Winter Warmer Recipe Challenge - Sausage Casserole and Cheesy Two Mustard Potatoes

Boy it's been cold outside and the perfect weather for a sausage casserole winter warmer recipe.

I was set a challenge to come up with a warming winter recipe using a selection of products sent to me by Unilever.  My recipe is a Sausage Casserole with CheesyTwo Mustard New Potatoes
 

 

As I was the winner of a sausage casserole competition recently and the prize was a new stock of sausages and bacon I naturally thought of making a different sausage casserole for this challenge.

 

Sausages get popped into the cast iron frying pan and browned on all sides. I put them into the casserole whilst I cooked the onions and bacon.
 

As most of my meals start with onion and garlic and a glug of olive oil, I sautéed some thinly sliced onion and minced garlic. 

Into the frying pan I added three onions, peeled and sliced and cooked until browned along with one packet of back bacon cut into chunks. 

When these were ready I added them to the casserole with the sausages.

 

In the frying pan I added Knorr beef stock pot and Knorr beef gravy pot, 1 Tbsp tomato puree, 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce and 1 Tbsp Bovril and when warmed through I added it to the casserole.  Towards the end of the cooking I will be adding a good glug of red wine!

 

Into the oven, covered at 180oC for about 35-45 minutes.  If you want to thicken the liquid at this point you could add some gravy granules.

 

To serve this I boiled new Charlotte potatoes (unpeeled) and cut into pieces and when soft I drained them. 

 

Back into the cooking pot (the residual warmth helps keep the potatoes warm and the butter to melt) and added 3 Tbsp unsalted butter, salt&pepper and a little bit of milk.

 

After taking them off the heat I added some grated cheddar cheese and then added 1 Tbsp Maille wholegrain mustard and 1 Tbsp Maille Dijon mustard with honey.
 

 

The above was served with carrot batons and made enough to serve four.
 

I received a hamper of goodies from Unilever but was not paid to write this recipe.  All recipe and opinions are my own.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meals in Minutes - Friday Night Special

Friday afternoon, the weekend is approaching fast and you want a quick supper before popping out.

Tonight I put into my roasting pan one large potato in chunks, half an onion cut into chunks, half a sweet potato in chunks, a courgette cut in half and large slices and four whole garlic cloves (I peel mine - I don't like cooking them in their skins even though it is the popular way these days).

 

A drizzle of olive oil, salt, pepper and a mixed herb sprinkled on top. Place sausages on top and into a moderate oven for about 45-50 minutes until the veggies are soft and the sausages cooked.

A splash of Lea&Perrins Worcestershire sauce and serve.

 

For pudding tonight I wanted to finish up the nectarines that I bought at my local store the other day for 20p instead of £2.00. There was nothing wrong with any of them and you can see they lasted quite a long time without starting to spoil.

 

I cut the fruit in half, removed the stones and sprinkled them with some brown sugar we bought on holiday in Barbados (real sugar cane sugar from the rum distillery).
 

 

I put a knob of butter in the dish with the fruit and sugar and popped them into the oven for about 45 minutes, until they were soft but not mushy.

 

 

Served warm with some Ambrosia Devon Dream, a nice balance between their custard and double cream.

A great evening meal, didn't cost much, most of the veggies were left over from last week's bargain shop and it was delicious and filling.

Month End But Still a Feast!

To day is the 28th of February and the end of the month.  I have mentioned this year already how I am trying to make the most of my well stocked cupboard and full freezer and today is a perfect example of that.

Tonight's supper is from the freezer: sausages; from the pantry cupboard: Tin of chopped tomatoes, tin of haricot beans; salt and pepper and garlic spices from the kitchen cupboard and from the fridge: onion, celery, cherry tomatoes, chopped carrot and chopped parsnip.

I put this in the oven on a low-ish heat for about an hour and a half and then wacked the heat up high for the final half hour and it turned into this:-

I served the casserole with some Ainsley Harriot golden vegetable rice which I cooked in the microwave (I did say it was a kitchen raid dinner!)

 

Mr R was full of praise for his dinner and did especially enjoy the glass of wine to go with it!!

From the Shores of Clonakilty with Clonakilty Black Pudding!

There is nothing like Irish hospitality and the lunch I was invited to was no exception.  At the invitation of Clonakilty Black Pudding I set off to West London for the Chiswick Moran Hotel to attend their celebration at launching their black pudding in the UK.

When offered black pudding in the past I always would say "no, it's disgusting" or "yuck I couldn't eat that". But in fact I had never even tried it.  In September I attended the Speciality Fine Food Show in London and there I met Brenda at the Clonakilty Black Pudding stand.  I wasn't planning on trying any but I decided that as I was at the show I should enter into the spirit and try everything.

Well, let me say I was pleasantly surprised.  I liked it!!  When Brenda invited me to attend the launch lunch I was only too pleased to.

I met some lovely people including Collette Twomey, the Managing Director of the firm in Clonakilty, West Cork, Ireland.  Collette is the only person who currently knows the secret mix of spices, mixing them in private ready for each batch to be made.

Over 20 tonnes of Clonakilty black Pudding are produced every week using local ingredients such as Irish beef and pork, onions from West Cork and Flahavan's pin head oats.  Their butcher shop has been in the town centre for over 130 years and has very strong links to the community supporting local businesses, clubs and sports.

Clonakilty also produce award winning bacon and sausages. For Christmas 2012 I wanted to make the stuffing for the turkey a little differently than I usually do.  I mixed the sausage meat from their sausages (I skinned them first) with some bread crumbs and finely chopped black pudding. I mixed all this together and then spooned it into my 12 cup muffin pan which I had lined with Clonakilty bacon. I put this all in the oven for about 20 minutes and when cooked had 12 individual stuffing parcels.  They went down very well with our turkey and the rest of the Christmas meal.

You can purchase Clonakilty Black Pudding in England now in selected stores including Harrods, Fortnum & Mason, Selfridges and branches of Tesco and Budgens supermarkets.

I really hope to visit Ireland in 2013 and a visit to the shores of Clonakilty will definitely be on the agenda!

(Clonakilty provided me with the black pudding, bacon and sausages)