It’s been a snowy few days here in my neck of the woods, St. John’s NL. According to Environment Canada, we’ve had somewhere around 125 cm in the past five days. This has made for quite a bit of missed work, too many days stuck indoors, and a lot of time spent shoveling.
On the upside, it has given me lots of time to cook. And with weather like this, the best thing to cook is comfort food. So, on Saturday I made Amalfi Baked Chicken with Lemon & Caper Linguini (My own recipe), and a Classic American Goulash. I will post about these later. Today I have to tell you about what has for me become my favorite comfort food, Guiness Sausage Casserole.
I discovered this quite by accident. My oldest son, who is as much a Guinness fan as I am, called me from the grocery store one day to tell me that he found these different spice mixes from Guinness. They are Guinness cooking seasonings, and they come in four varieties; Guinness Chilli con Carne Mix, Guinness Steak & Ale Pie Mix, Guinness Sheppard’s Pie Mix, and the one I made today, Guinness Sausage Casserole Mix. This is the only one I’ve tried so far but based on the outcome, I will be trying them all.
They couldn’t make it easier. The recipe is on the package, and all the seasoning is included. A few simple ingredients (for the sausages I like to use large smokies, but you can use whatever sausage you prefer), and where it calls for 300ml of water I like to substitute 100ml of Guinness and 200ml of water, about twenty minutes of prep time, forty minutes in the oven, and it’s done. Paired with mashed potato, this is the perfect storm day dinner.
I like to enjoy a pint of Guinness while I’m doing the prep work, and because, as an old RCAF WWII combat pilot told me once a long time ago about drinking Guinness, “you can’t fly on one wing”, I have another with my meal.
Cheers!
Stephen
Life, Lunch, and Literature 