidl - think IKEA self-assembly house. Hubby was Chief Structural Engineer where I was Chief Icing Bag Lady and Decorator. It was a bit fiddly to begin with and it has been years since I've had an icing bag in my hands, but it was good fun. I just haven't a clue how we're going to eat it!

The nibbles menu included:
Cherrapeno's Tomato & Parmesan Whirls
Tinned Tomatoes Red Pepper Hummus
Bacon & Mushroom Quiche (request from Father-in-Law!)
Roast New Potatoes with honey & mustard dressing
DIY Bruschetta
Mini Toad in the Hole with soured cream, garlic & black pepper dip
crudette and dips
plus a few other things.

DIY Bruschetta
Serves 4

Disclaimer: this is by no means authentic bruschetta. It's my express/lazy way of making it as guests put the toppings on themselves.

1 long ciabatta loaf
2 salad tomatoes, diced
2 tbsp garlic infused olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
ramekin of Parmesan
ramekin of decent olive oil mixed with 1 tbsp mixed herbs or Italian seasoning.

1) Slice the loaf at a slight angle so you get longer lengths of bread. Mix tomatoes, garlic oil, balsamic and a tsp of mixed herbs in a bowl. Serve alongside Parmesan and oil/herb mix.

2) I make my bruschetta by first drizzling some of the herby olive oil on the bread, adding a spoonful of tomato salsa on top, then sprinkling with Parmesan.

Mini Toad in the Hole
Makes 12

12 chipolatas
50g plain flour
1 egg
140ml milk
rapeseed or sunflower oil

1) In a bowl add the egg to the flour, then gradually pour in the milk. Whisk to stop lumps forming. Season with a bit of black pepper and refrigerate batter for about an hour.

2) Preheat oven to 200oc. In a cupcake tray pour in a small amount of oil (enough oil to just over the bottom of each "cupcake"). Put tray in oven for 5 min to heat up oil.

3) Carefully drop a chipolata into each baking tray cup. Pour in batter until each cup is about 2/3 full. Bake for 15-20 until sausage is cooked and Yorkshire pud is golden.

As I made our toad in the holes with beef sausages I made a garlic & black pepper dip, but they are just as good with ketchup.

Spicy Meatloaf

I find the usual sausage dishes can get a bit boring after a while, so tonight decided to some chilli flecked sausages (called Rudolf's Revenge) from the farm shop and turn them into a meatloaf. The only memories I have of meatloaf aren't particularly pleasant ones, but I'm glad to say tonight's meatloaf was far better than I expected. The recipe is a mix of recipes I've come across. Can't be bad as Hubby has asked if I will cook it again soon.

Spicy sausage meatloaf
Serves 4

Meatloaf
500g spicy sausagemeat
1 onion finely sliced
100g (about 4 small/2 large slices) fresh white breadcrumbs
1 tbsp thyme
2 tbsp tomato puree
1 egg, beaten

Topping
2 rashers of smoked streaky bacon, cut into lardons
25g (1 small slice) fresh white breadcrumbs
30g grated cheese

1) Preheat oven to 160oc. Lightly fry onions until soft. In a bowl mix all meatloaf ingredients (including onion) until well combined. Press into 1lb loaf tin. Bake for 55min.

2) Fry bacon until crispy then fry topping breadcrumbs for 2 min until golden. In bowl mix with cheese and bacon. Sprinkle on the top of the meatloaf and bake for a further 5 min, until cheese has melted. Allow to stand for 10 min before serving and slicing.

Sausage Casserole

Most weeks Hubby makes a sausage type casserole for his lunch. Every week the ingredients vary depending as to what is in season and what is in our cupboards. This week Hubby isn't feeling too great so I've made the casserole.

Hubby's sausage & bean casserole
Serves 3-4

2 large leeks, sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
6 lemon & fennel sausages, each cut into 3
4 medium carrots, peeled and diced
5 flat cap mushrooms, sliced
500ml passata
250ml beef stock
1/2 cup of red lentils
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 can of cannellini beans (or naked beans as Hubby calls them !)
1 bay leaf
2 tsp thyme
salt & pepper

1) Fry leeks and garlic in a large saucepan in a small amount of butter until soft. Add the sausage pieces and fry until beginning to brown.

2) Stir in carrots and mushrooms and cook for 2 min. Pour in passata, stock, Worcestershire's sauce, bay leaf, thyme and seasoning. Stir. Simmer for 25 min.

3) Stir in lentils and cook for another 5 minutes. Then add cannellini beans and cook for another 5 mins. Regularly stir during these 10 mins or the lentils and beans can catch on the bottom of the pan.

Toad in the Hole

Now that is officially autumn I decided we should celebrate with some traditional British comfort food. Nothing is more comforting that toad in the hole served with lashings of ketchup (for me) or lakes of gravy (for Hubby). We can both happily eat it with no other accompaniments. Although I made tonight's toad in the hole, Hubby seems to make it better...even though we use the same recipe?!? Today's sausages were the flavoursome Garlic & Black Pepper ones from Chantry. Sometimes I wrap bacon around the sausages and add onions while the sausages are cooking.

Toad in the hole
Serves 2-4..depending on how hungry they are!

6 sausages
100g/4oz plain flour
2 eggs
1/4 pt milk
oil
seasoning

1) Preheat oven to 220oc. Make a well in the middle of the flour and crack in eggs. Gradually beat in the milk. Season.

2) Place sausages in tin and drizzle with oil. Bake for 15-20 min, until beginning to brown.

3) Pour batter over sausages and cook for a further 25-30 min.

I've submitted my toad in the hole to Fuss Free Flavours for their British Food Fortnight Challenge