The description above the recipe states: "This whimsical loaf is reminiscent of the crown roasts of lamb and pork that were almost impossible to get during the war."
Whimsical?
Do I want my food to be whimsical? Why hadn't I noticed that word in the description before I committed to cooking the recipe?
It's actually a very simple recipe. Basically, you line the edges of a loaf pan with the sausages "standing up."
Then you fill the middle with a from-scratch macaroni and cheese concoction and bake the whole thing for around an hour.
After an hour it looks like this:
Whimsical? Yes.
Problem? Yes.
See how nice and browned the little sausage heads look? Crispy and thoroughly cooked? Lovely. The sausage bottoms, however, were limp and undercooked. I had to pull them out of the pan and finish cooking them on the stove top to ensure no food poisoning in the Rational Living household. And I also drained out the sausage grease that was pooling in the bottom of the loaf pan. Eww...
In the end we ate our dinner, but it seemed like too much sausage, or not enough macaroni and cheese. In fact, I pulled out several sausages and placed them in the freezer for some future use - it was just too many, especially considering the recipe called for 1 1/2 to 2 pounds of sausages and I only used 1 1/4 pound.
In all, the recipe seems like a rationing odd-ball - lots of red points and an almost gluttonous amount of protein. Maybe this is a confrontation between modern lower-fat cooking and the reality of 1940's menus?
Either way, I think our household macaroni and cheese will continue to stay sausage free!
--Rational Mama
On paper that does not sound bad, but the reality I can see would be less than appetizing.
ReplyDeleteI do occasionally enjoy figuring out how to make a mediocre recipe better, and I have been thinking about this one today.
I wonder if you used turkey sausage, partially cooked them, then baked them towards the end of the cooking time if that would work better. Turkey sausage would have less grease, and if you didn't do all of the cooking in the oven it might help too.
Of course I have no suggestions for the red points issue.
Interesting recipe.
Of course I have no
Missy - I, too, had thought about precooking a lower fat sausage, but then I decided I just didn't want anything to do w/ the sausage because of the red points involved. 1 1/2 lbs of sausage costs 12 red ration points! I could get 1 1/2 lbs of cheese for those same points - enough to make several batches of that delicious, from scratch mac and cheese we made for Sissy's birthday party. Sorry, sausage...it's just not working out.
ReplyDeleteIt looks fun, though!
ReplyDeleteEven with your honest evaluation I'm tempted to give it a try just because it looks neat.
I love the little sausages standing at alert. :)
A lady in our ward just had her third baby this past Friday and I want to bring them a casserole and I think it might be this one!
I was thinking mac n cheese but that seemed to simple. Add in two lines of sausages and the whimsy wins. :)
I think I'll precook the sausages and then line them up in the pan and spoon in the prepared mac n cheese.
All the whimsy with half the fat. ;)
That was some dang tasty mac and cheese. I should get the recipe from you.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the points sound better spent on the cheese. You know how I feel about cheese.
Kari - "standing at attention" is the perfect way to describe the sausages! I definitely agree with precooking the sausages - who needs all that added fat in the bottom?
ReplyDelete