Bangers & Mash

When you're looking for an easy and comforting meal this is it!  The individual components can all be made in advance and reheated before serving.  While peas are a traditional side, I roasted some aspargus here.

Bangers & Mash

Ingredients

Bangers

• 8 pork sausages (a bratwurst will do if you can't find authentic bangers)
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 4 Tbsp. butter
• 2 yellow onions, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup brown ale
• 2 sprigs thyme
• 1 sprig sage
• 2 cups beef stock
• 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 tsp. Coleman's mustard
• 1 Tbsp. Pickapeppa Jamaican hot sauce
• 1 Tbsp. cornstarch dissolved in 1 Tbsp. water
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 4 tsp. Ras el Hanout

• Mashed Potatoes

• 3 lbs potatoes
• 1 stick butter, softened, diced
• 1 cup half and half, warmed
• salt & pepper to taste

Serves 4
Cook Time: 1 hour

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and sear the bangers.  Set aside when seared and melt the butter in the same pan; add onions and allow to caramelize for about 30 minutes.  Deglaze with ale until all the alcohol had cooked off.  Add stock, herbs, Worcestershire sauce, Coleman's, and Pickapeppa and bring to a boil for 1 minutes, then reduce to simmer.  Allow sauce to simmer for about 10 minutes, then add your cornstarch slurry.  
Put bangers into sauce and let them cook in sauce for about 20 minutes, covered, until they are cooked through and the sauce flavors have had time to come together.  Remove lid, add butter and cook for another 5 minutes.  
Serve bangers and gravy over mashed potatoes.


Mashed Potatoes
Serves 6 - 8 
Cook time: 45 minutes
3 lbs potatoes
1 stick butter, softened, diced
1 cup half and half, warmed
salt & pepper to taste

In a large pot of salted water, bring potatoes to a simmer; cook, uncovered, until the potatoes are fork-tender, about 45 minutes.
Drain the potatoes. Mash potatoes into a large bowl using a ricer - this will eliminate the need to peel the potatoes before mashing.  If you do not have a ricer you can peel them while they are still hot, just be careful, and then mash them with a potato masher.
Add the butter and warm milk to the bowl and stir to combine.  Salt & pepper, to taste.