Scottish Stovies

This is actually my husbands recipe, he is the "stovies maker" in our house. I think most Scottish kids grow up eating stovies ... it's so cheap & easy. Traditionally, you bunged all your left overs from your roast dinner (beef and potatoes) in a pot with some onions & stock and simmer it all down in a pot on the stove (hence the name). Some areas use sausages, mince or Lorne, some add other veg (carrots, peas etc) but the stovies I grew up with were made from corned beef. We serve ours with oatcakes to scoop it up with.

Serves 4
5 medium potatoes, peeled & sliced 1cm think
2 onions, sliced
1 tin of corned beef (replace with leftover mince/cooked sausages/roast beef trimmings if you prefer)
Dripping/lard (or oil) for frying
1 beef stock cubes
Water.

Heat the dripping in a large saucepan. Gently fry the onions until completely softened but not coloured. Add the potatoes to the pan, cover with water to halfway up your potato/onion mix & crumble in the stock cube. Mix, and allow to bubble away until the stock is almost all absorbed. This will take about 30 minutes. Add the crumbled corned beef & stir through - then allow the mixture to thicken up by letting it simmer/bubble for another few minutes. Serve with oatcakes.

Sausage & Pickle Plait

I had some sausage meat leftover from Christmas, so used it to make this tasty plait. It did get a soggy bottom though, I obviously don't have Mary Berry's touch! It was still very tasty though, and went down well with the whole family. You could use any pickle/chutney or relish to this, I think a tomato relish would be lovely! Even branston pickle would be great. I used a caramelised onion pickle in this version.

1 sheet ready rolled puff pastry
375g sausage meat
2 tablespoons relish/pickle or chutney
Beaten egg

Preheat the oven to 220c. Roll out your sheet of pastry. Spoon on the sausage meat up the middle, and flatten slightly. Make sure to leave around 4cm on each side. Spoon the pickle into the middle of the sausage meat. Cut the empty sides into strips about 1 cm apart. Fold these over each other, taking one from each side in turn, until you have covered the top of the plait. Wash with the beaten egg & pop into the oven for 35 minutes, until golden & crisp.

Sausage & Bean Casserole

I love this kind of comfort food when its cold! The smokey paprika in this gave it a Bonfire Night feel, very comforting. There was plenty for the 5 of us, with crusty bread to mop up the sauce. I love chorizo, but I picked a mild one (from Lidl) so that it wasnt too spicy for the children. You could use any beans you liked, I used haricot because I had some in the cupboard.

2 tbsp olive
1 onion , finely chopped
2 medium sticks celery , finely chopped
1 yellow pepper , chopped
1 red pepper , chopped
3  garlic cloves , chopped
1 chorizo sausage (about 300g), sliced
6 pork sausages
1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
½ tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp dried thyme
125ml white wine
2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 chicken stock cube
1 x 400g tin haricot beans, rinsed

Heat the olive oil in a large heavy-based pan. Brown the pork sausages, then remove. Fry the chorizo until the oil turns orange & it is slightly crispy. Remove the chorizo but leave the oil. Add the onion and cook gently for 5 minutes. Add the celery and peppers and cook for a further 5 mins. Return the cooked sausages to the pan.
Stir in the garlic, spices and dried thyme and continue cooking for 1 - 2 mins or until the aromas are released.
Pour in the wine and use a wooden spoon to remove any residue stuck to the pan. Add the tinned tomatoes, and fresh thyme and bring to a simmer. Crumble in the stock cube and stir in.
Cook for 40 minutes. Stir in the beans and cook for a further five minutes. Remove the thyme sprigs, season with black pepper and serve.

Sticky Sauusages & BBQ Beans

It was just 3 of us for dinner last night, the girls have gone to stay with family for a week. Big Bee doesnt liek sausages, so this was a good time for us sausage lovers to enjoy them! I used good quality butchers sausages, as I prefer the taste. You could use any chutney you like, I used a cherry tomato & shallot one from our local factory - they sell some amazing chutneys! I sent some beetroot & orange chutney to my foodie penpal last month & she loves it. These BBQ beans are a bit of a hassle to make, but taste lovely.

Serves 3

2 or 3 sausages per person
3 tablespoons tomato chutney

1 tin of baked beans in tomato sauce
1 onion finely diced
1 tablespoon oil
2 teaspoons tomato puree
2 teaspoons American yellow mustard
1 tablespoon black treacle
1 teaspoon Worcester sauce
Pinch garlic powder
Pinch paprika
5 tablespoons tomato ketchup
230 mils vegetable stock
2 teaspoons brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 200c. Add the sausages to a roasting tray & put into the oven for 25 minutes, shaking the tray now  again to get an even colour. Add the tomato chutney, spreading all over the sausages, then return to the oven for a final 5 minutes.

Heat the oil in a sauce pan & add the onions & tomato puree. Stir fry for 5 minutes until softened. Add the mustard, treacle, Worcester sauce, tomato ketchup, garlic powder, paprika, stock & sugar. Simmer for 6 minutes, until the sauce has thickened.

Tip in the tin of beans, and mix. Simmer for another 5 minutes, then serve.

Toad in the Hole

This is just your basic, easy peasy Toad in the Hole. No extras, no frills :) I thought I would share the recipe anyway, as everyone does theirs differently, or some may have never tried it before! Its the perfect dinner for a wet. miserable Sunday afternoon. I served mine with crushed potatoes, sweetcorn & onion gravy.

6 nice butchers sausages
75g plain flour
Salt & pepper
75 ml milk
55 ml water
1 large egg

Preheat the oven to 220c. Add the sausages to an oven-proof tin, and brown in the oven for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare your batter. Sift 75g plain flour into a large mixing bowl & season with salt & pepper. Make a well in the middle & add the eggs. begin mixing the ingredients, add the milk & water a bit at a time. Whisk until all combined and no lumps remain.

remove your tin from the oven & pour over the batter immediately. return to the oven for 25-30 minutes, until the batter has all risen & turned golden.

Smoked Sausage Stroganoff

A friend shared a recipe with me for a dish called "Fancy Hotdogs". I didn't have any hotdogs in, but I did have a smoked sausage in, which I thought would add more flavour anyway. I also added mushrooms for extra flavour (and because I love mushrooms!). The recipe suggests you serve it with pasta, but we ate it as it was. Quite tasty, considering it was made with store cupboard items!

Serves 1 adult, 2 children

1 smoked sausage ring, sliced 1 cm thick
1 onion, chopped
10 button mushrooms, sliced
Oil or butter for frying
150ml soured cream
Fresh parsley to garnish

Heat the oil/butter and fry the onion, mushrooms & sausage together until softened and golden. Add the soured cream and let simmer for 3 minutes. Add a little bit of water if it is too thick or not saucy enough. Serve with rice or pasta, and garnish with parsley.

Honey & Balsamic Roasted Sausages

I am back from my week away down south! Typically, they have great weather now I am back up here. It was just a quick simple dinner tonight, as I adjust back to normality. I have made a version of the recipe before, in the early days of my blog. I did this version by memory though, so it may be a bit different. As usual, everyone scoffed it, there were no leftovers! I served it with new potatoes, with the sauce drizzled over them. This served 4 people.


12 sausages
6 garlic cloves, sliced
2 red onions, cut into wedges
A little olive oil
400g cherry tomatoes, halved
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 red pepper, deseeded & chopped in to chunks
2 tablespoons honey

 In a large roasting tin, toss together the sausages, garlic and red onions with a little olive oil.
 Roast in a preheated oven at 200°C/fan160°C/gas 4 for 15 minutes, until golden.
 Add the cherry tomatoes, pepper. honey and balsamic vinegar. Season and toss together gently. Return to the oven for a further 15 minutes then serve.

Toad in the Hole - with a difference

I apologise for the poor photographs! My camera just didnt like the light in my house today - I blame the grey clouds & rain we have had ALL day. Let me tell you though, this tasted amazing! Everyone agreed that this was much better than your average toad in the hole dish. The Wee Man even declared that he only ever wanted this version from now on. The original recipe is in the Lisa Faulkner book I bought recently, this brings my successes from the book up to 3, with just one that I wouldnt try again (crispy chicken, which I blogged about last week). We had some delicious jersey roaysl with this, plus kale and onion gravy - just what you want on a dreicht day!

500 g sausagemeat or 8 skinned sausages
1 shallot, finely chopped (I used half an onion)
1 apple, cored, peeled & grated
4 streaky bacon rashers, chopped
1 tblspoon chopped sage
1 garlic clove finely chopped
salt & pepper

175g plain flour
teaspoon mustard powder
4 eggs
450ml milk

Start by makingthe batter - put the flour, mustard powder & salt/pepper in a bowl. Mix the eggs & milk together, and gradually combine with the dry ingredients. Whisk until you have a smooth batter, the put aside. Put some oil in a large roasting tin, and put into a preheated oven (180c). In a large bowl, combine the sausage meat, apple, shallot, garlic, bacon & sage and thoroughly mix.  Season, then make into about 10 or so balls. Fry in a little oil in a pan, until browned. Tip into the heated oil from the oven, then pour in the batter mix. Place back into the oven for about 40 minutes, until all puffy & golden brown.

Saucy Sausage Pasta

I needed to use up a packet of sausages, so had alook at the Good Food website & found this recipe. Quick, simple and quite tasty. I used a big chunky pasta, and though the recipe said to use 500g pasta, this was way too much! I'd maybe use 350g next time. I also doubled the sauce quantities, and Im glad I did.  My pot of basil is growing quite happily on my windowsill, so that was very handy for this recipe! Fresh basil really brings out the flavours. Original recipe here.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 6 thick pork sausages , cut into bite-sized pieces
• 2 garlic cloves , crushed
• 400ml medium white wine
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 2 x 400g can chopped tomatoes
• 350g pack rigatoni or penne
• handful basil leaves , torn, (optional)
• Parmesan , to serve

1. Heat the olive oil in a heavy-based pan (preferably not non-stick) and add the sausages. Fry for about 8 mins until golden and cooked through. Tip in the garlic and fry for 1 min. Pour in the white wine and boil until it has reduced by half.
2. Stir in the tomato purée and tomatoes, and season to taste. Simmer for 15 mins until the sauce is rich and thick.
3. While the sauce cooks, boil the pasta according to pack instructions and drain. Stir in the basil if using, and cooked pasta into the sauce, then serve in bowls with grated or shaved Parmesan.

Sausage Rolls

It's Takeaway night for my husband and me tonight, so the kids got a "lazy tea". These sausage rolls were very easy to put together, and I served them with beans. The kids totally devoured them & begged for more! I might make another batch & freeze them before baking, it would be very handy for having guests or a picnic.  I am going to try different flavours, like adding pickle or ketchup to the sausage mix. If I do try new flavours, I'll be sure to blog about it :D

Ingredients

• ½ small garlic clove
• handful parsley , chopped
• 400g pack sausagemeat or sausages
• 375g pack ready-rolled puff pastry
• 1 beaten egg , to glaze

Crush the garlic with a pinch of salt, and mix with 50 ml of water. Put the sausage meat, garlic mix & parsley into a food processor & blitz til smooth. Unroll the puff pastry, and cut down the middle lengthwise. Cut each length into 3 square/rectangle pieces. Spoon the sausagemeat into the middle of the pastry, leaving a 1 cm edge. Brush the edge with beaten egg, and fold the pastry over to seal. They should look like this ...

Brush the tops with beaten egg and bake in the oven at 200c for about 35 minutes.

One Pan Sage & Onion chicken & sausages

This is a lovely tasty Nigella recipe that I tried out on Sunday. I served it with vichy carrots and bread-sauce-flavoured potato dauphinoise - delicious! The marinade has to be made the nigth before, so that the chicken can take on teh flavours overnight. I was worried about the mustard in it, as I am not a fan of mustard, but it was lovely.

Ingredients

• 1 large onion or 2 small onions
• 125ml olive oil (not extra virgin)
• 2 teaspoons English mustard
• 1 tablespoon dried sage
• Ground pepper
• 1 lemon
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2kg chicken, jointed into 10 pieces (I just used a pack of bone-in chicken thighs)
• 12 sausages
• 2 tablespoons chopped sage leaves

Method

1. Peel and cut the onion into eighths, and put into a freezer bag with the oil, mustard, dried sage, a good grinding of pepper, the lemon juice, the squeezed-out husks cut into eighths, and the Worcestershire sauce. Squidge everything around to mix (the mustard needs help to combine) and then add the chicken pieces. Leave to marinate in the fridge overnight, or for up to two days.
2. Preheat the oven to gas mark 7/220°C. Allow the chicken to come to room temperature in its marinade.
3. Arrange the chicken pieces in a roasting tin, skin-side up, with the marinade, including all the bits and pieces, and tuck the sausages around them. Sprinkle the fresh sage leaves over the chicken and sausages and then put the tin into the oven to cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Turn the sausages over halfway through to colour them evenly.
4. Arrange the chicken and sausages on a large platter.

Serves: 6

Baked Spanish Risotto

This amazing recipe is from the Good Food website members section. It was utterly delicious! I also happen to love bung-it-in-the-oven type meals :) I left out the prawns, but kept the rest of the recipe the same.

 

• 250g cherry tomatoes
• 1 red onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 300g risotto rice
• 4 chicken thigh fillets, halved
• 200g chorizo, thickly sliced
• 2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 litre hot chicken stock
• pinch of saffron strands
• 8 large, raw prawns
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 220C/Gas 7. Place the cherry tomatoes in a roasting tin and sprinkle over the red onion, garlic and olive oil. Roast for 20 minutes until the tomatoes are softened.
2. Stir in the rice, chicken, chorizo, rosemary, chicken stock, saffron and some salt and pepper, mixing well together. Return to the over for a further 20 minutes.
3. Stir in the prawns and return to the oven for a further 10 minutes until the rice is tender and the chicken is cooked through.

Chorizo Spaghetti - a quick & easy supper

This was a very tasty and a very, very quick dinner to make. It's one of those 5 minute meals that you chuck together but tastes divine! I made it for my husband & Dad this evening, and they literally licked their plates clean. I added a red onion to the recipe, which I just softened in the olive oil before the chorizo.

• 80g pack sliced chorizo sausage
• 300g bag fresh spaghetti
• 20g pack flatleaf parsley (a good handful)
• 2 red peppers from a jar, in brine or oil
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 50g finely grated fresh parmesan , plus extra to serve 

1. Put a pan of water on over a high heat to boil. Meanwhile, snip the chorizo into strips with scissors, and chop the parsley and peppers (check for stray seeds first).
2. When the water is boiling briskly, add the spaghetti with a good measure of salt, stir and return to the boil. Cook for 3 minutes.
3. In a large frying pan, heat the oil, add the chorizo and peppers and plenty of black pepper. Cook for a minute or so, until heated through and the juices are stained red from the paprika in the chorizo. Scoop half a mugful of pasta water from the pan, drain the remainder and tip the spaghetti into the frying pan.
4. Add the parsley and parmesan, toss well and splash in the pasta water, to moisten. Hand round extra parmesan at the table.

Balsamic & honey roasted sausages & veg

Adapted this recipe I found in an old Good Food magazine. It's supposed to be red vegetables, but I needed to use up some other coloured veg! It was very very tasty served with mashed potatoes. I used Morrisons pork, honey & english herb sausages.

 

• 3 red onions , cut into wedges (I used both white & red)
• 3 red peppers , deseeded and cut into quarters (I used yellow & red)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 8 sausages
• 250g cherry tomatoes
• few thyme sprigs (optional - I left this out as I had no fresh)
• 1 tbsp clear honey 

1. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Put the onions and peppers in a roasting tin, drizzle over the oil and vinegar and season well. Roast for 10 mins.
2. Nestle the sausages, tomatoes and thyme, if using, in and around the veg, drizzle over the honey and cook for 25 mins more or so, turning the sausages halfway, until the sausages are cooked and everything is golden and sticky. Serve with mashed potatoes.

Balsamic Vinegar