Always On My Mind (And When I Say Mind I Mean Stomach)

'You know Pauline, I'm not hungry.  I just feel tired.  I just want to rest.'  These words spoken at about 7am on August 16, 1977 were the last that Elvis Presley would utter to another human's face.  A few hours later he was found dead on his bathroom floor, a victim of both the gargantuan cocktail of drugs that had become part of his daily routine and his one true love, food.

Elvis's love of food ultimately destroyed him and left him virtually bedridden at the end of his life.  He would spend his time flat on his back watching the TVs at the foot of his bed and eating the food he loved best.  If you try and picture it you can imagine what a challenge that would be to most people.  Lying flat and eating poses certain logistical and safety problems.  Elvis though, an ingenious man when it came to satisfying his hungers, created the TV glasses.  These were glasses with a mirror inside positioned at an angle of 45 degrees, which allowed him to watch the TV with his head flat on the bed.

The last chapter of one of my favourite cookbooks, 'Eating The Elvis Presley Way' by David Adler, chronicles Elvis's last day from the point of view of the kitchen at Gracelands.  Here's what the King's ate just before he died.  It was one of his favourites and as is typical of the kind of food Elvis loved.  It is enormous, unhealthy and betrays an almost childish love for flavour.  I should point out that the recipe below is a modest version of the dish as Elvis's cook was so worried about his health.

                                                     Elvis's Last Supper

2 scoops Peach ice-cream (Sealtest was the preferred brand)
2 scoops of your favourite flavour (the actual second flavour is lost in the mists of time)
6-8 chocolate chip cookies (Chips Ahoy brand)

Mix together the two flavours of ice-cream until soft then use the cookies to dip.

Such A Silly Sausage

My most dearest of darlings and loveliest of lovelies, I do hope the autumn finds you in snorting good form.  Now, I have been neglecting my duties as a blogger, which is totally unacceptable.  Please feel free when you see me to take a paddle to my botty.  I, in turn, will offer a tiny moan.

moan

I love sausage and I don't care who knows.  I love them with creamy mash or in a sandwich.  I love cutting off the skin and frying them until the edges go golden and crispy then sprinkling the porky croutons over a fried egg on toast.  

At this time of year there's nothing like a fabulous English Dog (i.e. a hotdog with a proper banger) However, I am a teensy bit sick of having lovely sausages accompanied by greasy onions black around the edges and raw in the middle.  So, I thought I'd share my foolproof way to cook the perfect onions for sausages.

Put an inch wedge of butter and a couple of tablespoons of oil into a heavy bottomed saucepan that has a tight-fitting lid and put it over a medium heat.  I have one of those enamel, French named casseroles for this, which is perfect.  They are expensive but I’ve had mine for twelve years and it is still as good as new so they are a good investment.  Next add to the pan about four large onions that you have skinned and thinly sliced.  Coat them in the melted butter and oil, put the lid back on and leave it alone.  Check every ten minutes or so and give them a stir but don’t stir too much.  What will happen is that the onions will soften and start to go a deep, dark caramel brown.  As they colour they lose their harsh flavour and begin to develop an incredible sweetness that will bring out the salty, porkiness of the sausage.  The onions will take about 40 minutes to cook so leave plenty of time.

By the by, when the onions are cooked you can serve them with the sausages in an English Dog or you could do a couple of other things.  

1.  After 40 mins you could add some chopped garlic and cook that for a couple of minutes.  Then add a tablespoon of flour and stir until the flour has been incorporated with the butter.  Cook that for a couple of minutes and add a wineglass of whatever wine you have to hand (red or white) or beer or cider and cook again until it bubbles away nicely.  Then add a bit of stock and salt and pepper and you have the perfect gravy for sausage and mash.  

2. Do the above but keep adding stock for an easy onion soup.

And don't say I don't do anything for you.