Toulouse Sausage Casoulet

This is a variation on the standard recipe, using plain pork sausages. Toulouse sausage is made with 75 percent pork, and is flavoured with wine, garlic, pepper and salt. All these ingredients are present in this dish.

Made with chopped onion, potato, carrot, tomato, plus haricot beans, tomato puree, pork or ham stock, white or red wine, garlic, and two sachets of Bouquet Garni, which is a mixture of Bay leaf, Parsley, Marjoram, Thyme, and Rosemary.

The sausages were cooked and browned first in a saute pan (in a couple of dessert spoonfuls of goose fat), along with the onion. Then the other vegetables were added, along with the garlic, and the contents were  soused in boiling water and the pork stock. Add a standard glass of wine.  Add pre-cooked haricot beans and tomato puree (other beans can be used in addition).Simmered under glass for at least forty-five minutes.

The sachets of bouquet garni were added last, during the final ten minutes, in order not to destroy the flavour. Serve with black pepper. Garnish the dish with some leaves (spinach in this case).

Chicken Tarragon with Roast Potatoes and Sprouts

The chicken breast was cooked from scratch the preceding day as part of a batch of four. Cooked in a standard lidded casserole dish, on a bed of sliced red onion, sunflower oil, sea salt, and a little water, for fifty minutes at 190 deg. C.

The Brussels sprouts were prepared Italian style, being chopped up and cooked in salted water. I added a little Tabasco sauce.

The complicated part was the preparation of the spiced roast potatoes. They were par-boiled in salted water for eighteen minutes, then the pot was drained. I drizzled two teaspoonfuls of goose fat over the potatoes, along with some tomato ketchup, powdered cumin, white pepper, dried tarragon, and vinegar. Then the potatoes were fluffed up for roasting by rattling them around the lidded pan.

The potatoes were placed on a roasting tray on the middle shelf of the oven, and cooked for another thirty minutes at 190 deg. C. Turned over once. Watch carefully!

The chicken was reheated in a lidded pan, along with some of the red onion and the gravy for twenty five minutes. If the chicken breast is chopped up, the cooking time will be around 12 to 13 minutes.

When the chicken breast was served, it was dusted with tarragon. The sprouts were thoroughly drained before being added to the plate. Followed by the roast potatoes.

Garlic Chicken, with Roast Potato Hash

A garlic chicken stew made with the meat from two chicken drumstics, chicken stock, onion, tomato, and a yellow pepper.

The sauce was begun with the onion, half a tin of chopped Italian tomatoes, the garlic (three cloves, crushed) land a diced yellow pepper. Brought to the boil, I added the chicken meat, and the chicken stock,  and then the heat was turned down. The dish was simmered for half an hour under glass. The oregano was added five minutes before serving the dish.

I boiled some potato wedges for twenty minutes, then brushed them with some goose fat (sunflower oil or similar will do just as well) and shook them up in a covered bowl. The resulting fluffy potato pieces were transferred to a roasting dish, and put into the middle of an oven preheated to 190 deg. C for twenty minutes or so. Watch carefully, and remove them once they have become golden brown.

Serve with a dusting of black pepper.

Ground Beef with Roast Potato Wedges

5% fat ground beef (400g) from the local co-op. Browned at a medium heat in some sunflower oil for twenty minutes or so, stirring frequently.

I diced a large leek, after topping and tailing, and then cutting it into four lengthwise. Easy to prepare this while the beef is browning.

Turn up the heat and add the leek,  and stir together with the beef. After five minutes turn the heat down to medium, and stir-fry together for another ten minutes, until the diced leek begins to brown.

Add three quarters of a pint of boiling water, along with the vegetable and beef stock, and one large bay leaf.

Simmer under glass at a low heat for ninety minutes. Add more water if necessary.

The carrots (two small) were diced into chunks and boiled in water for thirty minutes, after which I added some dried coriander. Allow to cool while you prepare the roast potato wedges.

The potato wedges were peeled and cut into shape, and then parboiled for ten minutes. Then they were put into a bowl and covered with a plate. I shook them up for a minute or so to make the surface fluffy. Then I drizzled them with two teaspoonfuls of goose fat, and shook them again for another minute or so (the goose fat is not an essential ingredient, and any cooking oil can be substituted). The potato wedges were placed on a roasting tray in an oven preheated to around 190 deg. C.

Roast for fifteen minutes, checking them every seven minutes or so. Turn after fifteen minutes and allow another fifteen minutes. They may be ready by this time, or even after twenty minutes, but it depends very much on the kind of potato you use. Mine took a bit longer than thirty minutes. Watch them carefully, and remove them from the oven when they are golden brown.

An utterly delicious meal which was well worth the preparation time.

Roast Potatoes

There are several ways to make good roast potatoes, but the target is always the same - potatoes properly cooked on the inside, and crispy and golden brown on the outside.

The easiest way to get good results is to par-boil the potatoes first, so that they are mostly cooked before the roasting process starts. Since the potatoes will cook in the steamer or in boiling water (with a little salt) in twenty minutes, you might choose to take them out at eighteen minutes.

Preheat your oven to at least 180 deg. C. That will take about twenty minutes, but a thermometer is recommended. Drain the potatoes and decant into a large glass bowl (preferably pyrex, because of the heat). Cover the bowl with a plate, and roll the potatoes around in the bowl, until they become fluffy on the outside. Allow to cool until the oven is at the right temperature.

Place the potatoes in a roasting dish, and brush them with sunflower oil, or another oil of your choice. Some people swear by goose fat, which works fine. But it really isn't necessary in order to get a good result. Turn the potatoes until they are coated on all sides.

Place in the hot oven. Turn them once during the roasting. They should be done in twenty minutes or so, but this part of the process has to be judged by eye, and according to how golden brown you want them to be. They will be properly cooked in the middle after the first few minutes, so you can take them out when you choose.

Chicken Dopiaza

Made with 3 cardamom pods, chopped chicken breast, or chicken legs, chicken stock, coriander leaf (desert spoonful), cumin (tsp), hot Madras curry powder (desert spoonful), garlic, ginger (tsp), honey, lemon juice, onion, Peanut Butter, Tomato, Turmeric (a dash), Yoghurt. Served with white basmati rice, black pepper, and yoghurt. 

Make the sauce/marinade first. Mix together the contents of the cardamom pods, the coriander, cumin, curry powder, powdered ginger, garlic, and the turmeric. Open a can of chopped tomatoes and decant into a pan. Add the spices to the pot, and the chicken stock. Add a dessert spoonful of peanut butter, a dessert spoonful of honey, and three dessert spoonfuls of yoghurt. Stir thoroughly. Add the juice of half a lemon, or a whole lime. Bring to the boil and simmer. 

The chicken should be precooked. Chop into chunks, and add to the sauce. Simmer the chicken and sauce for at least thirty minutes under glass. 

Caramelise three large chopped onions in goose fat, or sunflower oil if you prefer, stirring continuously in a skillet for fifteen minutes, until golden brown. Add the onions to to the curry sauce, and stir thoroughly. Cook for a further fifteen minutes at a low heat, and serve. Utterly delicious! 

Chicken and Sausage Meat Stuffing, with Roast Potatoes

Roast potatoes, chicken breast, a sausage meat stuffing, carrots, brussels sprouts, sausages wrapped in bacon (pigs in blankets), cranberry sauce, and a delicious gravy made with chicken stock, sage, thyme, rosemary, onion, spring onion, and red currant sauce. 

This meal was largely created in two sessions on the preceding day. The gravy and the potatoes were prepared first. The onions were added to a mixture of cornflour and water. Heated until it began to thicken. Cooked for half an hour, stirring regularly (don't take your eyes off it). The potatoes were parboiled for fifteen minutes, then decanted into a glass bowl and allowed to cool. Four dessert spoonfuls of goose fat (sunflower oil will do just as well) were drizzled across the potatoes. With a plate sealing the glass bowl, the potatoes were shaken around vigorously, until fluffy. Then placed in the oven on the middle shelf at around 160 deg C, and cooked until a golden colour. Turn two or three times.The stuffing was commercially bought, but is essentially made with (usually pork) sausage meat and stale breadcrumbs, plus generous amounts of sage. Rolled oats or oatmeal can be substituted, and sometimes it is given extra physical integrity by adding an egg during the mixing of the ingredients. 

Unless very thick, the stuffing should roast in twenty minutes at 180 deg. C. Watch this one closely too!

The chicken was in the form of a crown (both breasts), and was cooked for 70 minutes at 180 deg C, and turned two times during the process, with the juices spooned over the top. Covered with aluminium foil for 65 of those minutes. The chicken was allowed to rest before carving, and reheated in the microwave on the day. You could reheat in a steamer instead.

  

Finally the brussels sprouts were cooked for nine minutes in boiling water, and the carrots for twenty.