The funny thing about our making-of; I had my wisdom teeth removed on Tuesday. Come Thursday, I was all gung ho to eat some real food. I made the mashed potato but then the pain killers I took an hour ago kicked in and I was stuck on the couch while W. took over. I couldn’t even drain the potatoes. My hand-eye co-ordination was that whacked out. Those American drugs eh. The plus side, I was assured W. can still follow a recipe and I haven’t turned his brain to gobblegook.

The best thing is, this is such a week day meal. Quick and satisfying. I was a bit hesitant of adding two onions to five sausages but it was great. It caramelises down to a yum sauce.

Prep time – 10 minutes
Cook time – 25 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 450g good quality pork sausages
• 2 onions, sliced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 100g/4oz red grapes
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar (balsamic will do in a fix)
• Pre-made mashed potato made any way you like

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in large frying pan set over a medium heat. Tip in sausages, cook for 10 mins over medium/high heat, turning every so often. Stir in onions, then leave to cook five mins more until sausages are browned and onions are softened.
2. Add minced garlic, fennel seeds & grapes and cook for 5 more minutes, stirring often. The grapes should start to soften. Pour over vinegar and swirl aroud pan (The fancy word for this is deglazing). Cook for a few more minutes until onions are sticky.
3. Serve with reheated mash.

I think these sweets were fake. But they were for sale at a street stall in New York so they must be eatable.

It’s my birthday today, I expect to splash out with booze and burgers.

Love, Tash

I pity the fool that doesn’t know the awesome taste of real hummus. All you need is a handful of ingredients. You only have to wash the food processor and a chopping board afterward. Yay!

You will need:

• 1 can chick peas
• 1/2 cup tahini paste (or peanut butter if you can’t find it. I think tahini is worth the extra effort.)
• 2 lemons, juiced, to make approx 1/2 cup
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup olive oil

1. Drain the chickpeas in a colander and whack them into the food processor. Add 1/4 cup of the tahini paste, 1/4 cup lemon juice (1 lemon), the crushed garlic and salt.
2. Blend.
3. Taste. If more kick is desired, add the rest of the tahini paste and lemon juice. If more richness is what you’re after, slowly add more olive oil. If you’re insane for the spices, add pepper, chili flakes or paprika.
4. Eat.

You can store this for a week or two in the fridge.

Post-recipe note: I thought I would be way cool by getting dried chick peas and letting them soak overnight and then make the hummus. The canned version is cooked. My crunchy chunky hummus was not. Cook your chickpeas if you’re soaking them from scratch!