I never seem to cook except when guests come to visit. In addition to making a new attempt at black bean-corn-sweet potato-millet burgers, I also made a roasted garlic-Guinness-brown sugar pot roast in my slow cooker, shredded it and made sandwiches from it. I also make big breakfasts – my friend/guest’s favorite is rye toast, cream cheese, smoked salmon and scrambled or basil-poached eggs and roasted asparagus. I made that but also made a very American breakfast of fluffy American pancakes with real maple syrup, scrambled eggs and chicken sausage patties. I am not really big on the idea of sausage, but I had a package of ground chicken that I had planned to do something else with (and didn’t) and wanted to use it. I decided breakfast sausage was worth the experiment and it turned out really, really – surprisingly – well.

Slow cooker Guinness pot roast

2 pound (1 kg) beef pot roast
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 cup brown sugar
30 cl Guinness (or beer you prefer)
1 head roasted garlic
Rolls or buns you prefer, toasted

Sprinkle both sides of pot roast with the spices and place in the slow cooker. Put the brown sugar on top. Pour the beer into the slow cooker. Cook on low for 8 hours. Near the end of cooking time, roast head(s) garlic in the oven, mash up garlic and add to the cooked pot roast, finish cooking.

When finished, remove pot roast from the cooker and shred the meat on a separate plate. Meanwhile you can thicken the liquid in the cooker with a bit of flour (this created a thicker, gravy-like sauce, which is nicer for a sandwich). Return the shredded meat to the cooker and cook for another 20 to 30 minutes on low heat.

Chicken sausage patties

2 pounds (1 kg) ground chicken
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon dried sage
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Mix spices together, then mix into ground chicken. Form into patties and fry about 7 to 10 minutes on each side.