Tag Archives: recipes

Student Kitchen: Chevron Sausages

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As many of our younger family members will be returning to college or University soon – or going for the first time – I thought I’d do something altruistic for my latest blog. It seems like an opportune time to share some of my culinary expertise with those students, and help them find their feet in the crazy adult world.

This recipe, readers, is a classic I developed in my student years. It became a trusted dish that I ate regularly, so I hope it’ll help out those who are just learning their way around a kitchen. It’s a simple start, from which you can develop to the legendary skills that I possess.

Chevron Sausages

Ingredients:

  • Pack of sausages
  • Tin of baked beans
  1. Heat up the grill.
  2. When ready, place four sausages on the grill tray and cook for the recommended time. You may want to turn the sausages over to ensure they’re cooked evenly.
  3. Open the tin of baked beans with a tin opener.
  4. Place half of the tin of baked beans in a saucepan, and heat on the hob for several minutes. You will know they’re ready when the sauce starts to bubble slightly.
  5. Remove the cooked ingredients and arrange on a plate as shown in the image. An oval shaped plate is best.
  6. Safely stash the remaining beans and sausages in the fridge for the next evening’s meal.

And there you have it, a simple meal for any student strapped for cash and with limited knowledge. By using half of the sausages and half of the beans for one meal, I was able to feed myself for two nights.

I should also point out that I when I was a student, I used the cheapest ingredients available – i.e. supermarket value versions. And I also used a frying pan to cook the sausages, rather than the healthier option of grilling them. Because I was clueless.

Chevron sausages would be an easy meal I would cook for two years whilst I was a student. Two nights a week, for two years. It was cheap so I could spend less money on food and more on booze.

And now I’ve shared this masterpiece with the new generation. University – three years of loneliness, misery, stress, depression, being cold and hungry all the time. I still have nightmares…

Cocktail Time: The Steamboat

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Party season is in full swing – and if you need a refreshing alcoholic beverage to sip on your night out, don’t worry: Platinum Al’s got you covered! The Steamboat is a mix of sweet and tangy citrus flavours, you can’t go wrong.

I’ve seen some recipes for a Steamboat cocktail use whiskey, but at the Virtual Tiki Bar, we make this drink using Southern Comfort, lime juice and lemonade. Here’s the info:

Steamboat

  • Southern Comfort
  • Lime juice
  • Lemonade
  • Ice

Simply add a small amount of lime juice to the glass (I use a lime cordial) and carefully add some ice. Pour in two measures of Southern Comfort, then top up with lemonade (full fat works best). Garnish however you feel, a slice of lime works well.

There you go: a classic drink I never get bored of.

Again, I’m not on commission for this drink, I just want to share the appreciation with my discerning readers. Enjoy and drink responsibly.

Soundtrack: Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Cocktail Time: Kraken Rum

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Many a weary old seadog has told a tale of the fearsome sea monster, the Kraken. A huge, tentacled beast, legends say it can tear a ship apart and drag sailors to a watery doom. Only occasionally venturing from the deepest of ocean depths, the Kraken is never the less dreaded by seafarers – the legend of this behemoth is ancient and terrible.

Also, Kraken is brand of spiced rum that’s actually really nice! I haven’t composed one of these drink based blogs for a long while, so with party season upon us, let’s celebrate this enjoyable spirit.

Release the Kraken!

Kraken is a spiced rum and can be mixed many ways, my favourite being with coke (full fat, of course). Ginger beer is also a god option. Kraken has a taste reminiscent of vanilla and caramel, mixed with cola it has a sweet but deep taste that’s a refreshing variation on the typical rum and coke. There are many other recipe suggestions on the Kraken website – check it out here.

I’m not on commission for this, sadly. Hope you enjoy, and drink responsibly.

Soundtrack: anything by King Kraken.

Hostess Fruit Pies

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Imagine, if you will, a baked pie that tastes so good, it can stop crime and make the streets safe. A flavour so amazing that evil doers will stop in their tracks and abandon their crazy schemes of chaos and destruction. Such a pie does exist: it is the Hostess Fruit Pie.

We’ve discussed the joy of Hostess products on this page a while back, when I considered the not inconsiderable charm of the Twinkie. But for me, the true classic is the fruit pie.

Hostess Fruit Pie

I first ate one of these amazing creations in my late twenties, on my first trip to the USA. Available in several flavours, it was the cherry version that quickly became my favourite. The others were OK, but cherry was supreme.

Like the Twinkie, I was first made aware of the Hostess Fruit Pie via advertisements in Marvel and DC comic books, that I read as a kid. After years of drooling over these unobtainable treats, I finally got to try one on that American trip.

They are now available in the UK, the sample pictured here was bought from an American sweet shop in Chester. They still taste great. If you get chance, and if tooth destroying sweetness is your thing, I suggest you indulge in the Hostess Fruit Pie.

Here’s an example of one of those adds that hooked me in as a child. Each one featured an established superhero foiling the plans of some wacky menace with the assistance of the pie (or Twinkies, or Cup Cakes, whatever). Marketing genius. It took me twenty years and a flight across an ocean, but eventually the pie would be mine.