Tag: cider

Hereford Sausages

I have no idea where I got ‘The Complete Farmhouse Kitchen Cookbook‘  from, but it is now quite battered, and I use it every week. It has a lot of basic recipes, many of which I have used more than once. Every so often, I find another corner I have never visited and there are new treasures. 

This time, I was looking to try out recipes for the large numbers of sausages we seem to have stashed in the freezer. I sometimes buy them when they are reduced, freeze them and then forget.

INGREDIENTS: 

  • 450g sausaages
  • 25g vegetable oil or cooking fat
  • 2 onoins, finely chopped
  • 2 rashers of bacon, cut into strips
  • 1 heaped teaspoon of plain flour
  • 3 tbsp cider
  • 300ml stock
  • 1 bayleaf
  • salt and pepper
  • 150g chopped mushrooms
  • Chopped parsley to serve

Serve with mashed potatoes and celeriac

METHOD:

  • Fry the sausages in cooking fat until they are properly cooked, up to about 20 minutes. Set aside
  • In the pan, add the onion and bacon and cook gently for around 5 minutes
  • Sprinkle in the flour and stir it in, cooking for another 2 minutes
  • Pour in the stock and cider, stir it in and bring it to a simmer. 
  • Add the bayleaf and sausages, and simmer for around 10 minutes
  • Add the chopped mushrooms and simmer for a further 10 minutes. 

Serve on a bed of mashed potatoes and celeriac, garnished with chopped parsley

Rabbits in cider

This is a third recipe combining the flavour of rabbits with apples. The rabbits were stored in the freezer, having been shot last month. Malcolm tells me that this is prime rabbit shooting time: they are fat and ready for winter, and good eating. Susannah found the recipe and it was very tasty.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 tbsp organic olive oil from the wholefood co-op
  • 300g bacon, freerange, diced
  • 1 rabbit, cut into joints, available locally
  • 12 carrots, homegrown for preference
  • 8 shallots, homegrown for preference
  • 4 garlic cloves, homegrown for preference
  • 2 tbsp organic honey from the wholefood co-op or fairtrade from the scottish co-op
  • 1 sprig of thyme, homegrown
  • 1 bayleaf, homegrown
  • 400ml cider
  • salt and pepper to taste

METHOD:

  • Fry off the bacon in the oil and remove to a large casserole dish
  • Fry off the rabbit in the same oil, and put in the dish with the bacon
  • Fry off the carrots, shallots, garlic and honey, on a low heat, until the mixture looks caramelised
  • Put the caramelised vegetables on top of the rabbit, and add cider, herbs and seasoning.
  • Cook at 120C for 2-3 hours, until the rabbit is cooked.

We also had bread and butter pudding afterwards, but that is another story.

Lamb in Cider

Once upon a time, I decided to try cooking a leg of lamb with cider instead of wine. It was delicious. I just found the recipe again.

INGREDIENTS:

  • A joint of lamb
  • 750ml cider
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 heaped tsp dried rosemary
  • a pinch of ground ginger
  • 1 onion, chopped

METHOD:

  • Rub the lamb with the salt, pepper and ginger, and put into a casserole dish that fits well. Sprinkle with rosemary and pour in the cider. Cover, and bake at 140 C for 3+ hours
  • We served with roast parsnips, roast potatoes and buttered cabbage

Rabbits, apples and cider

We had this tonight, either this was an exceptionally tender rabbit, or the recipe was just fab. I think the latter. As it was midweek, I did my trick of doing the main cooking last night, and then reheating and cooking for another 15 minutes tonight. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 rabbit, jointed
  • seasoned flour
  • 50g butter
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 2 sticks of celery, finely chopped
  • 1 cooking apple, peeled and diced
  • 1 good pinch of dried thyme leaves
  • a good grating of nutmeg
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 200g pancetta or diced smoked streaky bacon
  • 300ml dry cider
  • salt and pepper

METHOD:

  • Heat the butter in a saucepan, and fry the chopped apples, onions, bacon and celery together. When the onion is soft and beginning to brown, set aside, and add the herbs and nutmeg. 
  • Dip the rabbit in the seasoned flour. Add a little more butter to the pan and fry the rabbit until the joints are browned. 
  • Add the cider and the fried onion mixture, bring to a simmer and season to taste. 
  • Cover and put into an oven heated to 150C for around an hour and a half. 

We served this with mashed potatoes and braised cabbage. It would be excellent with parsnips too.