I hope that I find you feeling well today. Like many people, my household has been suffering with winter viruses over the last few weeks. Nothing too serious, although my toddler grandson was pretty unwell with Flu (typically caught just a week before his Flu jab was due!) and my daughter was ill with Bronchitis. But in the main, we’ve been suffering with the good old-fashioned common cold.
When you feel unwell, you just want to hunker down with warming and comforting foods. Usually those we remember our mums making when we were children.
Yesterday, when I actually felt ok enough to move, I decided to make a comforting sausage and mash with a red onion sauce. I just scrabbled together bits that I have stashed in the larder, and some lovely Cumberland sausages my partner had been out and bought.
Usually when I cobble meals together rather than tried and trusted recipes, I forget to write them down. So yesterday, I made sure that I did – and took plenty photos to share.
So, while I had potatoes cooking for mash, and the sausages dry frying on their own, I made the sauce separately.
For the two of us, I used:
- ½ a red onion, sliced
- ½ a leek, sliced
- Handful of mushrooms, chopped into approximately quarter slices
- 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
- 2 teaspoons honey melted in a little boiling water
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- Approximately 100ml double cream
In a pan, add some vegetable oil and the red onions, and begin frying them. After a couple of minutes add the leek and mushrooms. Give this a stir and allow them to fry a little before stirring in the mustard, sugar, honey and balsamic.
Stirring regularly but not constantly, allow the sauce to bubble away until it starts to thicken. Then turn the heat down and simmer until the sausages are sufficiently browned and cooked through.
When the potatoes are ready, plus any other vegetables (we had peas), add the cream into the sauce and combine, then add the sausages and warm through. 
The quantities given here are all subject to your own taste, if you prefer more heat add more mustard and some black pepper. If you find it a bit sharp, add more sugar or honey, and if a bit sweet add more vinegar. Indeed, you may want to add some wine or herbs or spices. For us, the sausages were sufficiently herby.
In other news, I have a brand new dream kitchen extension built. We’ve had builders in and the house in a nightmare state since the summer. But we’re on the home-run now finally. Just bits and bobs to finish off. My two favourite parts are my kitchen island and walk-in larder. These making cooking an absolute pleasure for me. I also adore my new range cooker and Belfast sink. So yes, I have four favourites not just two.
The new range means I’m thoroughly enjoying batch cooking – my excuse being that with the builders around it makes sense to have a few days’ worth of meals cooked ready to just heat and eat. They’re also my excuse for baking – builders need to be kept full of cake and coffee in my experience!
It’s also given us the push to declutter and get rid of a lot of old items we’ve been hoarding and replace with new. My son-in-law bought me a great pan set for Christmas, and the builders made me some fabulous butchers-block chopping boards with left over oak worktop. They’re amazing! But I’ve also been treating us to a new toaster and door runner and other little bits and bobs. Our savings are now heavily depleted so it’s lucky I’m loving cooking as eating out is going to be curtailed for a while.
Hopefully, when I write again the kitchen will be fully completed and I shall share photos of the finished room with you all.
In the meantime,
Take care
Love
Maggie x