Thursday, June 29, 2006
Sausages with Wild Mushrooms and Peas
I'm running again. No, not from the law, nor from
debtors or my parents. I'm simply running far, far behind on the cooking again. I was going to make lemon sole on Sunday, lamb stew on Monday and bangers and mash on Tuesday, but none of these happened as planned. The fish had to wait until Monday, the lamb was nearly forgotten altogether and the bangers were still sitting in the fridge today. That's OK though, because throughout the week I have slowly used up the lettuce that was meant for the salad at dinnertime for lunch at work. So, by a happy coincidence, I finally caught up with myself again tonight; the only thing left were the sausages and some wild mushrooms that really wanted to go. I know they are not exactly the most seasonal ingredient at the moment, but I just love mushrooms and wild ones are so much more flavoursome than the cultivated button mushrooms from Tesco. Besides, Fallon & Byrne had some Pieds Bleus (site behind the link is French, for an interesting overview of mushrooms in food, I recommend this article from the Financial Times), a mushroom from the Loire valley of France that I first discovered here in Ireland and have come to love for its outlandish colour and the intense flavour it gives to dishes. In fact, the combination of wild mushrooms, summery peas, grilled tomatoes and free range pork sausages is hard to beat when it comes to quick, but warm summer food.For the sausages:
4 meaty pork sausages
3 tbsp oil
For the mushroom and pea mixture:
2 tbsp butter
50g unsmoked bacon lardons
1 medium onion, chopped
2 large handfuls of wild mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
100g peas (briefly blanched in boiling water and refreshed in cold water if you are using fresh peas)
salt and pepper to taste
To serve:
2 firm ripe tomatoes
8 to 10 baby potatoes
a few drops of olive oil (you could use flavoured oil here if you like; chilli, garlic, basil or thyme for example all work well with grilled tomatoes)
a knob of butter
Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius. Cut the tomatoes in half lengthways and remove the stalk. Place the halves, cut side up in a baking dish and drizzle with a little olive oil. Place in the middle of the oven and bake until tender and beginning to brown, about 30 to 35 minutes. (If you're in a hurry, cut the tomatoes into quarters and turn the heat up to 200 degrees. You will have to monitor them quite closely though to prevent them burning to a crisp.)
Heat the oil for the sausages in a large shallow frying pan over medium low heat. Add the sausages and fry, turning 3 to 4 times (don't overdo the turning or they will not brown), until golden brown, about 20 to 30 minutes.
For the peas, heat the butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the bacon lardons and fry for 8 to 10 minutes until golden brown and crisp. Remove and drain on kitchen paper. Reduce the heat to medium low, add the onions and thyme and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are tender but not browned, about 8 minutes.
Place the potatoes in a medium saucepan with just enough water to cover. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain thoroughly and allow most of the steam to escape. Add the butter and toss to coat.
While the potatoes are cooking, add the mushrooms to the onions, turn the heat back up to medium and sauté over high heat until golden brown and any moisture coming out of the mushrooms has been cooked off. Add the peas and crispy bacon and cook for a further 2 to 3 minutes until the peas are tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Christine at 9:14 am
