Hello aspiring chefs,
Last issue, we went through how to make a delicious potato salad. Today, I have the second half of that meal: the main course. This time, I show you how to make a delicious dish with little more than some sausage and breadcrumbs.
And don’t forget the rules:
1. If it’s not in your pantry, you don’t need it.
2. Cooking with a measuring cup is like using calipers to construct a treehouse
3. If it doesn’t taste good, you can fix it—guaranteed.
On to the recipe; this is one which I made with some severe ingredient constraints: I had sausage which was in imminent danger of spoiling, and a bag of panko that my parents had bought me – If you are unfamiliar with panko, it is a Japanese-style breadcrumb, and could easily be replaced by normal breadcrumbs or crushed potato chips – So I came into the kitchen with no idea what I was making, but that it would involve panko and sausage meat.
Step one: I turned on the oven and set the temperature to 425°F – My default temperature is 400°F, and I adjust it up or down depending on how quickly I want it done and how big the meal is: larger meals require lower temperature since you need the inside to heat up before the outside burns. I still didn’t know what I was making, but I knew that it would involve the oven since I didn’t have time to nurse the sausages in a pan. After assembling my ingredients, my mind immediately went to Pogos, the pre-made batter-covered hot-dog treat I used to love as a child. Reasoning that sausages were like hot dogs, and that panko and flour-batter were both made mostly of starch, I decided that I could make my own Pogos.
Step two: I poured some panko into a bowl, and rolled a sausage in it. The panko initially didn’t stick but remembering that most batter have eggs, I whipped up an egg in a second bowl and tried dunking my sausage in the egg before the panko. This worked well, especially when I did it twice, going egg-panko-egg-panko-tray. After the first set of these, I noticed that I was going to have a bunch of egg batter left over after the sausages were all coated, so I perforated the remaining sausages with a fork such that some of the egg would sneak in under their casings. Once all the sausages were coated, I emptied what was left of the egg into the sausage tray, followed by the remaining panko.
Step three: As my sausages cooked away merrily in the oven, I turned my attention to the other parts of the meaf: I raided my refrigerator and found half of a green pepper and half a white onion. I chopped up some of both, then fried them with butter in a pan. I also chopped up some cheese and tomato.
Step four: I found some frozen olive bread from Valuemart and stuck them in the microwave. 30 seconds in, I had some delicious bread for making sausage sandwiches.
Step five: Once the sausages were cooked, I took them out of the oven. The panko had largely fallen off but had been sitting in the sausages’ juices and made for a delicious crunchy side dish. I cut the sausage length-wise and put it on the bread, heaping ketchup and all the toppings I had chopped on top.
Final verdict? Delicious.
For future, I might try putting something like paprika in with the panko – I recommend you try it yourself. I might also try using cooked rice instead of panko, and syrup as the sticking agent – One never knows what will end up tasting absolutely fantastic!
Happy experimenting.
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