Bacon & Leek Hash

Yesterday I was trying to use up stuff I have in my fridge and kitchen, and decided to make a kind of bacon and leek hash, as I had those bits to use up !

I didn't measure anything - just tossed it in. So I hope I can explain how I made it as it was very tasty.

So...

Bacon and Leek Hash

4 slices unsmoked Back Bacon
Half a medium Leek
2 medium Potatoes (cut into small cubes - 1.5cm across)
Olive Oil
Fresh Chives (chopped)
Salt & Pepper

1. Put the chopped potatoes into a saucepan of cold salted water, and bring to the boil. Simmer them for about 5 minutes, no more. Less if they look like they are cooked.

2. Drain the potatoes and return them to the pan. This will allow them to dry a bit.

3. Next chop about half a medium sized leek - roughly the same as one of the two below. It needs to be chopped thinly, like the next photo.

4. Put 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan and heat. Fry the leeks and chives until they are soft.

5. Add the bacon chopped into pieces. Fry in hot oil until starting to crisp, leaving the leeks and chives in the pan.

6. Put the fried veggies and bacon in a dish for now.

7. Add 3 more tablespoons of olive oil to the hot frying pan.

8. Add the cooked, dried, chopped potatoes to the pan and fry them until they are nicely browned.

9. Add the veggies and bacon back into the pan with the potatoes and heat them back up.

10. Season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Pork & Sausage Casserole

Yesterday my friend John came over to continue to help me build my raised beds in the polytunnel. He is stronger than me and better with pieces of wood...

I decided to make a pork and sausage casserole for dinner - a kinda cross between a French cassoulet and a Spanish stew... but with no beans and no peppers and with fresh chives !

I took some photos as I was making it. I measured nothing, more just threw things in as I thought of them... so here it is -

Pork & Sausage Casserole
1 Pork Tenderloin (called pork steak in Ireland) chopped in small cubes
1 pack Sausages (any kind - I used skinless ones, but pork and herb sausages would be heavenly) - chopped
1 Onion - sliced
4 medium Mushrooms - chopped into decent hunks
2 x 290ml jars Tomato Pasta Sauce (I used my own homemade sauce from my own veggies - containing tomatoes, basil, garlic and onions all blended smooth and stored for the winter in glass jars LINK TO RECIPE HERE)
3 tablespoons fresh Chives - chopped small
Sea salt and freshly ground Black Pepper to taste
1 tablespoon Olive Oil
1. Throw the chopped pork and sausages into an ovenproof casserole dish.

2. Add the olive oil.


3. Toss in the pasta sauce and stir well in to coat the meat. Homemade pasta sauce recipe click here

4. Add in the chopped chives.

5. Toss in the sliced onions.

6. Bung in the mushrooms as well.

7. Stir it all in together, adding the salt and pepper. Mix well.

8. Shove the covered dish in the oven !

10. Slide in a few whole potatoes in their jackets (skins).

11. Bake the whole lot for 1.5 hours at 180C.

12. Tell everyone how hard it was to make and try not to smile too much...