The gunpowder pot.

A bad play on words so forgive me my name for this recipe.  It was better known in my family as campers stew as it was the sort of thing that we would make when we went camping and every thing came out of a tin.  The real strength of a dish like this is that you can just whack it in a pan let it cook and watch the fireworks go of then back inside reheat.  And you have a very tasty filling and warming dish all in one bowl.

You will need

Two big potatoes

8 rashers bacon

4 garlic cloves

1 big onion

1 chicken stock cube

1.2 litres/2 pints water

Half a green cabbage or kale

10 or 12 good sausages 

Some chopped fresh thyme

Some chopped fresh parsley

A tin of borlotti beans

A tin of kidney beans

A tin of cannellini beans 

A tin of haricot beans

Two tin of tomatoes

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Now unlike a lot of recipes that I put on this site you will see that this one is pretty loose as to what goes in to it.  I think that the main thing to keep in mind that you will be in the garden watching things go bang in the sky or trying to stop small children from crying as they do not like fireworks.  Therefore, simplicity is the key to a night like this and warm filling food if it’s a cold night.  

Star by frying of your bacon and sausages in a pan with the garlic and onion.  Just slice the onion and roughly crush the garlic, you can say that it is all to do with the artisan peasant food that Guy Fawkes represented when he try to blow up parliament.  Once you have some colour on the sausages, then add the water, a stock cube, and the potato dices or sliced.

Bring it to the boil, while it is getting there brain the beans from the tins, and give them a rise under a tap to get rid of that starchy salt water.  Then once it has boiled add the cabbage so that it has a little time to cook down.  Then add the  beans and the tomatoes to the pan.  And let it simmer for a bit and season with salt and pepper.

Now let this cool as you go and watch the firework display.  Then go back in to the kitchen and turn the heat back on and let it go back to the boil.  Serve in to big blows  with crusty bread if you like to soak up the gravy.