We always come back to comfort food.

Comfort food is sweeping the blogosphere like a favourite chequered woollen blanket (does that simile make sense? no) and I'm jumping on the bandwagon.

On St Patrick's Day night, this is what graced the Kitchen Hand table (it helped that the day wasn't especially warm because this is food for a cold climate):

Coddle.

Take four pork sausages. KR Castlemaine is now producing its version of Irish sausages which is what I used but you can use any sausages you wish. Next time I might try kangaroo sausages - it is the healthiest meat in the world, being very low in fat. (Although perhaps coddle made with 'roo bangers should really have a different name.)

Boil, simmer, drain and cool your snags. Meanwhile, cut two thick rashers of bacon into half inch squares and cook it in dripping (or butter or oil) for a minute, then add a chopped large brown onion and cook until golden. Now add a crushed clove of garlic and cook for a minute.

Remove the bacon, onion and garlic from the pan and brown the sausages. Hmmm. Some recipes have the sausages straight into the casserole without browning. I browned mine. Slice two largish potatoes finely and arrange, or merely toss, them in a casserole. Top the 'taters with the bacon and onion mixture and then throw in some dried sage and some white pepper and half a cup of chicken stock. Maybe more depending on the size of your tubers. Now on go the sausages, all lined up nicely.

Bake for 30 to 45 minutes. Garnish with parsley. Eat with Guinness. That's a cliche. You can drink what you like. I had red wine. It was delicious.

*

I like St Patrick's Day. When I was very young it used to be a holiday from school and we'd march in the city and parade in front of the formidable Archbishop Daniel Mannix, who it seemed ran the city, if not the entire country. The uncle I never knew was named for Archbishop Mannix.