Karen Wright: Cheap and cheerful dish perfect for Bonfire Night get-together!
Bonfire Night was one of the high points of the year when I was a child.
My brother and his mates spent weeks ‘chubbing’ (collecting wood) for the bonfire.
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Hide AdThen we would make a Guy Fawkes. My parents would get involved too and we always had a fine specimen on display, mostly dressed in my dad’s cast-off clothing.
We had a big garden suitable for a massive party so lots of friends and neighbours came.
Everyone brought something along for the table.
Mrs Howes, the farmer’s wife, made the best brandy snaps. I can see her now, rolling them around her wooden spoon handle.
We had all the usual favourites, parkin, toffee apples, jacket potatoes and pie and peas to name just a few.
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Hide AdI don’t remember having anything on the potatoes, I don’t think chilli con carne had landed in Featherstone back then!
I cooked this recipe in the slow cooker but you could do it on the hob too. I’m calling it Franks and Beans.
I took a big pack of Frankfurters, hot dog sausages they are commonly called, and started from there.
I chopped up a large onion and put it in the slow cooker. Then I cut up three peppers, using red, yellow and orange, to try to get the bonfire colours into the dish. They went in with the onion.
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Hide AdNext I added six tablespoons of white wine vinegar, one tablespoon of smoked paprika, one teaspoon of garlic powder, one tablespoon of wholegrain mustard, one tablespoon of ketchup and a few tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce.
To make it a bit of a barbecue sauce vibe I also added a tablespoon of brown sugar.
Then went in a tin of baked beans, a tin of mixed beans and a can of chopped tomatoes.
I cut the sausages into chunks and in they went too.
I seasoned with salt and pepper to taste and cooked for a few hours until the vegetables were tender.
This dish is cheap and cheerful and great for a bonfire night party.
I’m going to eat mine with a jacket potato but it would also work well with rice.
Enjoy the recipe and enjoy the fireworks!