bacon | anél potgieter

Porks sausages + bacon + beer + vegetables – my version of the Irish coddle is one of Rick’s favourite dishes. I am married to a man of Irish descent and what I have learned from our family visits to Ireland – and my husband is that the Irish love beer (Guinness only when in the Emerald Isle) + whiskey + eating potatoes + pork sausages + salmon + they only start a party at 9pm and even if you are around the ripe age of 75 there is still nothing wrong with partying till 4am and passing out on the couch at you friends house if you had too much to drink!! I just love the Irish, it is their spirit, their joviality and perhaps the fact that they are never shy to drink more than me.

For this recipe I have added a few herbs, mustard seeds and some beer and then also added some lemon. I think it’s a bit of modern Coddle and it’s hearty and just perfect in the dead of winter. It is so easy to prepare …everything is in one bowl, meat, veggies etc. So between my mother-in-law and my sister-in-law I think we have come up with a rather decent local version of the Irish coddle! Sleinte!

Serves 4 or 6
Preparation time: 20 min
Cooking time: 1h

Ingredients

6 Pork sausages
4 Garlic cloves finely chopped
125g Bacon finely chopped
4T Olive oil
2 Onions – sliced
2 Celery sticks – chopped finely
2 Large carrots – chopped
2 t Mustard seeds – if you dint have just add 2t mustard
30 g Flour
3 Large potatoes – peeled and cut in quarters
50g Tomato paste
1t Lemon juice
1t Balsamic vinegar
2.5 Cups of stock – I used beef stock
1/2 cup of beer (I used a lager – no Guinness on hand I’m afraid)
2T Chopped parsley
1T Fresh sage (optional)
1t Black pepper corns

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 °C.
2. Fry the sausages in an oven proof dish with 2T olive oil. Just brown them and then remove from dish. Now fry the fry the bacon and take out.
3. Add the other 2 T oil and fry the onions till golden brown.
4. Add carrots and the celery and garlic sweat veggies till translucent.
5. Add 30 g flour, let it fry for a minute or two.
6. Now add all the other ingredients.
7. Put the lid on and bake for 1hour.
8. Serve with fresh bread.

I made a tomato pasta sauce with well-renowned and fabulous Nina Timm at her home earlier today. What an honour and absolute delight to meet and spend a day with this amazing woman! Yip, she is the wonder behind the much followed www.my-easy-cooking.com blog. We laughed, we cooked and shared so many stories from our past and talked about the thrills of living in today…. I will be chatting to her tomorrow on her RSG radio broadcast between 9 and 10 am and share what we did today. I am so inspired and so alive … Nina I thank you for one of the best days of my life and to cooking up many more memories in the future!

Back to the sauce … I am a freakishly mad about tomatoes. So obviously my most favourite pasta sauce is a tomato-based sauce … made from fresh, ripe, juicy tomatoes that brim with flavour. I read about this method to make tomato sauce a few years ago in a magazine – unfortunately I cannot remember or find the magazine between the thousands of foodie magazines lying around in my house – please try this, it is definitely the most delicious tomato sauce you will ever taste!!

Serves: 6
Preparation and cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

900g Rosa tomatoes
200ml Olive oil – good quality (I know this sounds a lot but the tomatoes burst open to combine with the olive oil, garlic and basil – and creates the most amazing sauce )
8 Garlic cloves – peeled but kept in whole segments
Handful fresh Basil
Salt and black pepper
150 – 200g Fresh parmesan cheese – shaved with potato peeler
500g Penne pasta (or spaghetti)

Method

1. Add the olive oil to a large pan / pot and add the garlic and about one handful of torn basil leaves. Heat the oil very slowly on low-medium – we want to infuse the oil with the garlic and basil. Infuse for about 5 minutes – please don’t burn the garlic.
2. Add all the tomatoes, turn up the heat to medium high and cook for +- 20 minutes without the saucepan lid.
3. You will see the tomatoes will start to burst open and infuse with the olive oil.
4. Season generously with salt and freshly grounded black pepper. Please be sure to taste when you season!
5. Just before serving, add the rest of the basil and sprinkle generously with shaved parmesan
6. You can use the sauce just as is or see the 10 variations below you can add at the end for an interesting twist.

10 Variations you can add to the tomato sauce + remember always sprinkle generously with shaved parmesan!

1) Cut chorizo sausages in slices and add – this makes it a rich and spicy dish.
2) Bacon (+ chilies optional) – everyone loves bacon! Adding a somewhat smoky flavour to your pasta.
3) Meatballs – you can make this on Sunday and just add in the week to your pasta dish.
4) Lots of fresh chopped chilies – simple, yet always deliciously and one of my favourites.
5) Capers + olives + anchovies + chilies – my absolute favourite!
6) Any seafood – prawns, calamari, fish, mussels – add them to the tomato based sauce at the end of the cooking process – let it simmer through for 5 minutes – taste for seasoning again after you have added any seafood.
7) Fresh herbs (basil, parsley) and lots of rocket – mix it with the sauce – yum.
8) Roasted vegetables + olives + capers + crumbled feta – these produce lovely Mediterranean tastes.
9) Artichokes, creamy feta cheese + sprinkle of dry oregano (use the oregano very sparingly).
10) Fresh slices of buffalo mozzarella + sprinkled with smoked Maldon salt .

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anél potgieter

Tag Archives: bacon

pork sausage + bacon + beer + veg = modern irish coddle

tomato pasta sauce + 10 variations to spice it up