Coddle

Another fabulous concoction from Maura Laverty's Feasting Galore (see also: Haggerty), this is apparently a traditional Saturday night supper, and is guaranteed to prevent a hangover. I scaled it down from the original recipe (my version serves one hungry me), which called for a pound of bacon and half a pound of pork sausages, and I omitted the tablespoon of parsley because I didn't have any (and pretty much never do - I have very little respect for parsley), but what I made was pretty fabulous. Though I did overdo it a bit on the salt - the bacon and sausage are pretty salty on their own, so really, easy does it. But this is a fantastic, simple meal, and a pretty damn wonderful way to celebrate the first snowfall (yay! snow!).

Coddle

1 polish sausage

3 strips bacon

2 small onions

8 baby potatoes

salt, pepper

Chop the bacon and sausage into small bits. Blanch for 6 minutes in boiling water (so far as I know, blanch pretty much means cook... the point being, throw em in a pot, boil some water in a kettle and pour it over the meatses and cook for 6 minutes). Meanwhile, chop the onions and potatoes into bite-size chunks. When the 6 minutes are up, drain the water from the blanching, throw in the potatoes and onions, add salt (this might not even be necessary. In any case, you definitely don't need much of it.) and pepper and cold water. Laverty says to just barely cover it in cold water and simmer for 45 minutes, and that the potatoes ought to be mushy, and the result should be more potage than stew. I covered 'em in water and then added maybe a cup or so more for good measure and cooked it at high heat for maybe half an hour? You've gotta be careful towards the end that it doesn't burn. Basically, after half an hour, listen to the pot sing - when it starts to hiss a bit, you're almost out of water, and the food is ready.