… as some keen observers will have noticed The Viking and I have taken the plunge and finally rented a flat in London… our business seems to have turned a corner to the point where the odd trip to the big city simple won’t fulfil the demands of our clients and so an opportunity to rent a pad in town came up which we took… it’s fun and so much less stressful to finally have a proper place of our own again and even though the rent is embarrassingly huge I can barely look at my bank statements each month, it’s totally worth it to finally not have to sleep on friends floors or even in a bed in my dear mother’s house…
… our new flat is great, very stylish actually – naturally… it’s a basement flat – I think they call them ‘garden flat’s round here and the back room that leads onto the garden has a flat roof with 3 opaque roof-lights set in it and whilst the room is gloriously bright, during this heatwave it’s been like living in an oven – no word of a lie, you could fry an egg on the floor… not that i’ve tried. The thing is, recently it’s not been too conducive to doing a lot of major cooking in so i’m quite glad it’s cooled down a little this past weekend which hopefully means a little more ‘London cooking’ from me…
summer sausage stew with cider and radishes
you know sometimes on a cold winters eve you just want to come home from work, throw some stuff lurking in the back of your fridge into a large roasting tin with some wine and loads of herbs and roast the bugger out of it till you’re left with a gorgeous caramelised mess that tastes like heaven and warms you inside and out… well I want that now… obviously more of the ease and less of the warmth but I still want that one pot wonder… well I think i’ve cracked something that isn’t too wintery for these hot summer days… I had a glut of radishes left over from my mums birthday weekend picnic… it seems everyone and their mother brought them to the house to put into salads etc but we simply could get through them all… i’ve never cooked with them before but they baked up quite well, I was impressed.
1 packet 12 sausages – I used Lincolnshire of course…
2 large salad onions – roughy chopped
6 cloves garlic – un-peeled
1 packet of small radishes – roughly 20
2 braeburn apples – roughly quartered
1 large glass of cider
fresh herbs of your choice – I used rosemary and lemon thyme
bung the whole lot into a large roasting tin and roast for 1 hour on 160C turning the heat up to 180C for the last 10 minutes to brown the sausages
serve with a big salad and a smile!
this stew is inspired by a sausage and cider Nigel Slater recipe I’d found in an old magazine cutting… I cut out the name of the magazine but I have a feeling it’s from the guardian… and as such i’m entering this stew into the brilliant Dish of the Month bloggers challenge hosted so spectacularly each month by Sue from A little bit of Heaven on a Plate and Janice from Farmersgirl Kitchen
eat and of course, enjoy!
Well, congrats on the pad in London! I can see how it would be so less stressful on you. Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and do it, just to stay sane 🙂
I love this stew!! It's definitely been too hot around here for too long for me to even think about craving stew… but one look at this and all of a sudden I have a hankerin' for some 🙂
CONGRATS on the pad in London, hope it has a spare bed or sofa for me! 🙂 And as for the bangers, always on the menu whatever the weather in my book, and that stew looks fabulous! Karen
One day, (when my lottery numbers come up) I plan to have a flat in London. I would like to be able to enjoy a nice meal in a posh restaurant without having to keep worrying about missing the last train home!
OMG…bello guiso se ve muy delicioso y casero,adoro los ajos,hugs,hugs.
Wow London is expensive, no wonder you are looking at the bank statements and cringing! Well good luck to you both anyway and I wish you all the best. The sausages I must say look rather sticky and delicious. My girlfriend laughs at me because I can be a right little sausage 'collector', by collector I mean if I see them on offer, reduced or just look plain tasty I will buy them, regardless of the fact I have a mountain in my freezer already. I think I have about 3 different sorts at the minute. I just hate waste so end up buying them all up! It's a good job I never tire of them 🙂
Good for you! I'm envious of you and London! I would love to return! I'd like to dig into those sausages right about now, I can imagine how delicious they must taste! Good luck in your London endeavor!
Thanks for joining in Dom, Janice and I were beginning to feel lonely…but with your sausages…happy days! xxx
PS Best of luck with the bijou pad.
How lucky to have an apartment with access to the garden. The sausages look great but the house would have been cooler if you had cooked these on the barbie.Never roasted radishes, how did they taste?
You continue to bowl me over with these fantastic dishes! Great job, and I'll bet it was delicious! 🙂
I'll certainly be making this in the autumn! We have lots of lovely radishes here, but I can't find 'proper' British sausages, so it will have to wait I'm back in Richmond.
Your flat sounds delightful, though I'm glad to be away from London for the summer, the heat was dreadful before I left, I'm hoping it cools down by September.
It's nice to have your own little corner in your own little room isn't it? Traveling and living from a suitcase is stressful, never mind being 'on the job' while doing it … much better to have a base of operations … and easy comfort food … as for that back room being hot, no small AC unit?
Roast radish – now there's a thing I've never tried! I love sausage recipes that do something a bit different…
I've been wondering what to do with an abundant radish crop.
Congratulations on the apartment.