Chicken Casserole with Pork Sausages

There are some days when nothing seems appealing from what's on the dinner menu and cooking seems tedious. Today was one such day that was spent largely catching up with sundry chores and dealing with a few things from the larger picture that is life. I was tired. I needed comfort. I wanted it easy for a little while. And I wanted to eat something nice. I press ganged the hubby and the mother into helping and cooked a simple casserole that was warm and comforting, just what I needed.

I had rooted through the freezer and removed the remaining fat and juicy pork sausages that a friend brought for us all the way from Bangalore. (Another friend has since brought us more, and that is waiting to be collected) These sausages are great in a stew or casserole and that's what I planned to make. However there were just 5 sausages left and on their own they wouldn't be enough. The hubby went out and bought chicken, and some lovely fresh ladi pav from the local bakery.

I also rooted around in my pantry cupboard and fished out a packet of casserole seasoning that my friend had sent from London. The hubby and the mother peeled and chopped potatoes, sliced onions, peeled garlic, and chopped celery. Once the prep was done it was super easy.

Chicken Casserole with Pork Sausages 

1 whole chicken, cut into pieces
5 or 6 fat spiced pork sausages, like English breakfast sausages
2 large onions, thickly sliced
2 -3 potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
8-10 cloves of garlic
2 tablesoons chopped fresh celery, stem and leaves
1 sachet Colman's Season and Shake Pork Casserole spice mix
olive oil
salt

Heat a stove top casserole dish and pour in a slug of olive oil. Place the sausages and cook for a few minutes till they turn brown. Don't worry if the sausages split. Remove to a dish leaving the oil and juices in the pan. Now in the same pan put in the chicken pieces. Drop in the leg pieces and the bony bits first. Braise for a bit till the chicken starts to brown.

Add in the onions, celery and the garlic. Stir for a few minutes and then add the remaining chicken pieces (mainly the meaty breast pieces). Braise further till the chicken turns opaque. Open the seasoning sachet and sprinkle it all over the chicken and onions. Stir and mix well. Now add the potatoes and cook for a further few minutes.

Pour in enough water to cover the chicken pieces completely. Add the sausages and bring to a boil. Simmer and cook covered till the potatoes are cooked through. The spice mix will also thicken the resulting gravy. Add a little salt only if required.

The casserole is ready once the chicken and the potatoes are cooked. Serve hot with fresh bread.

If you don't have the spice sachet you can still make a very good casserole. Use a tablespoon or so of mixed dried herbs instead, along with a stock cube. Add pepper too. Thicken the gravy with some flour.

Use more veggies if you like. Root vegetables will work very well here, as will mushrooms. Make a pot full and enjoy it with fresh dinner rolls, ladi pav, or even regular sliced white bread.

We sat at the table, all three of us, and ate a family dinner - a rarity in my house! 

Oven Baked Potatoes and Pumpkin Soup

Some times dinner just falls into place serendipitously. That happened today.

My friend Appu stayed with me for a couple of weeks and one of the things we'd planned to do was make pumpkin soup. She makes an awesome pumpkin soup and was to show me how she does it. Anyway, it was one more among the million things we didn't get around to doing. But the pumpkin was sitting there in the veg box making me feel guilty and so I made the soup myself - my own version of course.

Pumpkin Soup 

1 kg red pumpkin, peeled and cut into large chunks
1 large potato, peeled and halved
2 carrots, peeled and halved.
salt
pepper
butter
mixed herbs of your choice

Pressure cook the vegetables till they're all boiled and cooked through. Puree the veggies with a hand blender if you have one or use your liquidiser. Add salt and pepper and whatever dried herbs you fancy. Stir in a bit of butter, and you're done.

If you have fresh celery be sure to add some. Just wash the stalk well and cut into 1cm pieces. If you like the fresh crunch of celery add a few after you have pureed the soup and are heating the soup to serve.

The thing is that this soup, though quite nice, was not exciting enough.

And then I happened to see a post on a food group on Facebook. Oven roasted potato wedges with chilli oil. I read the recipe and it was so easy it called out to me!

Oven Roasted Chilli Potatoes 

4 largeish potatoes, scrubbed really well and cut into medium thick wedges. Leave the peel on.
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp paprika powder
salt


Soak the potato wedges in salted water for at least 30 mins. Be generous with the salt so the potatoes absorb enough.

Preheat the oven. Set it at 200C.

Line a baking tray with aluminium foil and spread out the drained potatoes on the foil. Drizzle liberally with the olive oil and scatter the paprika all over. Give it all a good mix with your hands so the potatoes are well coated with the oil and spice. Bake for approximately 20 minutes at 180C. Check for doneness and bake a few minutes more if required or if you want the potatoes to crisp more.

I served these fabulous potatoes with my pumpkin soup - a match made in heaven!