On the Menu :: Sweet and Sour

Good morning! Its Foody-Tuesday again today, don't know why but whenever I find myself wanting to share a meal with you, it always seems to be a Tuesday. Not even going to try and work that one out.

This is a recipe from my childhood :: Sweet and Sour Sausages. When I was growing up, we were very short of money. Of course I didn't realise at the time, but looking back I see it clearly :: I see the struggle my Mum had running a household with very little money, and I recognise the huge talent she had for providing for us. I remember many handmade toys and clothes, remember appreciating the joys of other peoples cast offs and hand-me-downs, remember home-grown vegetables from the allotment, and nutritious, tasty meals made with very cheap ingredients and a lot of skill and love. We very rarely ate meat, with the exception of liver (eugh), minced beef and sausages. Chicken was a major luxury, in fact I can't recall a single meal from my childhood made with chicken except for Christmas dinner.

This is a recipe I remember fondly, and the meat of choice was always sausages for this dish. I've had the recipe in my file for a long, long time, written down for me by  Mum. However when I've tried to give it to the Little People in the past, we always stumbled over the peppers and they would complain bitterly about them, declare they hated sweet and sour sauce because the Peppers were HORriD (said with feeling). But isn't it funny how the Little People's tastes change so rapidly? They will now eat peppers quite happily, enjoy them even, so I thought it would be good to give this delightful recipe another go.

So :: three components for this meal :: sausages, vegetables and the sweet and sour sauce.

Sausages :: any that tickle your fancy, cooked in whichever way suits you best. I used thin organic pork ones from Marks and Spencer, grilled and then chopped up.

Veg :: definitely 1 chopped onion and 1 large sweet pepper/capsicum (I used half and half red and orange peppers because I like the colours together), then add what you think will go well, perhaps sweet corn, carrot sticks, green beans?

Sauce :: you need to make sure you have the following store cupboard ingredients ::

half a small tin pineapple chunks, drained
1 tbs soft brown sugar
2 tbs white wine vinegar
2 tbs soy sauce
175ml chicken stock
2 tbs tomato puree
2 tbs cornflour mixed with 2 tbs cold water.

The sauce itself is a revelation. Its so very simple, you wonder why anyone ever buys jars of sweet and sour sauce when it's so easy and so much nicer to make your own?

So. This is Fast cooking folks, make sure you have everything prepared before you start or you'll come unstuck.

Make up the sweet and sour sauce in a jug by mixing the above saucy ingredients.
Chop your veg into bite size pieces.
Cook your sausages and chop them up ready for adding to the pan.

Begin by heating some oil in a large pan and fry the onion, peppers and any other chopped veggies for 5 minutes or so.
Chuck in the cooked sausages and mix well.
You should think about putting your rice or noodles on to cook now as there is about 10-12 mins left to go...

...add the sauce to the pan and bring to the boil.
Reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes. The sauce will thicken and the taste of the cornflour will "cook out".

Serve with basmati rice or noodles.
Now wasn't that easy? And quick?!
This meal was truly appreciated in our house last week, it was a pleasure to see it devoured and enjoyed with such gusto.
Peppers and all.

Comments

[cathleen]

Lucy, I made this for dinner last night and it was absolutely delicious! Looking forward to my leftovers for lunch today. Thank your Mom for me for coming up with such a great recipe.

[Emily]

I made this for dinner tonight, with some pork and red and green peppers, and it was delicious! Thanks for sharing the recipe!

[kali @ poppy lane]

ms lucy, your cooking along with your baking and sewing and crocheting and photography are all such a treat!

p.s. i bought some fabric from the little fabric shop after your post and recommendation..and so glad i did..it's very lovely.
xo, kali

[Cele]

UMM ! Looks lovely might give it a try at the weekend.

[jennifer]

another good recipe and another to add to my list, thanks luce! x

[Jane W]

This looks a lovely recipe. I made your carrot cake today - it is wonderful. It's the first one I ever made as I have always been put off by the cream cheese topping. The frosting is lovely, the cake - umm lovely. I've decided that I'm making this to take into work to share for my birthday. Thank you so much for sharing the recipe.

[simone]

That looks very flavoursome Lucy! I made a barbecue sauce today for the first time in years!

[Rosepetaljam]

this looks lovely! I came from a not well off family too and my mum also used to make amazing food out of literally nothing! she used to make what she called Spanish omelette which was basically anything she had left over, chopped up really small, like peppers, ham, onion, mushroom etc, also frozen peas and some cheese and made what I guess we might now call a tortilla. yum yum!!

ps I like liver actually :-)

[Pink feather paradise]

I think we could all take a leaf out of our mums books, and probably eat healthily and much more cheaply....but I draw the line at hock, tongue and trotters! mind you I lurve liver.... so long as someone else cooks it and it has to have onions!
Sweet and sour sausages look fantastic and I will definitely give it a go.

Thank you
Alex

[Yvonne]

Looks delicious as was your carrot cake I made it yesterday and your right it was the best homemade recipe, loved the frosting.
Yvonne

[Daisy Steiner]

Mmm that looks so tasty. I may try that. Thanks!

[Jen]

I am totally going to make this recipe next week--at home AND at work. I wish my kids would eat peppers though. It'll drive me nuts that they pick them out but I will persevere!

[Marisa]

I'm gonna try that recipe, it looks and sounds yummy. Isn't funny we never realised how much our mother's did for the family, making ends meet,and that we were all happy and never thinking of themselves, it's really not till your a mum and do the same you realise what they have sacrificed for us. Thanks to mum Kathleen in New Zealand, I love you!

[Fiona]

Gosh that's brought back memories. I'm sure my Mum used to make something similar with a sweet and sour kind of sauce with pineapple in it. Must ask her. This sounds really good and so easy to do. Will definitely give it a go.

[Janet]

Hi Lucy
Thanks for the comment. So so pleased you like the kits. Could you please email me at [email protected] and let me know which of the four you would like. I can then send you a money request and you can pay through paypal if you like. Postage is £1.95 Alternatively you could post me a cheque, but drop me a line and we can sort that out xxx