BUBBLE AND SQUEAK

Sounds like a kids game or a problem with your tummy! But Bubble and Squeak is a traditional dish from the United Kingdom and was originally a concoction made to use up leftover potatoes during food rationing times. But it's become a favorite, still using leftovers if you have them, and it's a wonderful dish for a brunch. Of course the dish can be made from fresh food too. You don't have to have leftovers to enjoy this hearty dish.

As a matter of fact, I made it because I has these beautiful little jewels of cabbages in my garden. The heads were small, but fully mature so I picked them and Bubble and Squeak came to mind immediately. You might wonder why that came to mind first. I first saw Bubble and Squeak on the Food Network when there was a show called Two Fat Ladies. They made this on their show and I've been making it now and then ever since.

It's a very inexpensive way to feed a lot of people, too.

Here are the ingredients:

2 T. Canola oil
1 medium white onion, chopped
1 medium head of cabbage, trimmed and chopped
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
4 - 5 sausages, casings removed and browned in a skillet
4 - 5 medium potatoes, cubed and boiled until just done.
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Eggs - optional

So in summary, before I even give you the whole recipe, here's how it's done, just so you see how easy it really is.

Saute onions
Add and cook cabbage and carrots
Brown sausage
Boil potatoes
Mix it all together in a big pot


In a very large skillet, add the canola oil and saute the onions until they are softened, but not browned.

Add the chopped cabbage and the sliced carrots, stir, and keep covered over med-low heat, stirring frequently until the cabbage cooks down and is soft and sweet. If you like, you can leave the cabbage a little less cooked if you like a bit of crunch left in it. This should take about 15 minutes to get all that cabbage cooked.

In the meantime, while the cabbage is cooking, remove the casings from your sausages and cook in a large skillet, breaking it up until it's all browned. When it's finished, add about 3 T. of water to this skillet and scrape up all the browning in the bottom of the pan. This will add a ton of flavor. Just set this aside until the cabbage is done. I used sweet Italian sausages. You can use any kind you like. Bob Evans breakfast sausage would work - use one or two of those 12 oz. packages, depending how meaty you would like your Bubble and Squeak. I used 4 sausages because that's what I had in the freezer.

Also in the meantime, wash and cut up the potatoes and get them boiling - just like you would for mashed potatoes. No need to peel the potatoes - I never do. Cook until they are just tender. Drain into a colander.

OK, now the cabbage is cooked, the sausage is browned, and the potatoes are done. If your cabbage skillet is large enough, put everything into it and mix well. If not, then get yourself a larger pot, like a soup pot, and put it all in there.

Serve this on a buffet for brunch or on the side like you would corned beef hash. This morning I chose to spoon some into a skillet, turned on med-low heat to let it brown slowly, and broke an egg over the top. Put a lid on it and let it cook until the egg was done. This took about 5 minutes.

Get Bubbling! This dish is so good it'll make you Squeak!

IT STARTED OUT AS A SAUSAGE AND EGG SANDWICH THIS MORNING

One morning I fried up the three sweet Italian sausages that I had leftover from earlier in the week. I made a sausage and egg sandwich out of it. Just scrambled a couple of eggs and put ½ of one of the sausages and a spoonful of eggs on a small roll I had in the freezer and thawed in the microwave.

(I had rolls left over from a dinner, so I wrapped each one individually, put them all in a gallon Ziplock freezer bag, and threw them in the freezer. Now I have a single roll whenever I want one. We don’t eat too much bread most of the time, so I end up freezing bread and rolls almost every time I buy some.)

My little sandwich was yummy. I only had half of it though – I shared it with my husband.

Later in the afternoon, I had a hankering for pasta with tomato sauce for dinner.

I had a jar of sauce in the pantry, a bag of small bay scallops in the freezer, a small zucchini that I needed to use up, an open package of spaghetti noodles in the pantry, and, of course, two sausages from this mornings. I usually have my own homemade marinara sauce in the freezer outside, but the yard was so soggy from all the snow and rain, I didn’t’ want to go out there to get it. I keep a jar of my favorite sauce around for just such occasions, usually a marinara.

I call this dish:

Spaghetti with Sausage, Scallops and Zuchinni

(brilliant!)

2 T olive oil

1 c of small bay scallops (alternative, use shrimp), thawed, and drained very well

2 Italian sausages, cooked and sliced thinly

1 jar of sauce, or equivalent amount of your own home made

1 small zucchini, quartered lengthwise, and then sliced into ¾ inch chunks.

½ pound spaghetti

I put up water to get the pasta going and cooked the spaghetti a light al dente.

In a large saucepan, I added the olive oil and over high heat, sautéed the scallops quickly – maybe two minutes. I added the sliced sausage and the sauce. I let the sauce simmer slowly. I wanted to make sure the scallops wouldn’t be tough, so I simmered them for maybe 15 or 20 minutes to soften them. Then I tossed the zucchini chunks into the sauce, and cooked that for maybe 5 minutes. The zucchini doesn’t take very long. Drain the pasta.

That's it! I spooned some of this sauce over the drained spaghetti. Top with a little Parmesan if you like. It was a delicious meal that I would have been happy to get in a restaurant!

This recipe is very typical of meals I make at home. I don’t waste anything if I can help it. Everything in this dish was either a leftover or on hand. So I always scout the fridge, freezer and pantry for what I have. It's yet another example of how you can make something out of "nothing" !