Thursday 10 March 2011

Breakfast Canapes

No, seriously :-) Here's how do it.

This is the breakfast that first plopped the idea into my head:

Sausages stir-fried with hard scrambled eggs, onions and green peppers/chilies optional.


Eaten with hot buttered toast.

But there's trouble there. I bought some pretty awful chicken sausages from C3 -- I can actually taste the preservatives, that's how bad it is -- and I don't recommend trying the canapes till you've laid your hands on some decent sausage. For me, recommend a good local brand of porkies, please, Tuna.

Anyway, after the sausage is sorted, you'll need:
Onions -- diced.
Cheese of choice.
A little butter or ghee.
Bread, preferably soft loaves.
Fennel seeds/pNaach phoron/cumin (optional).
Plain mayonnaise (optional).

The sausages I used were frozen. So I rubbed them with a little butter and popped them in the microwave. I kept them in till I smelt the first tendrils of the spicy, warm-sausagey smell. Then I promptly took them out. Too much microwaving leads to dry sausages -- and these weren't sterling stuff to begin with.


Now chop the sausages into little chaktis. That is, chop 'em up breadthwise. Chop onions and chilies/peppers. Heat oil. Put the sausage in. Let fry on low, covered. Go away. Come back after five to give it a few stirs. Add onions and chilies. Repeat. Don't fry for more than seven minutes, and never on high, because this will dry the sausages too. We're just trying to let the pre-cooked stuff take on some lovely golden-brown colour.

I added the chilies at the beginning, by the way. Don't. They'll fry to a crisp and look like dried-up little black insects.





Now add a little more oil, pushing the sausages to a side to make room for tempering. Add fennel or phoron (if using). In half a minute, on low, the seasoning will be cooked. You'll know because the mmm! smell of frying fennel will fill your kitchen. Mix it up with the golden-brown sausages. Pour it off into a dish so the fennel/pNaach phoron doesn't char.

When it cools, mix it with a couple of tablespoons of mayonnaise. That is, if you're using any. I left it as-is, without adding mayonnaise to my sins.

Cut a loaf into thick but small squares and put some of this stir-fry/mayo mixture on each hot, buttered piece. Now put a piece of cheese on top. Put it back on the skillet, in the microwave, or in the toaster-oven for a few seconds, till the cheese melts, coating the sausages and buttered toast in gooey goodness. Serve with a steaming sweet cuppa, and maybe a fried egg.

What was mmm mmm good, again? ;-)



Toasting bread.


Buttered and heaped.

Cheesed.

Melted :-)

7 comments:

Magically Bored said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Magically Bored said...

Chicken sausages do just fine. Try the Venky's brand.
Personally, I am not too fond of pork, and especially after seeing pigs tied up near pork shops in Tollygunge, have resolved never to eat it again. Sorry for being unappetising. :|
Besides, eating pork is quite a risky affair in this country. Did anyone say tapeworm?

Abhishek Mukherjee said...

I'd suggest chicken sausages as well. Try New Market (or La Protina on Sarat Bose Road) or a random Spencer's.

Rimi said...

Tuna, thanks a tonne! I do avoid pork in India for tapewormy reasons (also, I've been served bacon with hair on it once. Anyway).

Abhishek -- I'll Try Protina (sounds like they make their own, but these days one never knows). My awful sausages are from Spencers. A specific brand, therefore, please.

Abhishek Mukherjee said...

You can reach La Protina at 2466 4925. It's been there since like forever.

Dea-chan said...

Oh om nom nom. That looks pretty tasty Rimi! Like a breakfast sandwich. Did I ever make you The Ultimate Breakfast Sandwich of All Time? It involves TWO eggies in a basket, bacon, and double glouchester cheese. Delicious.

Topher said...

What's with the newspapers? : |

I have not eaten decent sausages in Calcutta. Ever. Tried La Protina, Venky's, Spencers, Cash and Carry. My parents seem to love the ones from Metro though.

Actually, now that I think about it, my aunt's mother made some mean ham sandwiches and pork sausages when we were little kids and eating pork was taboo. She lives in Mudiali. I shall ask and report.