Category: Budget Recipes

REPOST Dublin Coddle – For St Patrick’s Day

Isn’t Dublin Coddle the most adorable name for anything ever?

It sounds like a cuddle and that is exactly what you are going to get from this hearty and warming mix of sausages, cabbage, bacon and potatoes.

Dublin Coddle

I don’t seem to have the best of luck with Irish recipes (remember the corned beef potato salad?)

I had planned to make a totally safe homemade Irish Cream because hot damn do I love a little bit of Bailey’s!Β  However what they don’t tell you in most recipes for it is that, because it contains fresh cream, homemade Irish cream has a fairly limited lifespan.Β  As I am trying to moderate my diet and alcohol intake at the moment drinking a whole bottle of whiskey and a shit ton of cream over the space of about 5 five days did not seem like a viable option.

Fun…just not a viable diet option!

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So Dublin Coddle it was.Β  And whilst this was nowhere near as awful as the debacle that was the potato salad,Β  the recipe I used for Dublin Coddle (sorry I cannot remember from whence it came) was not without problems.

It asked that you layer thinly sliced potatoes into the bottom of a baking dish then piled your sauteed cabbage, onion and bacon on top and topped that with sausages.Β  Then you added stockΒ to the dish.Dublin Coddle 2

And therein lay the problem.Β  Even though I cooked this for absolutely AGES, the potatoes at the bottom didn’t cook at that well and were totally soggy.Β  And, as viewers of the British Bake Off know all too well, no one likes a soggy bottom!

 

Dublin Coddle 3

This was good but I wonder how much better it would have been if the potatoes had gone on the top and gone all crispy and delicious?

Dublin Coddle 4

I will actually make it that way next time and update you on how it turns out!Β  The good thing about this recipe is that it was traditionally made from leftovers so you can play around with ingredients and cooking techniques as much as you like!

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Here’s the recipe!

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Dublin Coddle

A delicious hearty meal, perfect for St Patrick’s Day

Ingredients

Scale
  • 8 sausages – the recipe said pork, I used beef
  • 2 onions, sliced
  • 2 rashers of bacon, sliced
  • 2 cups of cabbage, sliced
  • stock or water (I used vegetable stock)
  • Oil
  • salt and pepper
  • parsley
  • Dijon mustard

Instructions

  1. Heat a little oil in a large pan and brown the sausages. You may have to do this in two lots.
  2. Remove the sausages from the pan and set aside.
  3. Add a little more oil if required and brown the bacon and onions.
  4. Toss the cabbage through the bacon and onion mix and cook for a few minutes.
  5. Layer the potatoes in a lightly oiled casserole or baking dish.
  6. Top with the cabbage and bacon mix. Season well and almost cover with the stock.
  7. Top with the sausages.
  8. Bake at 190C until the potatoes are tender.
  9. Sprinkle with parsley and serve with mustard.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 4

Meantime, enjoy your St Patrick’s Day!!!!

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Mexi-Can! Chili Con Carne

It’s been a while since we dipped into the pages of The A-Z of Cooking…and yep, we’re still only up to C. This time though we head away from the fun, fun, fun of Children’s Favourites and into the darker world of cost savers.Β  Retro Frugality can a very scary place!

Chili Con Carne4jpg
Chili Con Carne4jpg

Surprisingly, all three recipes featured in this section were things I would have been happy to make.Β  There was the Chili Con Carne, a Tagliatelle with Bacon and Tomato Sauce and an Oxtail Casserole.Β  I REALLY wanted to make the Oxtail Casserole just because the others are things we probably eat fairly regularly and I have never cooked with o before.Β  But, someone had a hissy fit in the butcher when I asked for oxtails.Β  Sometimes it’s difficult trying to be a retro food blogger when you live with the fussiest eater on the planet!!!Β  It will be made though.Β  I have enough meals alone to warrant making some, even if just for myself.

A-Z of Cooking - Chili Con Carne Ingredients
A-Z of Cooking – Chili Con Carne Ingredients

But for now, we needed a meal to be eaten together and, turned out, we had everything to make this chilli already in the freezer, fridge and store cupboard.Β  This is really important as you will soon find out that not all my ventures into Mexican cooking have been so expeditious.Β Β  You will also notice that there are no green peppers, as specified by the recipe ingredients, and there are mushrooms which are not mentioned.Β  I am not fond of bell peppers of any sort as they tend to repeat on me for HOURS after I have eaten them.Β  Plus, I had mushrooms and, in the cost cutting vibe of this post, waste not, want not right?

Chili Con Carne Recipe
Chili Con Carne Recipe

I had one problem with this recipe.Β  And that was the lack of cumin.Β  Funnily enough, as I was writing this post, I was watching a Heston Blumenthal show where he made chili con carne and he too mentioned how important it was to have cumin in your chili recipe.

Then again, Heston’s’ chili contains 27 ingredients and at leastΒ  3 processes….I love Heston, I really do.Β  But 27 ingredients for chilli? And that doesn’t even include the muffins?

http://www.sbs.com.au/food/recipes/heston-blumenthals-chilli-con-carne-cornbread-muffins

I’m sure Heston’s recipe is the best chili you’ve ever eaten.Β  I’m equally sure that the A-Z of Cooking’s Cost Saving Recipe won’t be.

BUT.Β  And it’s a big but.Β  (Sir Mixalot would be proud).

Chili Con Carne 5
Chili Con Carne 5

Is this a tasty dish? This recipe lacked some flavour, most notably cumin.Β  And personally, I would have increased the chilli content too. However, I think the mushrooms added some umamiΒ  that would not have been present had the green peppers been used instead.Β  And it was tasty even without the cumin. So yes, big tick on tasty.

Does it fill the brief of being a cost saver? Absolutely.Β  The basic chili cost around $7.00.Β  And that made 4 large or 5 medium sized serves.

Should this become something that is in your repertoire of basic dishes that you can then flavour and snazz up whatever way you want? Totally!

Is it something you will make over and over?Β  You bet!

It’s a good, solid, basic chili recipe.Β  Sure it’s not Heston.Β  But it not everything needs to be.Β  In fact, nothing except food at The Fat Duck should be.

And if you want to jazz it up, any,Β  or all, of the following would make good additions:

  • Avocado Salsa
  • Corn Chips as dippers
  • Warm tortillas
  • Pico DiΒ  Gallo
  • Guacamole
  • Grated Cheese
  • Sour Cream
  • Pickled Jalapenos
  • Cojita or crumbled feta cheese
  • Tabasco or other hot sauce

This is great, quick easy weeknight cooking, it is also great, maybe even better the next day for lunch or dinner.

Chili Con Carne4jpg
Chili Con Carne4jpg

Eat, enjoy! With the money you save on this why not treat yourself to a margarita or two.

Have a great week!

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