Share

Tuesday 30 July 2019

Sausage and home made baked bean casserole


  • 400g home made baked beans (view baked been recipe)
  • 8 pork sausages (each one cut into 4 slices)
  • 1 large onion, finely diced
  • 1 carrot, peeled and cut into small bite size pieces
  • 1 pint vegetable stock
  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 tbsp English mustard
  • 3 tbsp chopped parsley
  • Pinch of salt
  • Few grinds of freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oil in a deep frying pan and cook the sausages until browned all over.  Add the carrots and onions and cook for a further 10 minutes until softened.  Add the stock, mustard, parsley, pepper and a pinch of salt, stir everything through and bring to the boil.  Add the homemade baked beans to the sausage mixture, stir, reduce the heat and simmer for 1 hour.  Once cooked through, divide the casserole between 4 bowls, sprinkle over some extra parsley and enjoy.

Whilst it is summer, on days like this, comfort food is called for!  You can use store bought baked beans however home made baked beans make this dish a bit more special.  Likewise use whichever sausages you prefer, there are a good variety of flavours out there so mix it up a bit, give some extra flavour to the dish.  I served this with some mashed potato and it went down a treat.

Monday 8 July 2019

Crispy breaded chicken & sweetcorn salad with jalapeño and garlic ranch dressing

Crispy breaded chicken & sweetcorn salad with jalapeño and garlic ranch dressing

  • 1-2 Tbsp roughly chopped pickled jalapeno 
  • 1 medium garlic clove, minced
  • 2 Tbsp roughly chopped red onion
  • 1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
  • 355ml mayonnaise 
  • 237ml of buttermilk
  • 1118ml of sour cream
  • Small handful of coriander leaves
  • 1/2 tsp sugar
  • 2 sliced chicken breasts
  • Golden breadcrumbs
  • 1 beaten egg
  • Handful of plain flour
  • Vegetable oil
  • Salad leaves
  • Chopped cherry tomatoes
  • 1 ripe avocado sliced
  • Large handful of corn kernels 


In a food processor add the roughly chopped pickled jalapenos, garlic cloves, chopped onion and lime juice. Add the mayonnaise, buttermilk, sour cream, coriander,  garlic, and sugar, pour into a container and place into the fridge.

Place the breadcrumbs, beaten egg and flour into separate bowls.  Dip the sliced chicken into the egg then the flour and lastly the breadcrumbs until all pieces are well coated.

Pour enough vegetable oil into a large frying pan to cover the base by about half inch deep, heat and then add the coated chicken strips, cook for around 20 minutes or so until cooked through and crispy.  Remove from the pan and place onto some kitchen paper to soak up any excess oil.

Plate up your salad, top with the avocado, corn and tomatoes, add the chicken strips and drizzle over the ranch dressing.

This is an amazing salad, perfect for summer.  You can dry fry the sweetcorn to add some charred edges to it, also with the dressing you can increase the heat by adding some fresh chopped jalapeño pepper, adjust it however suits your tastes.  The dressing can be kept in the fridge for up to 5 days.