Apr 17

The unexpected side-dish: Popovers

Most of our family meals consist of 3 parts.  Meat + veggie + starch= dinner. Not very inspiring, I know, but it covers all the bases & keeps everyone happy. Chris & Alec, my meat-o-holics, Lily: my veggie lover, and Violet the carb queen. Over the holidays I decided to try something new for the “starch” and jump outside of my comfort zone. I made popovers.

Now normally,  I do not bake. I stink at baking. Anything I bake from scratch, comes out wrong. Every now & again I forget this obvious fact and try to bake. This time actually had great results. Full moon?

Easy Popovers

Quick & Easy Popover, A Nice Homemade Alternative

These are super easy (remember: I do not bake!),  fast to make and a great change form the usual: pasta/rice/potato.

Popovers

Ingredients

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted, plus more for greasing tin (I have also used the drippings from a roast)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cups milk

Directions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Lightly grease and flour a popover or muffin tin.

Whisk together flour and salt. In another medium bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, and 1 tablespoon melted butter (or drippings)

Pour over flour mixture, and fold until just blended.
Fill the muffin tin cups two-thirds to three-quarters full.
Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees, and bake until well browned and crusty, about 5 more minutes.

Remove  from the oven & and remove from the tins after running a knife through the edge of the tin & popover. If necessary,  poke a hole in the side with a knife to let steam escape, and serve immediately.

Apr 15

Italian Sausage Simmered with Marinara Sauce

Italian Pasta Sauce with Sausage

Italian Sausage Simmering in Marinara Sauce

The steps required to make a pasta sauce with Italian sausage is much simpler then you realize. There are two requirements: Marinara Sauce and Italian Sausage.

One way to prepare this Italian Sausage (Sweet or Hot) with Marinara is to brown (pan / pot fry) sliced raw sausage in the pot that you will use for preparing the Marinara Sauce. I followed this technique for years, but recently have changed my technique.

Now I prepare my basic Marinara Sauce in large quantities. After the first meal with pasta, I divide the remaining gravy into equal meal size portions (about 4-6 Cups) and then freeze these portions in freezer Ziploc bags. When I am looking to have a meal with meat, seafood or vegetables with my pasta, I defrost the sauce and add the ingredients I desire.

I follow this same process when I am looking to make Italian Sausage with Marinara Sauce. As I am defrosting the frozen Marinara Sauce, I bake the sausages in the oven. After the sausages (about a pound, 5 – 6 links) have been cooked, I slice them to the desire length and then add them to the sauce. I then slow cook / simmer the sauce for an hour or two allowing the flavors of the sauce and sausage to combine. An added benefit to preparing the sauce with gravy in this manner is that the excess pork fat was cooked off during the baking of the sausages eliminating the possibility of a greasy sauce. If needed during the one to two hours that the sauce simmers, add some water for the desired consistency.

After an hour or two, you have a perfectly flavored Italian sauce that serves your needs without too much preparation and leftovers.

 

Apr 13

A Yank’s Perspective On Marmite

British Marmite

Jar of Marmite

Marmite, Butter on Sourdough Bread

Toasted Sourdough Bread with Butter and Marmite

If one is to believe all that is written on Marmite, there four groups of people. Those that love it, hate it, dismiss it without trying it and those that have never heard of Marmite. My own evolution went from never heard of it, dismissed it without trying and then love it.

For us Americans we may have heard of Marmite, but it is decidedly a very British product and embraced by most former British colonies even if if the local flavor and name are not exactly the same. I am sure the reasons for American culture to not have embraced Marmite is long, varied and disputable, but to not have tried this savory spread is to do yourself great disfavor.

What is Marmite?

The most simplest answer is used brewers yeast that has been made into a paste with vitamins, vegetable extracts and spices. The result is a pungent, treacle like spread that is insanely dark, salty and extremely savory. This characteristic flavor has been  defined as umami.

To read the official and complete history of Marmite, go to this link on their website.

I will admit that I do not recall trying Marmite until a couple of years ago. I was having breakfast with Stuart and he basically questioned my manhood for not trying Marmite. Honestly, I wonder whether or not a few years earlier if I would have enjoyed this very unique taste. I did in fact enjoy it very much with toast and butter. I enjoyed it so much that Stuart was giving the Scotsman evil eye as I slathered my toast and butter with a very American serving portion of Marmite. Marmite can be found in most grocery stores in the United States that have an international aisle, but it is relatively expensive. This however should not deter you from at least trying Marmite.

I most enjoy Marmite with a nice slice of bread toasted, typically sourdough or rye that has been buttered. I have also made a sushi roll that I named “Roll Britannia” with Marmite, Smoked Kippers and Sliced Cucumbers rolled inside the rice and seaweed paper. There are a number of Marmite recipes that I want to try, with the first being a cheese and Marmite sandwich.

I believe that the old saying “How do you know you do not like it, if you have never tried it?” best describes the question you must pose to yourself before dismissing this amazing spread from Britain.

Apr 12

Oven Baking Sausage: Quick, Easy and Minimal Mess


Selection of Baked Sausage

Baked Sausage (Sweet Italian, Hot Italian, British Banger, American Country Breakfast, Chorizo Spanish Style, Italian Cheese & Pork) clockwise

There are so many ways to cook sausage; Grilled, Boiled, Broiled, Pan Fry, Pan Steamed and Baked to name a few.

Having tried all of these techniques I can say that baking sausage (homemade or store bought), is the simplest, easiest, least mess and for me the most confident way to know that they have been completely cooked.

When cooking sausage there is a double concern. The first concern is that all ground meat should be cooked to 160 degrees and the second issue is that pork in the United States can harbor the parasite Tricinosis.

Baking sausage is simple.

  • Remove the sausage from the refrigerator 10 – 15 minutes before cooking to remove the chill from the meat.
  • Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit (200 degrees Celsius)
  • Layer the baking pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper
  • Place the sausages evenly on the cooking sheet
  • Place the baking pan in the oven on the middle rack
  • Baked for (40 to 60 minutes if the sausages are especially large / thick, turning them once)
  • Remove from oven and enjoy


It is that simple and does not require you to continually turn the sausages as they cook in a frying pan or on the grill. The only downside to baking sausage is that you will not have the characteristic grill marks that are created when pan frying or grilling. Personally, I am willing to forgo the grill marks when the alternative is simpler, easier and not as messy.

Sausage Cooked on a Baking Sheet

Italian Sausage (Hot & Sweet) Cooked on a Baking Sheet

Apr 12

What is a Haggis? with a haggis recipe or two

Wild Haggis Scoticus

Wild Haggis Scoticus(CC Image courtesy of Emoscopes on Wikipedia)

Haggis is the national dish of Scotland and it is extremley tasty. What was that? you want to know what it is. Well, Haggis is a wild animal that roams the hills of Scotland and the easiest way to catch them is to run round a hill anti-clockwise, as they have one set of legs longer than the other and can only run round hills clockwise. What? you don’t believe me. Well, that’s the story we tell tourists to keep them happy. Okay it is a type of sausage. Now that’s out of the way, we’ll carry on. What? you want to know what is in it. Well it’s made from lamb and that’s all you need to know. Really, that’s all that most people want to know about what’s in haggis. Well, it is made from sheep’s pluck, oatmeal, minced onion, suet, spices, and salt. Now lets move on. Okay, okay, are you really sure you want to know? A sheep’s pluck is the heart, liver and lungs, and I forgot to say the whole thing is stuffed into a sheeps stomach. I told you, it’s is better just to think of haggis as made from sheep and leave it at that. But nevertheless it is very tasty.

Haggis is a dish born out of necessity, to use the whole animal, and preparations like haggis probably go back to ancient times as a way to preserve the the offal, which goes off very quickly. Once cooked, a haggis then becomes a portable way of transporting food that doesn’t go off as quickly. The word haggis probably comes from the Old Norse word ‘haggw’ or the Old Icelandic word ‘hoggva’ which means ‘to hew or strike with a sharp object’ which probably relates to the chopping up the contents of the haggis.

Haggis, Tatties, Neep and carrots

In Scotland, Haggis is quite easy to find, but apart from St. Andrew’s (Patron Saint of Scotland) night and Burn’s (Robert Burns – The bard of Scotland) night it probably isn’t eaten that often, but as an expat I probably eat more haggis being away from Scotland, than I do when living there. Unfortuntely, haggis was banned from being imported into the US by the USDA up until recently, so various versions from beef haggis to ones being made under license in the US have sprung up instead, but they usually come in cans. You can buy Haggis in the US here

Tinned Scottish Haggis

In case you can’t get a hold of fresh haggis or tins, here is a recipe for haggis as well as one for vegetarians.

Haggis Recipe

  • 1 sheep’s stomach
  • 1 sheep’s pluck – liver, lungs and heart
  • 3 onions
  • 250g beef suet (kidney fat)
  • A pinch of cayenne pepper
  • 5oz (150g) steel cut or pinhead oats
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 5oz (150ml) of stock (the cooking liquid from boiling the pluck)

First clean the stomach thoroughly, soak it overnight and then turn it inside out. Wash the pluck and then boil for 1.5 hours. Mince the heart and lungs, grate half the liver, chop the onions and suet. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. You may need to add a little more stock to make the mixture easier to move. Half fill the stomach with the mixture and tie off the end with some butchers string. Boil the haggis for 2 to 3 hours, pricking the casing if nesecarry because of air bubbles. Serve with mashed neeps (yellow turnip/rutabagas), tatties (potates) and a wee dram of whisky. Try adding some carrots to the neeps for a better flavour.

Haggis, Neeps and Tatties

Haggis, Neeps and Tatties

Vegetarian haggis recipe

  • 4 shallots, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely sliced
  • 1oz (30g) butter
  • 2.5oz (75g) mushrooms, chopped
  • A pinch of cayenne pepper
  • 0.5 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 0.5 tsp allspice
  • A grate or 2 of nutmeg
  • 3 carrots, peeled and grated
  • 2.5oz (75g) red lentils
  • Zest of a lemon
  • Pint (500ml) vegetable stock
  • Small bunch of rosemary, leaves stripped and finely chopped
  • Small bunch of thyme, leaves stripped
  • 0.5 tin of red kidney beans, rinsed and mashed
  • 2oz (50g) pinhead oatmeal

Sauté the garlic, onions and mushrooms in butter until soft. Add the spices and cook for a few minutes, then add the lentils, lemon zest, carrots and stock. Cook until the lentils are soft. Add the kidney beans and oatmeal, adding a little stock if required. Cook over a low heat until the oats have plumped up. The consitency should be quite firm. Season to taste. Serve with neeps and tatties.