My Todd is a real meat and potatoes kind of a guy. If I want to keep him happy food wise, it's not all that hard to do. A bit of meat and some mashed potatoes and he's as content as can be.



One of his favourite meat fests happens to be Sausage and Mash. A fluffy and buttery pile of hot mashed potatoes, topped with two juicy grilled sausages . . . the whole thing smothered in onion gravy. This is truly the way to his meat loving heart.



It's a bit boring though . . . or at least that's my thoughts . . . I like to amp it up a bit if I can. Not so much that it becomes poncey . . . just a tad to add excitement and interest.

Adding a bit of Parsnip to the regular mash gives it a wonderfully different flavour . . . just a hint of sweetness that goes so very well with the herby flavour of a plump rich butcher's sausage.

Cabbage . . . stir fried and retaining a bit of a bite . . . the perfect go with.



Topped off with a delightfully tangy honey mustard vinaigrette, with the garnish of wonderfully crunchy toasted hazelnuts, this went down a real treat.

He never even missed the gravy. Bisto who??




*Herby Sausages with Parsnip Mash and Stir Fried Cabbage*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

Pan grilled sausages, all sticky and brown and served along side of a delicious parsnip mash and tasty cabbage, drizzled with a tangy honey mustard dressing. Delicious!

1 ½ pounds good quality thick meaty herby sausages (I use Cumberland
as they are my favourites, but any well flavoured one will do, Irish herb ones
are nice too.)
750g floury potatoes, peeled and cut into small dice
4 parsnips, peeled and sliced into rounds
4 TBS crème fraiche
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 TBS grainy mustard
2 tsp white wine vinegar
1 TBS runny honey with a mild flavour, like acacia
3 TBS mild extra virgin olive oil
2 ounces hazelnuts, chopped and lightly toasted
2 ounces butter
1 savoy cabbage, finely shredded

Place the sausages in a lightly greased and heated skillet. Cook over medium heat, turning from time to time, until nicely browned all over, and cooked through. Keep warm.

While the sausages are cooking, put the potatoes and parsnips into a saucepan of lightly salted water. Bring to the boil. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes, until tender. Drain well and return to the hot pot. Shake over the residual heat on the burner to dry them out a bit and then mash well along with the crème fraiche. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Keep warm.

Melt the butter in another skillet. When it is foaming, add the cabbage and cook, stirring it until it begins to soften, but still retains a little texture. Season to taste.

Whisk together the mustard with the vinegar, honey and a bit of salt. Whisk in the olive oil and hazelnuts.

Divide the hot mash equally between 4 heated plates. Top with several sausages and add a spoonful of the cabbage on the side. Drizzle all with the honey mustard vinaigrette and serve immediately.

I try to take a list with me whenever I go grocery shopping, and I try really hard to stick to it . . . but I always inevitably come home with a few things that weren't on my list.  And it's not normally something like biscuits or other naughty bits . . . it's more than likely to be a fruit or a vegetable that's just caught my eye and created a craving.



The other day I came upon some Cavolo Nero Cabbage, and it looked really tasty . . . really nice,  dark green and very fresh looking . . . it's leaves all tightly crinkled.  Flavorsome and mildly astringent, it is a lovely brassica that is a real favourite of mine.  It's chock full of vitamins and good things.   It's also known as Black Cabbage, Tuscan Cabbage and Black or Dinosaur Kale, due to it's upright and extremely wrinkled black green leaves.  Of course I had to bring some home with me.



It's just lovely shredded and added to vegetable soups, and is lovely when braised.  You can even toss it with some olive oil and seasonings and then bake it in the oven until it is crispy like Kale Chips.  Today I decided to just make a simple gratin with it, using up some things in my fridge that needed using up. I had some pancetta cubes that were coming close to their sell by date and a pot of double cream . . . just perfect for using up in this  delicious dish.  Very easy to make . . . I like easy to make as I am rather lazy at times.  I put my hand up and admit it.



You will want to wash it really well as, with all of those little crinkles . . . it has a tendency to hold in grit and dirt.  Just wash it under some running water and shake it dry.  I always cut the middle stems out of the Cavolo as it can be a bit stringy and fibrous, and I am not all that fond of the texture.  Then I just simply slice it crosswise coarsely, and steam.



Bacon and cabbage are perfect partners and so I sauteed the pancetta until it was just beginning to crisp and let out it's juices and then I added a chopped onion, and cooked it all until it was golden and soft.  Then I dumped in the pot of cream and a tablespoon of Dijon mustard.



I put the steamed cabbage into a shallow baking dish and then I poured the delicious cream mixture over top, sprinkled with come crisp and buttery crumbs and then banged it into the oven until the whole thing was bubbly and the crumbs were turning a nice golden brown.



The sauce was rich, but not overly so . . . with smokey undertones from the bacon and a bit of sharpness from the mustard . . . and then of course there was that golden sweetness of the onions . . . all going very well with those dark green, slightly bitter and astringent leaves.

 

It made a fabulous simple supper tonight, along with a crusty loaf and a few slices of cheddar cheese.  A simple supper for a cool Monday evening . . . warming and satisfying. 



*A Tasty Gratin of Cavolo Nero*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

Simple and delicious.

300g of Cavolo Nero
fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
140g of diced pancetta (about 1/2 cup)
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
375ml of cream
1 heaped TBS of Dijon mustard
buttered crumbs

Wash the Cavolo Nero well.  Trim out and discard the thick ribs in the center, and coarsely chop.  Fill a large skillet half full of water.  Season generously with salt and bring to the boil.  Add the Cavolo Nero and cover.  Steam for about 5 minutes, then drain well.  Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/gas mark 4.

Add the diced pancetta to the skillet and cook until it begins to release it's fat.  Add the onion.  Cook and stir until the pancetta is lightly crisped and the onion has softened.  Add the Dijon mustard and cream, whisking all together.  Bring to the boil, then remove from the heat.  Taste and adjust seasoning as required with salt and pepper.

Butter a gratin dish.  Place half of the steamed cabbage in the dish. Drizzle with half of the cream mixture.  Add the remaining cabbage mixture, piling it up slightly in the centre.  Pour the remainder of the cream over top and sprinkle with buttered crumbs. 

Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes, until bubbling and the top has nicely browned.  Serve warm.

 

Thanks so much to all of you who purchased my Christmas Cook-booklet yesterday.  I do hope that you are enjoying it!  If you happened to miss it and are interested, you will find all of the information about it up on the right hand side of my page. I think it's a real fun little book.

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The challenge with this new diet will be keeping my own sugars in check, and losing weight myself, without Todd losing weight.  He had his yearly check up today and he is in perfectly good health, except he has lost some weight. This means that I either have to cook two separate meals or add some extra's to his.  The latter is the more preferable one, because I don't have the time  to cook two separate meals, nor do I have the inclination, but a few extras for him, I CAN do!

It was really chilly today (Thursday as I write this)  and we actually had to turn on the heat for a short time to take the chill off. Damp and chilly, that's the typical British Autumn.  It will be replaced in a couple of months by cold and wet, which will be Winter.


 I picked up some lovely looking pastrami at Costco the other day.  It was almost shaved and there was quite a lot of it.  We have enjoyed some in sandwiches and I thought I would use the remainder to make a soup.  I found a recipe for reuben soup, but it called for sauerkraut, which would be lovely, but I didn't have any.


I decided to just wing it and use cabbage instead and it turned out gorgeous.  I added some caraway seed, which gave a lovely authentic flavour to it . . .




I simmered it for a time in chicken broth, along with the pastrami.  The creaminess comes not from adding any milk or cream, but by the clever use of a bit of flour for thickening and then the addition of some gruyere cheese at the end (swiss) and of course a touch of Thousand Island Dressing.  What would a Reuben be without that!



Melt the butter in a large saucepan.  Add the onion and cabbage.  Cook, stirring frequently, over medium heat until beginning to soften without browning.  Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant.  Add the caraway and the flour and cook for a minute.  Stir in the chicken stock and corned beef and bring to the boil.  Reduce to a slow simmer, cover, and cook for about 15 minutes to meld all the flavours and make sure the cabbage is nice and soft.  Stir in half the cheese along with the salad dressing.  Stir to melt the cheese.  Ladle into hot bowls and garnish with the remaining cheese and minced chives or parsley.  Serve immediately.  Crusty bread or rye bread goes very well with this.


I think crusty buttery rye bread croutons would be really tasty on top of this . . .  but alas we don't get really good rye bread here.  Well not in the shops I have been to at any rate!    There is a rye bread, but its a very different kind of rye.  Not like what I am used to.  I do hope you will try this.  We thought it was really lovely.  Salty enough without adding any salt, and nice and peppery from the Pastrami.  Bon appetit!