Warming smoked sausage stew

I have adjusted! Today was a great day as I’ve finally picked up my stride at work and am starting to settle in. All we humans need is a little time. So, in the theme of today, I have made a list of good things that made up my day.

1. I had a delicious muffin for breakfast

2. I treated myself to something I really should have bought a long time ago, Nigella Lawson’s How to be a domestic goddess

3. I found out I’m allowed a free half-day’s holiday as I worked back these past two weeks

4. We had the most amazing custard/pastry thing to celebrate one of the chef’s birthdays. Not only was it delicious, but the chef is a minor celebrity and I was chuffed!

5. My monthly subscription to Australian Good Food magazine was waiting for me in the post box, so now I have something new to read before bed

6. Frank walked me home from the station tonight. We haven’t gone to or from the station together in ages.

7. I FOUND MY SENSE OF HUMOUR! Woo hoo, I was worried this one was gone for good after last week

8. I discovered there is a departmental dance (not the noun but the verb), and this dance I have been eager to attempt in public for almost 5 years now. See the dog on this link.

9. I sang “Lady in red” and “when a man loves a woman” with the radio to Frank. Nothing gets him running out the room quite like it!

10. I attempted dance from point 8 while cooking dinner. Frank just looked at me with a mix of fear and confusion.

As fantastic as it is have my ‘groove’ back, I was late home again tonight. I was held up at work as I was discussing cook books with my colleague. (How many? Stopped counting. Which ones? AWW, with a good mix of others. Which are good? ALL!) So when I got home I was in search of something quick and hearty for dinner. I had picked up some rookwurst on Tuesday night, so I decided to make a sausage casserole/stew and serve it with some pasta. Once again, it was slightly on the spicy side (and Frank’s response is “when is it NOT spicy?”) but it warmed us up and filled our bellies, which is what food was made to do.

Rookwurst stew – a lollcakes original

Serves three big eaters, so probably four normal…

350g smoked sausage (you can use chorizo if you can’t find smoked sausage), sliced

1 brown onion, finely diced

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 red chilli (add more or less, depending on your taste)

1 carrot, chopped into cubes

1 capsicum, chopped into cubes

1 courgette, chopped into cubes

1 tin tomatoes

3 tbsp tomato paste

1 tbsp smoked paprika

1 tsp chicken stock powder

1 tsp brown sugar

1/4 cup red wine

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

To serve:

grated cheese and either pasta or rice

Fry onion and garlic until soft, add chilli and paprika and fry until fragrant. Add in sausages and fry for a couple of minutes. Add in tin of tomatoes, tomato paste, stock powder, sugar, Worcestershire sauce and red wine; stir to combine. Add in carrot and simmer for 15 minutes. Put pasta on to boil, and add capsicum and courgette to stew. Simmer until pasta is done, then toss pasta into sauce.

Top with grated cheese and pile into a bowl.

Enjoy!

Frank reading his book while I'm cooking