Cook Book Club: November

Thistles and Kiwis,

I think I may have mentioned before, but my older brother Sandy (who is 18 years older than me) was a huge influence on me getting interested in food and cooking. I can still remember his cassoulet, another wonderful dish with monkfish and orange, and the layers of savoury crepes, filled, I think with spinach and cheese (someone might be able to fill me in on what that is called). So when I saw this month’s cookbook challenge I thought I would cook something for him to say thank you for giving me a life long interest in food. He had a stroke a few years ago, and is no longer able to cook himself, so I hope this little post will do as an acknowledgement of his influence.

Julia Child was an influence on his cooking, along with Jane Grigson and Elizabeth David. In the 1980s, like many cooks in the US, The Silver Palate books became a well used source of ideas. I initially thought of turning to one of the two books I have of theirs, one indeed gifted to me by Sandy, but instead I thought ‘who would he like to cook from now?’. And, rightly or wrongly, I thought Diana Henry, who not only produces some wonderful recipes, but also writes beautifully. I decided to go for something from this well used copy of From the Oven to the Table.

The recipe I chose is one I have made before, but not for quite a while, salsiccia con patate e pomodori al forno, or sausages baked in the oven with potatoes and capsicum. I used these Woody’s pork and fennel sausages, which have a great flavour and I felt would work well with this dish.

The dish could not be simpler to make. Preheat the oven to 190C. Cut each sausage into around 3 pieces, then quickly brown them in a shallow ovenproof pan. Add a 1/4 teaspoon of fennel seeds and, depending on your sausages, about the same of chilli flakes if you like. Add in a finely chopped onion, potatoes (I used small new potatoes, halved, but obviously if using normal sized potatoes you want to peel them and cut them into 3mm slices), garlic, capsicum (try and use different colours) and seasoning.

Pop into the oven for 20 minutes, stir everything around, top with sliced tomatoes and grated pecorino (or the end of a piece of cheddar like I did mixed with parmesan). Return to the oven for around 30 minutes or until everything is golden and the potatoes are soft. You can sprinkle with parsley if you a) like or b) remember. All you need is something green on the side.

Make again? Yes….always tasty and so simple.

The book? Another one that is well used already.

Entered in the cook book club hosted by Jo of Brookford Kitchen Diaries. Next month it is, naturally, a Christmas theme. This is tough for me as we do a Swedish Christmas table with the same food each year. I’ll need to think of a good salad perhaps to have on the side? Remember, we are in the southern hemisphere and Christmas is time for summer feasting.

Thistles and Kiwis is a Wellington, New Zealand based blog written by Barbara, who likes cats, summer, good food and pretends to garden.

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Published by Thistles and Kiwis

Loves summer, sunshine and cats. Beginner gardener, likes eating, cooking and reading about food

47 Comments

  1. Christmas in the southern hemisphere can be a challenge for traditionalists. Here, the temperature can rise to uncomfortable levels and so all those northern hemisphere Christmas goodies are a no-no. I enjoy this cooking tribute to your brother – how sad he is unable to cook anymore, so I hope he still gets to enjoy flavoursome food. The dish you have chosen looks both simple and delicious 🙂

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    1. I agree – at least Swedish Midsummer food has a lot of similarities to Swedish Christmas food in terms of herring, meatballs etc.

      Yes it is sad that Sandy can’t cook any more but he still likes to eat.

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  4. By the way – which theme do you use for your blog?

    I am going to start another – to do with local history – and have been looking at theme available.

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  5. Which theme do you use for your blog?

    I am going to start another for local history and have been looking at theme.

    From Journey from a Polish Kitchen – seems a bit different to make comments

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  6. Cassoulet with monkfish is a new one to me as I have always had it as a confit of duck, sausage, bean combination. Elizabeth David described it as “that sumptuous amalgamation of haricot beans, sausage, pork, mutton and preserved goose, aromatically spiced with garlic and herbs”.

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  14. I love how food joins us to our loved ones. I have this book on my shelves and it is time to pull it down and be inspired again. I will most definitely be making the sausage, potato and capsicum bake again, soon. Thank you so much for sharing.

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  15. I love the look of the salsiccia con patate e pomodori al forno. A quick and easy. 🙂 I am going to try it this week if I can get the peppers. Did you watch the film about Julia Child? It was great.

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      1. Yep, if I can get out to get the red and yellow peppers I sure will. I’ve not seen the documentary but I did see another film about a woman who was obsessed with making all the recipes in the JC cookbook. I can’t remember what it was called now but I saw that before the JC film

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  18. This looks like a delicious recipe. I envy you owning copies of the Silver Palate cookbooks, I looked mine up online on a friend’s recommendation. I might find an old copy somewhere one day. Cheers, from across the ditch.

    Pauline (Happy Retirees Ktichen)

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  22. ooo, this looks delish and so doable. I’m not what capsicum is, though. I make a sausage and pepper dish that is similar and cleans out the vegetables that need to be cooked ASAP.

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