Currywurst Eggs and Sausage-Gravy Stew

      Early last week, I decided currywurst would be a nice supper entree.  Litre House restaurant, in its pre-pandemic indoor incarnation, had an upscale version, sausage and fresh herbs with curry ketchup,* but the usual version is fast food, usually with French fries on the side.  I improvised: lengthwise-split bratwurst† on rye bread with curry ketchup, a kind of American-German take on choripán con chimichurri. (And, just to muddy the waters further, salchipapas are pretty much currywurst without the curry.)  It was good, too, but it we were left with three bratwursts that I didn't want to waste.

     If it's good for dinner, there's probably a way to make it good for breakfast.  The next morning, I sliced a bratwurst into "coins," sprinkled curry powder on them, fried them with a dab of olive oil and once they were cooked through, pushed them to the sides of the pan and scrambled an egg in with them.  A piparra pepper snipped into short segments and a little parsley finished it nicely.  (Bottled piparra peppers are delicious and our local grocer has them at a reasonable price.  Online prices are significantly higher.)  It was good enough that I did the same the next morning, which was when Tam remarked on how tasty it smelled and asked for a sample.  She liked it well enough that I made a larger batch for both of us this morning -- two sausages and three eggs.  Tam had red hatch chilies with hers; I added a little ketchup to mine.

     You could make this with fried rice, too -- the microwave-in-bag Spanish rice would be a good starting place.  Fried potatoes would work, too, but it calls for careful staging: the potatoes take longest to cook and should go first.  Get them slightly browned before making room for the sausage.

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     Friday, I wanted to make something fairly simple but different.  The grocery had good prices on ground chuck and sausage, and I restocked the basic vegetables.  I had a can of potato soup and a can of mushroom soup, and I bought a container of whole white mushrooms.  One chorizo sausage squeezed out of its casing, one mild Italian sausage given the same treatment, and a pound of ground chuck with a little salt, pepper and smoked paprika: I browned them, drained them and cleared a space at the center of the pot in which I sauteed roughly two-thirds of a cup of diced carrots and two large stalks of celery, cut into short slices.  While that was cooking, I diced a medium red onion (vary to suit your preference) and added it, stirring occasionally until the onion was translucent.  While doing that, I washed and sliced four large mushrooms, adding them, too.  Then both cans of soup, stir and cover for ten minutes or more.  The result is a thick stew, at least six servings of it.  The aroma was enticing and the flavor lived up to it.

     I froze the remainder for a later supper.  (I used up the last of the multi-colored carrots for this.  I don't know if they're any better than the orange ones, but they taste at least as good and they're fun, purple, white, yellow and orange.)
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     "Task nesting" is an important part of effective cooking. While I love those cooking shows and recipes that have you start with all the ingredients ready to go, each in its own little container -- and you should do that when learning a new dish, or if you're new to cooking -- it's usually a waste of time.  I like galley or apartment-style kitchens: everything is just a step or two away.  With the exception of gravy, scrambled eggs and stir-fry, there are very few cooking tasks that require all of your time and attention.  A cutting board on an unused stove burner or adjacent countertop lets you mind the pot while preparing for the next step; having the sink directly across from the stove means vegetables can be washed without ignoring whatever's already cooking.  Measuring cups and cooking utensils should be kept in cabinets within easy reach from the stove -- spices, too, if you can keep them away from excessive heat.  A kitchen is a specialized workshop and should be organized on that basis.  Make it as pretty as you like -- good appliances are already attractive and the rest is mostly elbow grease and careful shopping -- but make it functional.  Time spent cooking should be a pleasure, not a search for the tools and materials you need.

     This is link-heavy but not monetized.  Just things to look at.
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* Just ketchup -- I prefer the stuff Heinz and Red Gold sell as "chili sauce," a thick ketchup with some onion -- and curry powder.  Curry powders vary widely in heat and flavor; I have been using McCormick, which has plenty of coriannder, fenugreek and tumeric, but suits American palates.  Whatever you use, give it a sniff and a taste first, then (if you like it) stir enough into ketchup to suit yourself.  You'll be glad you did.
 
† Not actually the proper sausage for currywurst, but it's easy to find and it works.