Edible Central Heating.

Perhaps this is not the most ascetically pleasing dish in the world, but it hits all of the right spots on a cold November evening washed down with a glass of Pinot Noir and accompanied by some great music from the Celtic Connections festival.

I use this recipe from the Hairy Bikers, tonight it was made with the following modifications;

• I forgot to buy bacon so I added an extra can of butterbeans and a red salad pepper.
• I used a pinch of dried Thyme instead of the recommended amount of fresh Thyme.
• I used ground sweet paprika instead of smoked paprika.
• I added half a teaspoon of ground Cayenne pepper for that extra 'ooomph!'.
• The recipe seems to think the wine is optional, but I beg to differ. 
• I forgot to add sugar. Didn't seem to impair the flavour. 
• There did not seem to be any need to add salt. The stock made it salty enough, in a good way!

It was served with mashed potato. The orange bits in the mashed potato are the bits of a lonley carrot that was at the bottom of the vegetable draw and needed to be used, so I chucked it in with the tatties!

Bliss.