I just finished reading Nick Page's Keep It Simple, a pocket-sized book of hints and ideas intended to help folks simplify their lives and live in a better and more fulfilling way. Chapters including topics such as simple possessions, work, money, relationships, and truths. I found a lot in it to read and re-read later, and have green sticky labels all over the place to make neat ideas that I want to revisit. I expect to keep this on the nightstand, and keep going back to it. I particularly liked the chapter on quietness.
Published in the UK in 1999, I don't think it has ever been released in the US, and is hard to get here. I ordered a used copy from a UK book dealer through Alibris.com.
Of course, and book published exclusively in Great Britain is going to have a few of those linguistic Britishisms that drive us Americans crazy. It didn't take me long to figure out that a "car boot sale" is a "flea market", and not a place to buy the Denver Boot to annoy your neighbors or save a good downtown parking spot. But then I came across this line:
"Leftovers can be great (anyone for bubble and squeak?)."
"Bubble and squeak"? What the? Is that a real term? And, y'know, food? Who would name a dish "bubble and squeak"? I was totally lost.
So, I start googling. Aha! Those crafty, hilarious Brits. "Bubble and Squeak" is what we Americans on this side of the lake would call, ahem, "hash". That's it. Hash. Bubble and squeak, appparently, was yet another sad victim of Teddy Roosevelt's Simplified Spelling Board (which is why we Americans say "aluminum" instead of "aluminium"). And aren't we the lesser for it? Once I found out what bubble and squeak was, I saw a link to a Jamie Oliver bubble and squeak recipe. Jackpot! I love Jamie Oliver. So I look at the recipe. The first thing I see - add "two knobs butter, divided".
Oh, come on! A "knob of butter"? Knob? What the heck is a "knob"? Aaarrrgghh!
Bubble and Squeak with Sausages and Onion Gravy
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds all-purpose potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1 1/4 pounds mixed winter vegetables such as carrots, Brussels sprouts, rutabagas, turnips, onions, leeks or savoy cabbage, peeled or trimmed and chopped into equal-sized chunks
Olive oil
2 knobs butter, divided
1 (7-ounce) package vacuum packed chestnuts
6 good quality pork sausages, linked together
6 good quality venison or beef sausages, linked together
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Small bunch fresh rosemary, leaves picked and finely chopped
Nutmeg, for grating
3 red onions, peeled and finely sliced
Few bay leaves
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon good-quality vegetable or chicken stock
Directions
Cook the potatoes and mixed vegetables in a pan of boiling water for 15 to 20 minutes. When they're cooked right through, drain and put aside.
Heat a glug of olive oil and half the butter in a large frying pan and add the chestnuts. When they start to sizzle, add the potatoes and vegetables. Mash the vegetables up in the pan, then pat the mixture into a thick pancake shape. Fry on a medium heat for about 1/2 an hour, checking it every 5 minutes. When the bottom turns golden, flip it over bit by bit and mash it back into itself. Pat it out flat again and continue cooking until really crisp all over.
Preheat the oven and a roasting pan to 425 degrees F.
Unravel the pork sausage links and squeeze the filling between them until all 6 sausages are joined together. Do the same to your venison or beef sausages. Pat them to flatten them a bit. Drizzle with olive oil and massage this into your 2 long sausages. Sprinkle over a pinch of pepper, the rosemary and some nutmeg. Put 1sausage on top of the other and roll them up like a licorice wheel! Poke 2 skewers through, in a cross shape, to hold the sausages together.
Take the preheated roasting pan from the oven. Drizzle in some olive oil and add the onions. Season, add the remaining butter and stir. Place the sausage wheel on the onions and stick the bay leaves between the sausages. Drizzle with some more oil and roast in the preheated oven for around 40 minutes, or until golden and crisp. When your sausages and onions are done, your bubble and squeak should be ready too. If it still hasn't browned, put it under a hot broiler for 5 minutes.
Remove the sausages to a plate and place the pan with the onions on the stove top. Whack the heat up to full and stir in the flour, balsamic vinegar and stock. Bring to the boil and leave to thicken to a nice gravy consistency, stirring every now and then, and season to taste. Remove the skewers and cut the sausages into wedges. Serve the bubble and squeak with a good portion of sausage, a spoonful of onion gravy and perhaps some lovely dressed watercress.
No comments:
Post a Comment