What am I going to cook for Dinner?

Following on from yesterday's closing statement I spent a few minutes perusing the contents of the refrigerator and kitchen cupboards this morning before deciding that I would assemble a sausage casserole. I quite like cooking but it is not something I do very often. I regularly get involved in curing and butchery but actual presentation of an assembled dish on the table is not a frequent occurrence. As the house refurbishment nears conclusion perhaps I will have more time to rattle the pots and pans.

Now, back to the sausage casserole, I have never actually cooked one of these before but have eaten many prepared by 30%. I knew the basic ingredients so decided that I would wing it. This is what I came up with;

Ingredients:

• 1 pack of 12 pork sausages
• 1 or 2 Kabanos (diced)
• 2 cans of chopped plum tomatoes
• 1 tbsp of tomato puree
• 2 or 3 medium onions (chopped)
• 2 or 3 sticks of celery (chopped)
• 1 or 2 peppers (diced)
• 8 to 10 peeled new potatoes (2 cm dice)
• glug of olive oil
• 2-3 cloves of garlic (crushed)
• 1 chicken stock cube
• 1/2 vegetable stock cube
• 1/2 tsp salt & loads of freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp dried Oregano
• 1/2 tsp dried Basil
• 1/2 tsp dried Rosemary
• 1/2 tsp dried Thyme
• 2 Bay Leaves

Method

• Heat the oil in a large flat bottomed pan
• add the onions, pepper, celery and garlic and soften for a couple of minutes
• add the sausages and start to brown them (they don't need to be cooked through)
• once the sausages have started to brown add the potatoes and cook for about five minutes
• add the seasoning, herbs and crumbled stock cubes. Mix in thoroughly
• add the chopped tomatoes, tomato puree and diced kabanos, mix in and bring to simmering point
• transfer the heated ingredients to a slow cooker and cook on "low" for 4-6 hours. Keep an eye on it and stir in additional water if it becomes too dry.

This was served with chunks of crusty bread and I can report it as a great success.