Why is sausage-meat stuffing different than meatloaf?

My lovely (Scottish) hubby, after enjoying cornbread stuffing twice over Thanksgiving week, said in a plaintive voice, ‘Can we have sausage-meat stuffing for Christmas?’ I think my melting pot North American ways, my experimental nature and my need to adjust all foodstuffs to keep dairy and gluten at bay occasionally frustrate the poor man who at heart likes things to be simple. My initial questions as to what exactly it was he was looking for by saying ‘sausage-meat stuffing’ didn’t’ really illuminate anything for me either.

My other problem of course is that I cannot go out and buy ‘sausage-meat’ since all sausage in the UK (almost) comes fortified with breadcrumbs or some such and is therefore not gluten free. So I have to figure out what flavourings make it not minced pork but rather ‘sausage-meat’ and then figure out how to transform this substance into something he will recognise as stuffing. In my experience, sausage stuffing is stuffing (bread-based) with some sausage in it. I could certainly make something stuffing-like from something approximating sausage-meat - but I think he’s looking for a taste from his childhood and not some multicultural or fridge-clearing delight that I’ve been inspired to throw together.

Fortunately, I’ve been saved by Sausagelinks. They’ve spelled out the ingredients for homemade sausages with an understanding of how they work together – the need for there to be enough fat, some grain item (for me probably homemade gluten free breadcrumbs or rice flour) and the appropriate herbs and spices (at its simplest salt, pepper and possibly sage). Sausagelinks seems to be a clearinghouse for information about independent sausage producers and provides a nice set of recipes as well as sausage ‘news’ with notes about new items and details of food events.

Now that I know how to put together ‘sausage-meat’, I have to work out the stuffing part. In a nutshell, it seems as if to make it ‘stuffing’ rather than a misshapen lump of sausage, it needs to be further ‘watered’ down with breadcrumbs, chestnuts or some similar substance to ‘soften’ the meat texture and then bake/roast or steam and then slice (or stuff into a bird). I have to say, as much as I like all kinds of stuffing and as much as I am sure the flavourful bird drippings add tons of flavour, my food poisoning sensitivities are too strong to cook something as dense as another wad of meat inside a bird. It just seems that either the bird would be leather or the sausage-meat would be underdone.

So, what happened when I tried it? Well, first of all, he loved it. It was essentially served as a meatloaf – sliced warm and served with a baked sweet potato and creamed corn (you can take the girl out of America…..). I did make my own gluten free breadcrumbs by toasting slices of gluten free bread in a low oven until dried and then pulsing in the food processor. I made ‘sausage-meat’ by adding salt (actually a seasoning mix called 'Jane’s Krazy Mixed Up Salt’ which also has herbs and dried onion and garlic) and pepper as well as some dried sage and some nutmeg. There was 500g for pork mince so I added 50g of breadcrumbs. Then I looked at the next several recipes and made something up – I added another 40g of breadcrumbs, chopped chestnuts and some olive oil for some additional fat. I moulded it into the bottom of the bowl, popped it out and put it into a small roasting pan and roasted it at around 180 degrees C for about 40 minutes. I left it resting for around 15 minutes before slicing.

I was dubious about the texture of all those breadcrumbs – but it was a hit with hubby. He liked the dense texture and felt that it was nicely moist. I have some adjustments in mind for when I make this at Christmas though – I think an egg or two would help the texture and I think a couple of slices of smoked streaky bacon put through the food processor and mixed in would help. I also think that while I followed the recipe in terms of the percentage of seasoning based on weight, and at the time thought it would be far too much, I would actually add even a bit more. I’ll let you know how it goes…

Light Meals (Tiffin)

The other weekend we went for the first time to the newest member of the Balbir empire, the Tiffin Rooms on Sauchiehall Street just west of Charing Cross. We had stopped to look at the menu a number of times since it opened but when one of our friends who lives in Wales (but is from Glasgow and therefore misses local curry terribly) came up to visit we thought this was the right moment to give it a try. The food had been reported to be, as is Balbir’s trademark, on the fresh and light side of the Indian cuisine spectrum. This appealed to me as I am dairy-challenged and it was good to know that I was not getting ghee in my meal or any sneaky butter, cream or yoghurt that I wasn’t prepared for – and that I could speak up about my allergies and get a good reception from staff with proper training. (Thank you, Balbir!)

The interior is modern and spacious and even though it was fairly busy, it did not seem noisy. The menu held a list of smaller size dishes (tiffin), thali choices, platters as well as full sized curries. The items were well chosen however and you weren’t overwhelmed by endless lists of dishes. There is also a specials board above the window to the open kitchen with extra additions to the menu. We chose three starters from the list – mushroom pakora (light and crispy) and two dosas (rice and lentil pancakes) - one chicken and one lamb. They were all lovely although the star was the lamb mince dosa which was rich and spicy. Having ordered a set of appetisers, we thought we shouldn’t overdo it on the mains and we ordered platters rather than ‘full’ curries. These were reasonably priced (around £8) and provided a curry of choice, rice and Bombay potatoes (which were great). This was the perfect sized main course and we went away feeling satisfied and not overstuffed. I chose chicken achari as my curry and while it was delicious it was not very ‘pickle-y’. Personally, the more pickled bits, the better – but everyone may not agree – I may order pickles as a side dish the next time. My dining companions however were delighted with their choices of lamb saag (this was reported to be particularly nice) and chicken karahi. We enjoyed a nice, reasonably-priced Chilean Sauvignon Blanc with our meal, left for the evening only about £60 lighter (for three) and not feeling like we needed a nap before we went onto enjoy the rest of our evening.

Breakfast potatoes

I always make a potato dish when we invite people over for brunch. Partly because I just absolutely love potatoes, but also because I actually get quite a few compliments on them. Enough that I thought I would write a blog entry about them.

The important step is par-boiling. I like to use smaller potatoes, the ones where I only have to cut them into about 4 pieces each. I'm not that up on potato varieties (MBK is far more knowledgeable about that type of thing), but Sainsbury's, Roots and Fruits, and Waitrose all have several lovely varieties. Lately I've been eating anya potatoes from Sainsbury's.

After boiling them (with the skins on) for about five minutes, they're soft enough to toss into the mixture of olive oil and butter and softened chopped spring onions I've left in a frying pan on medium heat. Not terribly diet friendly I know, but I don't make these very often. After heating the potatoes a bit, I add some garlic. I like Gia garlic puree - it's the lazy girl's choice, but also it helps the potatoes get that soft fried but mushy texture that I'm going for. For flavouring, I add salt and pepper, a pinch of paprika, and chilli flakes. That's it.

Office xmas dinner hell

No, actually it was pretty good. the Grill On The Corner is just along Bothwell Street from bums-on-seats overlord Witherspoons and across the road from dismal booze palace Madness, so I'm sure we weren't the only bunch of office workers on a night out. The bill was a not-exactly-cheap £27 including service charge, not including the decent Chilean wine generously bought for us by the boss, but the food was worth it.

Not crazy about the Grill's atmosphere and ambience; the table felt a tad small, it was super busy, the chandeliers most likely didn't belong to Louis XIV, and the clattering drone of other diners and musak made most of what was said at the other end of our ten-strong table incomprehensible. Plus, I don't like having to fill out a form to get special offer emails before the waiter takes our order for food, and being asked why I'm not going to take part.

Anyway, down to the food. Starter's very nice, crab meat and a generous amount of prawns on noodles with a few leaves of herb salad. Did I mention that Chilean wine? Nice and full bodied it is, and I seem to have my own bottle at this end of the table. Hic. My steak is slightly more done than the rare I asked for but is perfectly nice and well trimmed with fried potatoes and crisp veg. Finallly, although my sample of chocolate tart is as nice as it sounds on the menu, I'm glad that I opt for the apple and summer fruit crumble instead. How long has it been since I had crumble? Why did I wait so long?

Overall a pretty good xmas meal, but it was the food which carried the night out; leaving me with a similar impression of drinking a great real ale at Witherspoons - if you can shut out the oppressive noise and marketing around you, your taste buds will find something to enjoy. As for your colleagues, well, you can catch up with them any time.

I'll have what he's having

The wife can't be bothered cooking tonight so like a 1950s patriarch I generously offer to take her out to dinner at the greatest cheap restaurant in Glasgow, Asia Style, going dutch with a couple of friends; one of whom has written a blog entry on it before.

It's busy enough for a Thursday night be we get a table at 7.00 without booking. I've figuratively dined out on the thousand year egg in porridge I once manfully ate here but I'm still trying to work my way through the place's vast menu. Tonight I've been on a long train journey, so I go for something conservative.

The next table has a succulent-looking pile of cubed duck pieces with a pile of sticky white rice, so I order the ginger duck. For starters though, we share tasty salt and pepper ribs. When the mains arrive I'm slightly disappointed that the duck is smothered in a strong, dark sauce. It mixes nicely with the coconut rice to produce a sweet gravy, and slices of chilli give it a spicy edge. As my friend warned, I have to pick the bones individually from the pieces. I get dining envy for my friend's bowl of curried chicken broth, a swirling golden concoction full of deep flavours (Masterchef was talking about deep flavours a couple of weeks back). The wife gets her usual salt and pepper beancurd, a pile of beautiful fried chunks with stinging hot chillis, along with a side dish of garlic choi san. Cheapskates beware, the sides often cost more than the main dishes.

So, not my favourite visit to Asia style, but still worth it. Next time I'll be back on the tripe porridge, I reckon.