Sausages with rich Guinness gravy

If you don’t like Guinness don’t be put off making this recipe for St Patrick's Day from my book Sausage & Mash. It makes the most fantastic dark, rich, sticky onion gravy that doesn’t taste remotely of beer.

Serves 4

2 tbsp olive oil
20g butter
2 large Spanish onions (about 425-450g), peeled and finely sliced
1 dsp granulated or caster sugar
1 dsp plain flour
175ml fresh beef stock or stock made with 1/2 an organic beef stock cube
225ml original Guinness
8 plump traditional pork sausages or 2 Cumberland rings (about 700g in total)
2-3 tsp malt or wine vinegar
Seasalt

Heat one tablespoon of the oil in a large frying pan, add the butter then when it has melted tip in the onions. Stir them so they’re coated with the butter mixture then cook slowly over a low heat for about 25-30 minutes until soft and golden. Sprinkle in the sugar, mix in well then turn the heat up and stir continuously for about 5 minutes until the onions are brown and caramelised. Stir the flour into the onions and cook for a minute then add the stock and the Guinness. Bubble up for a minute or two then turn right down and leave to simmer.

Grill or fry the sausages using the remaining oil until browned on all sides. Check the seasoning on the onion gravy adding salt and vinegar to taste. Transfer the sausages to the gravy, spooning it over them thoroughly then continue to cook on a low heat for about 15-20 minutes until the sausages are cooked, adding a little water if the gravy gets too thick. Serve with colcannon (below).

What to drink: Guinness or another Irish stout would be the obvious pairing but a hearty British ale would work too. Or you could drink a hearty red like a Malbec - see this list of wines to pair with Irish food.

Colcannon
Serves 4
900g King Edwards or other good boiling potatoes, peeled and cubed
250g sliced spring or Savoy cabbage
50g butter at room temperature
75ml warm milk
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place the potatoes in a saucepan of cold water and bring to the boil. Skim off any froth, season with salt then cook for 20-25 minutes until done. Drain the potatoes thoroughly then return to the pan.

Meanwhile toss the greens for 2-3 minutes in a little boiling, salted water until just cooked. Drain, return to the pan and season with salt, pepper and 10g of the butter.

Mash the potatoes thoroughly till smooth then beat in the remaining butter and milk. Season with salt and pepper then mix in the buttered greens.

Sausage and Mash is published by Absolute Press. Photo © Georgia Glynn-Smith

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Pot Roast Pork with Fennel, Olives, Oranges & Oregano

If you're looking for a Sunday roast with a twist try this gorgeous Spanish-inspired pork recipe from Richard Turner's amazing new book, Hog*. Not least 'cos it mentions me in the intro ;-)

"Although not particularly authentic, this braise was inspired by stews I’ve eaten in Ibiza and is redolent of a hot Iberian summer. Fiona Beckett, a long time oenophile and dispenser of sage advice, recommends a glass or two of Santa Maria del Camí Binissalem from neighbouring Mallorca.

Serves 4

1.5kg boned and rolled pork shoulder

Maldon sea salt flakes

50ml olive oil

2 onions, halved through the root

2 fennel bulbs, halved through the root

4 garlic cloves, sliced

200ml dry white wine

1 litre pork broth or stock

200ml fresh orange juice

400g can chopped tomatoes

100g pitted green olives

2 large oranges, segmented

2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves

hot smoked paprika, for dusting (optional)

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/gas mark 6.

Score the skin of the pork with a sharp knife, making small incisions 2cm apart, then rub the skin with salt.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large flameproof casserole over a medium heat. Add the onions and fennel and cook for 10 minutes until just softened and golden. Add the garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes.

Add the white wine and reduce by half. Pour in the stock, bring to the boil and reduce by half, then add the orange juice and tomatoes.

Sit the pork in the vegetables and place in the oven, uncovered, for 40 minutes. Add the olives, then cook for a further 20 minutes until the pork is cooked through.

Turn the oven off, add the orange segments and oregano and allow to rest in the oven for 30 minutes before transferring to a chopping board to carve.

Serve the pork along with the vegetables, olives and orange segments, drizzled with a spoonful of the pan juice. The lightest dusting of hot smoked paprika at the end adds a lovely warming character.

*Subscribers can win a copy of the book this month! All you need to do is register on the website then send an email to giveaways@matchingfoodandwine.com with 'Hog book' in the subject line by Sunday 26th April 2015.

What to drink: As Richard says I'm a fan of Santa Maria del Camí Binissalem - a robust blend of the local Mante Negro blended with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah which is normally listed by Marks & Spencer but seems to be currently out of stock. A good Côtes du Rhône or other grenache-based red should also work.

Photo © Paul Winch-Furness

Bacon Tart

A traditional - and delicious - recipe from a book I discovered called Cape Winelands Cuisine compiled by Hetta van Deventer-Terblanche. Basically it's a savoury bread pudding rather than a tart but none the worse for that.

Hetta writes: Many versions of bacon tart appear in old cookbooks. All the recipes are basically a variatio on a salty 'bread pudding' made from egg custard, bread and breakfast bacon or ham. This recipe is a firm favourite and can easily be prepared in a large pie dish for a group of people or as individual portions

Ingredients

3 Tbsp (45 ml) butter

¼ cup (60 ml) dried breadcrumbs

Butter or oil for sautéing

½ red onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

300 g back or shoulder bacon, diced

6 slices bread

4 eggs

2 cups (500 ml) buttermilk or full-cream milk (buttermilk has a distinctive sour taste)

½ cup (125 ml) grated Cheddar cheese

¼ tsp (1 ml) ground allspice

Pinch of cayenne pepper

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 spring onions, chopped, for garnishing (optional)

Method

Preheat the oven to 160°C (325 °F).

Grease an ovenproof dish with 1 Tbsp (15 ml) of the butter and dust with the breadcrumbs. Refrigerate for 15 minutes to set.

Heat a little butter or oil in a pan and sauté the onion, garlic and bacon for 5 minutes until done.

Spread each slice of bread, on one side only, with the remaining butter. Lay the buttered bread in layers in the dish, buttered side up, sprinkling the sautéed onion and bacon mixture over each layer.

Mix the eggs, buttermilk or milk, cheese, allspice and cayenne pepper together. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Pour the mixture over the bread in the ovenproof dish and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden and set. Sprinkle with spring onions if using.

Either turn out and service in slices, or serve directly from the dish.

What to drink: It's a South African dish so I'd suggest a South African wine - a Chenin or Chenin Blanc blend, I reckon. Or a dry to medium-dry cider

Tom Parker-Bowles Neapolitan Ragù

If you think you have the ultimate bolognese recipe, think again. Try this fantastic version from Tom Parker-Bowles book Let's Eat Meat. I love Tom's style of writing - do read the great introduction:

"Ah, Naples. Considered by many as filthy, dirty and dangerous, a southern Italian wretch who has seen better days. But for me it’s Italy’s greatest city, endlessly invaded and occupied, but endlessly sexy, thrilling and beautiful. It’s also home to the best cooking in the country, as well as two of my favourite restaurants in the world (Da Dora for fish and DaMichele for pizza). This is still a poor area of the country, and meat doesn’t play a huge role in its traditional cookery. But this slow-cooked ragù is a masterpiece, the pride of every Sunday lunch, simmered and devoured with love and lust.

‘You must stay with it, guide it, caress it for hours,’ writes Jeanne Carola Francesconi in La Cucina Napoletana, ‘so that the aromas of its various components can be released and mingle with each other.’ This isn’t mere tomato sauce, rather Neapolitan lifeblood. I’ve adapted this recipe from Arthur Schwartz’s magnificent Naples at Table. It tastes even better after reading Naples ’44, Norman Lewis’s masterpiece on this most magical and seductive of cities."

Serves 6–8

1–2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

250g/9oz rindless pork belly, cut into large chunks

250g/9oz stewing veal

250g/9oz beef shin, cut into chunks

2 onions, finely chopped

½ bottle (37.5cl) of punchy red wine

3 x 400g/14oz cans of chopped tomatoes

big pinch of sea salt

big pinch of dried chilli flakes

handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large heavy pot over a medium–high heat and brown all the meat, in separate batches, until well browned – around 5 minutes for each batch. Start with the pork belly as it will release some fat, but add more oil if the meat starts to stick.

After removing the final batch of meat, tip the onions into the pan and cook over a low heat for about 10 minutes, until soft, stirring and scraping up the crisped bits of meat stuck on the bottom of the pan.

Return all the meat to the pan, add the wine and reduce over a high heat.

Add the tomatoes, salt and chilli and simmer very gently for 3–4 hours. Stir every 15 minutes or so, skimming off any excess fat. You may need to add a little water, 100ml/3½fl oz at a time, if the sauce begins to stick in the last couple of hours.

The Neapolitans would remove the meat and serve the sauce with pasta to start, then serve the meat separately for a next course. But I like it all together. Scatter on the parsley and serve with a pile of cooked fusilli or spaghetti.

Extracted from Let's eat Meat: Recipes For Prime Cuts, Cheap Bits And Glorious Scraps Of Meat by Tom Parker Bowles, published in hardback by Pavilion, priced £25. Photograph © Jenny Zarins.

What to drink: I think you need a hearty Italian red with this dish. A Taurasi might well be the local choice but other Aglianicos would work. You could also try a Sicilian red such as Nero d'Avola or even a Barbera even though it comes from the other end of the country. FB