I was very skeptical of Fish Finger Bhorta when I first saw it, not because of the fish fingers, but the English mustard. When it was being discussed on TV Nigella mentioned that is was suitable for anything crunchy, so tonight I switched in in a family favorite.
Perfect for a cold day as the nights draw in, this used up some sausage meat in the freezer from last Christmas, some past their best parsnips and the last of my homegrown apples.
This week I read an article about redbeans and rice which looked delicious. I didn’t have any of the ingrediants, but the idea of soupy beans cooked with strong flavours and pork sounded great so I improvised.
Yet more Completely Perfect for a Saturday tea, but this time I went off piste when following the perfect sausage rolls. I love a sausage roll, they’re much better than the sad limp party food they are thought of as.
This was inspired by a Nigel Slater recipe that involved a lot of standing at the stove and stirring. Being a lazy and busy man, I shoved it all in the oven and relied on a bit of vigerous stirring at the end.
It’s that time of the year (that most wonderful time of the year) where you can completely justify eating comforting food.
You will need 3 decent quality sausages per person (I used the Italian jobs from the most excellent Block’n’Blottle) A medium onion per person (halved and then quartered) A measure of sherry/masala/glass of wine/beer A bay leaf A tablespoon of plain flour A blob of butter (25g maybe) Half a stock cube Do Pop the sausages and butter in an oven suitable pan on a medium heat Cool under the sausages have some colour and then remove, keep them to one side Pop the oven on 180 Stick the kettle on Add the onions and bay leaf to the pan, reducing the heat Cook the onions until browned but still juicy.
I love a good sausage roll. Every so often I buy a cold one from a shop and they’re always dissapointing. With pre-made pastry they’re stupidly easy to make too.
I’m funny about eggs. I love an omlette, but I’m not keen on soft eggs, be they fried or poached. I’d also never eat a hardboiled egg on it’s own, but I love a scotch egg or even a pickled egg.
Spring should have sprung by now, but it’s cold and crappy outside, so sometimes you need some comfort food (one that’s not just cheese and chilli based)