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Australia, Camping · Sausage Sizzle

Butcher's Snags with Beer-Caramelised Onions on Toasted Sourdough

Thick butcher's sausages gently poached in beer, then seared crackling-brown, on buttery toasted sourdough with jammy beer-and-thyme onions and Dijon.

ServingsServes 2
Total cooking time46 min
DifficultyMedium
About servingsThick sausages must be cooked right through: at least 75 °C in the centre, with no pink. Keep them below 5 °C until cooking. Most of the alcohol in the beer cooks off, but not all of it; use non-alcoholic beer or stock when cooking for children.

Method

  1. Set up the stove on a flat, stable surface out of the wind, well away from tents, with water or a fire blanket at hand. Halve, peel and thinly slice the onions into 3 mm half-moons and strip the thyme leaves from the stalks. Take the butter out of the cooler so it softens.

    Add in this stepBrown onions 240 gFresh thyme sprigs 2

  2. Lay the sausages in a 24 cm frying pan and pour in most of the beer; it should come about 1 cm up their sides. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then turn down to low heat, cover and poach for , turning them once. Keep it to a lazy bubble, as a hard boil splits the skins. They will be firm and pale; lift them out and pour the liquid into a can, not on the ground.

    Add in this stepThick butcher's sausages (pork-and-fennel or beef, about 90 g each) 4Lager or pale ale 320 ml

    medium heat→low heat

  3. Wipe the pan, melt half the butter in it and add the onions, thyme and salt. Cook over medium-low heat for , stirring every 2 minutes and scraping the bottom, until the onions collapse and turn deep amber. Rushing them on higher heat only burns them.

    Add in this stepButter 15 gSalt 2 pinch

    medium-low heat

  4. Sprinkle in the brown sugar and stir for 1 minute, then pour in the rest of the beer and scrape up every brown bit. Let it bubble over medium heat for , until the liquid has cooked down to a jammy glaze, then stir in the balsamic. Tip the onions into a bowl and cover to keep warm.

    Add in this stepBrown sugar 1 tspLager or pale ale 80 mlBalsamic vinegar 1 tsp

    medium heat

  5. Heat the oil in the pan over medium-high heat and sear the poached sausages for , rolling them often, until crackling and deep brown all over. They are done when the centre shows no pink and reads 75 °C on a probe thermometer. Rest them on a board for 2 minutes.

    Add in this stepCooking oil 1 tbsp

    medium-high heat

  6. Spread the rest of the butter on one side of each bread slice and toast the slices buttered side down over medium heat for in total, in batches, until golden and crisp.

    Add in this stepButter 15 gSourdough slices (1.5 cm thick) 4

    medium heat

  7. Spread the Dijon on the toast. Halve each sausage lengthwise so it sits flat, lay it on the toast, pile on the onions and finish with a line of tomato sauce. Eat it open, or fold it gently like a sandwich.

    Add in this stepDijon mustard 2 tspTomato sauce (ketchup) 2 tbsp

Cook's tip

Poaching first means the centre is already almost cooked, so the sear is only for colour and you never end up with a burnt outside and a raw middle. The onions keep for 3 days in the cooler, so make a double batch. Non-alcoholic beer or chicken stock works for the poaching.

Cooking it at camp

At home, use a large heavy frying pan on the stove with the same heat levels and timings; finishing the sausages in a very hot ridged grill pan gives you char lines. The onions can be made a day ahead and reheated.