There are so many great things about autumn - wearing big coats and scarves, crows cawing in bare trees, Bonfire Night, the sharp night air, massive industrial action, several family birthdays, pubs with fires and it all culminating in Christmas.
Yet another great thing about autumn is the reappearance of hearty food, food that just wouldn't seem that palatable during the warmer months. And so, in a slight change to my usual output here's a post on me making bratkartoffeln.
With some obvious exceptions I find myself drawn to German things. When I was young I used to prefer my little model German stormtroopers over their British commando counterparts, whose uniforms looked a bit scruffy in comparison. (My favourite was the one with a shiny flame thrower, what an insane toy.) This preference must have been marked, I remember my mum waking me up one morning with the words, "I've got some good news for you, you've got German measles").
But anyway, the food:
A nice chunk of smoked bacon. A tiny bit carcinogenic apparently, but then what isn't eh?
Cook for about ten minutes in a pan with a chopped onion and then put to one side.
Next in the pan, the main ingredient: potatoes. For the best results you need to have boiled them the day before and kept them in the fridge overnight, otherwise they tend to fall to bits.
Plenty of salt and pepper.
Parsley, certainly adds to the flavour and, at a stretch, one of your five a day.
I started the pan warming with a splosh of vegetable oil but round about now like to add a bit of butter.
The triumphant return of the onion and bacon.
Move it around a bit with a spatula and then just before it really starts to burn serve with bratwurst and I've been eating it with salad with tons of fresh peppers.
