Sausages, Eggs, Beans and Toast

Fried eggs, sausages and beans with toast

There's something incredibly comforting about sausages, eggs and beans (with or without chips!), even though it is often seen as a prime example of the unimaginative nature of typical British cuisine. Although it's not of course the healthiest of fayre, there's nothing wrong with enjoying it occasionally as a special treat. In this instance, I've served the sausages, eggs and beans with hot buttered toast.

Sausages should be fried very gently

Ingredients per Person

4 thick pork sausages
Vegetable or sunflower oil for frying
2 eggs
Small can of baked beans in tomato sauce
2 slices of bread
Butter (optional)
2 basil leaves, rolled and shredded, to garnish

Egg broken in to small bowl for adding to frying pan

Directions

Remember that the sausages and eggs should be removed from the fridge and allowed to reach room temperature (minimum twenty minutes) before they are cooked.

Pour a little oil in to a non-stick frying pan and turn the heat on to minimum. Add the sausages and fry on low heat until done, turning frequently with tongs or a spatula. That took around twenty minutes in this instance.

Sausages are served on bed of beans in tomato sauce

When the sausages are almost done, break the eggs in to two small bowls or ramekins. This makes it much easier to add them to the frying pan. Gently heat the beans in a small saucepan before spooning in to the base of a deep plate. Lift the sausages on to the beans and carefully wipe the frying pan with a wad of kitchen paper, leaving effectively only a residue of oil.

Gently frying eggs

Sit the frying pan back on the heat and turn the setting up to medium. Put your bread in to the toaster. When the frying pan is fairly hot, gently pour the eggs in to opposite sides of the pan. After about twenty to thirty seconds, turn down the heat to low and cook the eggs until the white is set right up to and all the way around the yolk.



If you prefer your eggs over easy, turn them just before the white is set all around the yolk and cook for one more minute.

Fried eggs are laid on sausages

Lift the cooked eggs with a spatula on to the top of the sausages.

Toast is arranged around sausages, eggs and beans

Butter the toast and half each slice diagonally. Arrange around the sausages, eggs and beans and garnish with the sliced basil.

Tucking in to sausages, eggs, beans and toast

Shin Beef Rogan Josh with Turmeric Rice

Shin of beef rogan josh on turmeric spiced rice

Shin of beef in my opinion - as I may have mentioned once or twice before - is the most under-rated of all cuts of beef. It is often perceived to be tough and unpalatable but when it is cooked properly, long and slow, it is as tender as can be and absolutely packed full of flavour. If, of course, you wish to use a different stewing suitable cut of beef, this dish will work almost as well.

When I make curries of any type, I most often do so from scratch, using the various spices and bases as required. In this instance, I noticed that these curry sauce jars were on special offer in my local supermarket so I decided to give one a try. I was actually very pleasantly surprised with the results.

Shin of beef, onion and rogan josh sauce

Ingredients (Serves 2)

3/4 pound shin of beef
2 tablespoons sunflower or rapeseed oil
1/2 medium white onion, peeled and finely sliced
1/2 a 1 pound jar of rogan josh cooking sauce
1 pint fresh beef stock
6 ounces basmati rice
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
Salt
Freshly sliced basil leaves (or herb of choice) to garnish

Starting to brown diced shin of beef

Directions

Dice the shin beef to approximately one inch cubes. Pour the oil in to a large stew pot and gently heat. Add the beef and stir with a wooden spoon to brown/seal over a medium heat. This should take two to three minutes.

Sliced onion is added to browned shin of beef

The onion should then be added to the beef. Cook in the same way for another couple of minutes until the onion is just softened.

Rogan josh sauce is added to browned beef and onion

Pour the rogan josh sauce in to the pot and stir well.

Beef stock is added to beef and rogan josh sauce

Add the beef stock to the pot and stir well. Bring to a gentle simmer, cover and cook for two and a half hours until the beef is just tender. Stir every so often and monitor the liquid level. If there is too much liquid with around half an hour of the cooking time remaining, cook from this point onwards uncovered.

Rice is washed prior to being boiled

Around quarter of an hour before the beef rogan josh is ready, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add a teaspoon of ground turmeric and stir well. Wash the rice thoroughly under running cold water through a fine sieve.

Boiling rice in turmeric water

Carefully add the rice to the water and bring to a gentle simmer for ten minutes.

Turmeric rice is thoroughly drained

Drain the rice through a sieve and allow to steam off for a few minutes.

Rogan josh shin of beef is ready to serve

The beef should by now be ultra tender and the sauce lush and thick.

Turmeric rice is formed in to beds

Arrange the rice as beds in two deep serving plates.

Shin of beef rogan josh is spooned on to rice beds

Divide the beef rogan josh between the two plates and garnish with the sliced basil or herb of choice.

A spoon makes rogan josh and rice easier to eat

Roasted Mediterranean Veg with Pasta

Cooked and drained conchiglie pasta is stirred through assorted roasted veg

This is an incredibly simple but ultra tasty and healthy dish, based upon two different popular aspects of Italian cuisine: pasta and sunshine fresh vegetables. Although I'm certainly no vegetarian, I could probably eat something like this just about every night and it is of course incredibly variable if you use different vegetables, pastas and herbs.

Supermarket pack of assorted vegetables ready for roasting

Ingredients

12 ounce pack of mixed roasting Mediterranean vegetables
2 tablespoons olive oil
Generous pinch of dried basil
Generous pinch of dried oregano
Salt and pepper
1 coffee mug full of conchiglie pasta (pasta shells)
2 or 3 medium basil leaves, rolled and shredded, to garnish

Mediterranean vegetables ready for roasting

Directions

These oven-ready trays of mixed Mediterranean vegetables are available in many supermarkets but if you can't get hold of one, simply mix and match your own vegetables of choice and cook them in an appropriate ovenproof dish.. This tray included red and yellow bell peppers (capsicums), courgette (zucchini), red onion and cherry tomatoes.

Vegetables are carefully stirred half way through cooking

Start your oven preheating to 220C/450F/Gas Mark 8. Season the vegetables with the dried basil and oregano, salt and pepper. Drizzle over the olive oil and mix carefully but well with a wooden spoon. Put the tray in to the oven for half an hour, removing to carefully stir again half way through cooking.

Measuring out a portion of conchiglie pasta

You can measure out the pasta any way you choose but I find that a coffee mug of dry shells is a good indication of how much is required per person.

Conchiglie pasta is added to a pot of heavily salted boiling water

Remember that you need plenty of water in which to cook the pasta. Too little water is what causes pasta to stick as the starch isn't sufficiently diluted as the pasta cooks. The water should also be heavily salted. Bring the water to a boil before adding the pasta to cook for ten minutes.

Conchiglie pasta is thoroughly drained

Drain the pasta thoroughly through a colander or sieve.

Drained pasta is added to tray of roasted vegetables

Remove the roasted vegetables from the oven and add the well drained pasta to the tray.

Pasta is carefully stirred through roasted vegetables

Stir the pasta carefully through the vegetables with a wooden spoon.

Pasta and roasted vegetables are plated

Use a slotted spoon to plate the pasta and vegetables.

Fresh basil leaves ready for rolling and slicing

Lay the basil leaves one on top of another, roll and finely slice. Scatter over the plated pasta and vegetables.

A spoon makes eating the pasta and veg easier

Venison Sausage and Spicy Pepper Rolls

Succulent venison sausages served on bread rolls with stir fried peppers

I saw these venison sausages on special offer in a local supermarket a few nights back and had to give them a try. Although I love venison cooked and served in many different ways, I think this was the first time I had ever tried venison sausages. This serving suggestion came about simply through having the peppers in my fridge needing used and I was delighted with the results.

Highland Game Scottish venison sausages

Ingredients (Makes 2 Rolls)

4 venison sausages
Vegetable oil or similar for frying
Generous handful mixed sliced bell peppers
1/2 red chilli pepper, seeded and finely sliced
1/2 green chilli pepper, seeded and finely sliced
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon freshly chopped coriander/cilantro
2 soft bread rolls

Starting to fry sausages

Directions

It is vital to fry the sausages at a very low heat, so that they both cook evenly and do not burst. The time this takes will depend on the size of the sausages but these ones took fifteen to twenty minutes.

Mixed bell peppers and chillies

Turn the sausages regularly as they cook, either with cooking tongs or simply by gently shaking the pan.

Peppers prepared for frying

When the sausages are ready, lift them to a plate with cooking tongs, cover with foil and leave to rest for the few minutes it will take you to prepare the peppers.

Cooked venison sausages are removed from frying pan

Put the prepared bell peppers and chilli peppers in to the pan vacated by the sausages and season with salt and pepper. Turn up the heat to medium.

Peppers are briefly stir fried in venison sausage juices

Stir fry the peppers for about a minute until just softened.

Freshly chopped coriander

Add most of the coriander to the peppers in the pan and stir well, keeping a little in reserve for scattering over the sausages.

Stir fried pepper beds on bread roll bases

Cut the bread rolls open and divide the pepper combination evenly between the two bottom halves.

Venison sausages are laid on pepper beds

Lift the sausages on to the peppers, scatter with the remaining coriander and close over to serve.

Venison sausages are scattered with a little coriander