Recipe Exchange: Bubble & Squeak

This week I participated in a recipe exchange on a cooking board I frequent.  The topic happened to be "Quick Weeknight Meals" asking for recipes that can be cooked in under an hour.

Score!

When you combine our work schedules and drive time, if dinner can't be on the table in about 45 minutes, we will probably end up ordering pizza.  Jason and I both get home around 6:30, Cooper is starving and it's a mad dash to get things ready.  It's very important to me that we eat as a family.  Some days it doesn't happen.  Cooper will end up throwing all of his food on the floor, or we opt to eat after he goes to bed because we know the meal will take a while.  But most of the time we eat together.  That said, I'm always looking for something that can be thrown together in a matter of minutes. 

When this recipe came across my email my first thought was "What the heck is that?"  Then I read the recipe.  Read it again.  And realized that it was something I knew we'd like!  I'm a meat and potatoes kind of person and we're fond of sauteed cabbage - this meal has it all.

Oh, and apparently Bubble & Squeak is a traditional English dish.  Although I didn't Google it so I can't confirm that.  Either way, I can see us making it again.  I did sub white wine vinegar for the cider vinegar the recipe called for, only because that's what I had at home.

Bubble & Squeak from Some Dreams Come True

• 1 link smoked pork sausage, sliced
• olive oil
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 2-3 large potatoes, diced fairly small
• 1 head of cabbage, shredded
• salt & pepper
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar

In a large Dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add in the sliced sausage and cook until browned.  Toss in the potatoes & onions, season with salt & pepper.  Cover with the lid, stirring occasionally.  Once the potatoes are almost done, add in the cabbage and cook covered until the cabbage wilts down.  Remove from the heat, pour in the vinegar, stir and serve.

We served this with cornbread pancakes.  I'm usually follow the recipe on the back of the bag and then cook them on the stove top just like pancakes.  And because I'm especially strange, I like the spread a little Miracle Whip on these.  Only the pancakes, not regular cornbread.  That gets butter.  But the pancakes...yum.  And Cooper takes after his mom because he ate all of the Miracle Whip before he ate the cornbread.

What diet?

This weekend my cousin and his wife came to visit.  It was a last minute thing, but we haven't seen them in a while and we were looking for a chance to open some of our California wine.  Jason and I are going back in two weeks (yay!!) and we need to make room in the wine fridge for the wine we plan on bringing back.

We grilled some steaks and I wanted some sort of potatoes as a side.  I usually have the hardest time keeping mashed potatoes warm after we cook and mash them, so I decided to try these au gratin potatoes again. 

Lesson learned: some recipes are not meant to be made healthy. 

Last time I made these I used Half & Half and 2% shredded cheddar cheese.  Don't do that.  They were ok...but after making them Sunday, it's just not worth it.  Save the recipe for a day when you want something rich and creamy and so not good for you.

Potato Gratin Cups adapted from So Tasty So Yummy

• potatoes
• gruyere cheese, shredded
• heavy cream
• salt & pepper

Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray.  Preheat the oven to 350.  Slice potatoes 1/8" thin and cut to fit in muffin tin.  Layer potatoes in muffin tin, filling it about 1/3 of the way.  Top with a thin layer of shredded cheese, salt & pepper.  Repeat until full and pour 1 T of heavy cream over the top of each muffin cup.  They bake down so if the filling seems too tall, don't worry.  Bake 25 min, until it starts to brown on top.