A weekend of friendship and food

It was a great weekend - excellent weather on Saturday and Sunday - a rarity in England! - and lovely friends over to stay. We had our old friends Rahul and Christine and their lovely children Maxime and Maya, and new friends in the form of Rheinhard and Susan from Frankfurt. There was a lot of lolling about in the pool and leisurely reading going on, not to mention a very active game of golf in the heat, but in between we did find time to eat and drink. Saturday night we had tex-mex - enchiladas and cornbread, finished off with brownies and ice-cream - and Sunday we had a barbecue. I've always felt that men generally make too much of a fuss about a barbecue. How hard could it be, I wondered, to just get a fire going? As an 8 year old girl scout I once layed such an excellent camp fire that my scout leaders reminisced about it every camp weekend afterwards. However, it appears I have since lost my skills with this primal force - my barbecue flamed high (and burnt up half of my beloved magnolia tree) before dying. That the meal was nonetheless a success was due to the fact that a) we had another bag of charcoal so could start again, b) Christine took charge with a spraybottle of water and that c) my (electric, reliable) oven was on at full whack and thus could ensure the meat was safe to eat. In the end fun was had by all and I think we've all lived to tell the tale. Getting onto the serious business of selecting a culinary highlight I have decided on the sausage recipe. I know I know - how hard is it to barbecue a sausage? But don't switch off. This recipe helps you to make the most delicious sausages (not a hint of blackness or toughness) accompanied by a wonderful smoky barbecue sauce and also, as the sausages spend the last half hour in the oven the barbecue is free for you to burn / undercook the other meat. This recipe comes from Annie Bell's IN MY KITCHEN my favourite cookbook of the moment and one I can highly recommend.

3 tbps extra virgin olive oil
2 onions peeled, halved and finely sliced
5 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
1 1/2 tsp light muscovado sugar
100 ml white wine
2 x 400 g. tins chopped plum tomatoes
sea salt
1.3 kg good quality chunky sausages

Heat the olive oil in a medium-sized saucepan and saute the onions for about 10/12 minutes until they are lightly caramelised. Add the garlic and stir frequently for a minute or two and then add the sugar, stir, and finally add the wine. Simmer to reduce the liquid by half, add the tomatoes and some salt and pepper and cook for 30 minutes or so, until the sauce is reduced and thick. Spoon it into a large cast-iron roasting tray which will hold all the sausages in a single layer. Switch the oven onto about 180 fan / 190 electric. Meanwhile, barbecue the sausages for 15-25 minutes until they are nicely browned but not fully cooked. Arrange them on top of the tomato sauce and spoon some of it over. Put the tray in the oven for about 30 minutes, basting them halfway through. The sauce should be caramelised at the edges and the sausages deeply gold and sticky.