Chillied Bratwurst Sausage Casoulet, with Leek and Tomato

A simple casoulet, made with two chopped bratwurst sausages (made with chilli and one of the options available from Aldi), potato chunks, shredded tomato (3), and a large leek. The green beans were added last (about 100g), since they take very little time to cook.

I browned the bratwurst pieces first in some sunflower oil in a sautee pan. While that was going on, I cut the leek into four lengthwise, and then chopped it into smallish pieces. Added to the pan with the shredded tomato. I prepared the potato, and then added half a pint of boiling water to the pan along with the potato pieces. Cooked at a low heat under glass for about an hour.

After that, I added some vegetable stock, and some Quixo onion gravy granules (a dessert spoonful), which was also bought in Aldi. As well as imparting flavour to the dish, it also functions as a thickener. Thoroughly stirred the mix together before leaving it to simmer under glass for another fifteen minutes.

Finally the diced and washed green beans were added to the pan, and allowed to cook at a low heat for between five and ten minutes. Delicious! Almost as good as bratwurst cooked with onions and peppers!

Garlic and Herb Meatballs, with Chilli and Coriander

I made the spicy salsa first, browning two chopped white onions in some sunflower oil. Once browned I added boiling water, and also added chopped red pepper (one half), and chunks of one large carrot. Simmered under glass for half an hour.

Then I added one teaspoonful of red chilli powder, two teaspoonfuls of Bisto onion gravy powder, beef stock, and two crushed cloves of garlic. Stirred together, and simmered for a further half an hour.

The meatballs, from Sainsbury's via my freezer were, after being thoroughly thawed, cooked in a little sunflower oil for twenty minutes, mostly under glass. I turned the meatballs four times to ensure they were thoroughly browned and cooked. The meatballs were added to the salsa, and cooked for about ten minutes.

Served with a handful of shredded fresh coriander. Excellent dish!

Commercially made meatballs, like burgers, contain a large amount of fat, as you will find after cooking. That's fine as long as you don't consume the fat. This limits the range of cooking options. They should always be cooked in a way which allows you to remove the fat. Cooking them from raw in a sauce is therefore not something I would do.