Angela Day serves up four tasty dishes using chicken, pork, beef and lamb sausages. She also gets a lesson from chef Nicky Gibbs in making her own sausages.
CURRIED BEEF SAUSAGES
Serves 4
500g packet of beef bangers
10ml oil
1 onion, chopped
5ml chopped garlic
10ml curry powder
400g can of chopped tomatoes
250ml beef stock
salt and pepper
mashed potato for serving
Fry the sausages in the oil until nicely browned but not cooked through. Remove and set aside.
Add the onion and garlic to the pan and fry until soft. Stir in the curry powder and cook for a few seconds. Add the tomatoes, stock and seasoning.
Return the sausages to the pan and simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes until the sausages are cooked and the sauce has thickened. Serve sausages with mashed potato.
SATAY CHICKEN SAUSAGES
Serves 4
500g packet of red pepper- flavoured chicken bangers*
30ml peanut oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
10ml chopped garlic
5-10ml Thai green curry paste
400g can of coconut cream
125ml smooth peanut butter
15ml soy sauce
30ml lime or lemon juice
chopped fresh coriander to serve
Fry the sausages in about 5ml of the oil until cooked through. Remove and set aside.
Put the remaining oil in a small pot and gently fry the onion and garlic until soft.
Add the curry paste and fry for a minute. Add the coconut milk and bring to the boil.
Add the peanut butter and stir until smooth. Simmer for 1-2 minutes until thickened.
Remove from the heat and stir in the soy sauce and lime juice.
Pour over the cooked sausages and serve sprinkled with coriander.
* Available at Woolworths.
LAMB SAUSAGE WITH COUSCOUS
Serves 4
500g packet of lamb sausages
2 brinjals, cubed
125g butternut, cubed
3-4 baby marrows, sliced
1 red onion, peeled and cut into wedges
15ml harissa paste
15ml lemon juice
5ml lemon rind
15ml olive oil
375ml boiling chicken stock
375ml couscous
salt and pepper
60ml chopped coriander
Frythe lamb sausages until nicely browned. Drain well on paper towel. Cut the sausages into 2cm slices.
Combine the brinjals, butternut, marrows and onion in a bowl.
Combine the harissa paste, lemon juice, rind and olive oil and mix well. Pour this over the vegetables and toss well to coat the vegetables.
Put the vegetables into a roasting pan and roast at 180°C for 30-40 minutes until they are soft. Remove and set aside.
Pour boiling stock over the couscous, cover and set aside for 2-3 minutes. Fluff with a fork.
Add the vegetables to the couscous and toss to combine.
Season to taste.
Add the sausage slices and coriander and serve.
PORK SAUSAGES WITH APPLE AND BACON
Serves 4
250g chopped streaky bacon
500g packet of pork bangers
1 large leek, thinly sliced
30ml flour
330ml can of sparkling apple juice
15ml wholegrain mustard
2 green apples, cored and cut into wedges
a handful of sage leaves
Fry bacon until crispy. Remove and drain on paper towel.
Add the sausages to the frying pan and cook until golden brown but not all the way through. Remove and set aside.
Add the leek to the pan and fry until soft. Stir in the flour and cook for a minute.
Add the apple juice and mustard and cook, stirring, until the mixture boils. Return the bacon and sausages to the pan, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
Add the apples to the pan and cook for another 5-10 minutes until they are soft and the bangers are cooked through. Serve sprinkled with sage.
WHY NOT TRY MAKING YOUR OWN?
I asked chef Nicky Gibbs to show me just how easy it is to make your own sausages at home – assuming, of course, you have a mincer with a sausage making attachment.
She says that unless you buy your sausages from a reputable place, you have no way of knowing what has been put into them.
“If you make your own, you can flavour them to your taste and not have to worry that any fillers or cereal have gone in to bulking them up,” she says.
Nicky also feels that there is no finer package of seasonings and flavourings with protein and fat than a sausage.
“The Romans were the first recorded (makers of) sausages, which were cured and salted.”
She adds that France makes the best sausages because, by law, they aren’t allowed to add cereals or preservatives.
Try her spicy lamb sausage recipe:
SPICY LAMB SAUSAGES
INGREDIENTS
500g fatty lamb meat, cut into 2cm cubes
15ml chopped dried mango
30ml chopped coriander
2ml black pepper
5ml salt flakes
5ml chopped chilli
3ml ground cumin
3ml ground coriander
Combine the lamb, mango, coriander, seasoning, chilli and spices in a bowl and leave for an hour or two for the flavours to infuse.
Mince the meat with the mincing attachment. Affix the sausage maker attachment and thread the sausage skin on. (You can buy sausage skins from most butchers)
Put the minced meat through the machine at a steady pace so that the mixture comes through evenly.
When all the meat has gone through, twist the length into banger size sausages or keep as one long sausage.
Rest the sausages for at least two hours before cooking. - The Star