Bangers and Mash

The husband is a huge fan of Bangers and Mash.  If we go to an Irish Pub, I don’t even have to ask what he is ordering.  Because he orders this dish whenever he has the opportunity, I consider him somewhat of an expert.  (In fact, he should probably be the one writing this post.)

Even though the husband loves this dish and adores St. Patrick’s Day, we decided to avoid the crowds and craziness the holiday can bring and stayed in to concoct our own version of Bangers and Mash.  We both have a bit of Irish blood in the veins and hoped that we could channel some of our ancestry into our culinary experiment.  I can’t speak for the husband or his expert taste buds, but I wasn’t disappointed.

We found a recipe for Bangers of Mash, but didn’t follow it exactly.  (It’s rare that I actually follow a recipe!) Keep in mind that I used my own recipe for the mashed potatoes and for the gravy I substituted half water and half beef broth and didn't use any type of browning sauce.

We started with the mashed potatoes by cutting the potatoes into cubes and boiling them in water just like my mom taught me to do all those years ago making Thanksgiving dinner.   Of course, back then I was allergic to potatoes and couldn’t taste the progress of the dish.  It’s always been a mystery how I got to be in charge of making the mashed potatoes when I had no idea how they turned out.  All of that practice paid off though.  We used chicken broth instead of milk, which added a bit of a savory, salty flavor.  We splurged and used real butter though and I think this is the key to smooth mashed potatoes.  I’ve never used real butter in mashed potatoes before and so they had never come out quite so smooth before.  They even tasted smooth.

While the potatoes were cooking, we grilled Sweet Italian Sausages in a skillet.  I wish that I could have found English Sausages, but they were not in any of the stores that I went to.  I think the Italian Sausages were a good substitute, but according to the husband and expert Bangers and Mash orderer, they were a bit spicier and sweeter than English Sausages.  I don’t believe I have ever tried an English Sausage, so I wouldn’t know the difference.  Maybe next year I can find the right ingredient.

Although, in my opinion, the type of sausage wasn’t crucial to the dish.  We made a Brown Butter Onion

Gravy that added just enough salt and savory to the already delicious mashed potatoes.  The gravy was so surprisingly delicious that I honestly forgot about the sausage. Of course, the was also made out of butter, so I guess it shouldn’t have been so surprising. This was also my first attempt at a butter based gravy – rich, creamy, and smooth.

If there is a moral to this culinary experiment, it would have to be that butter creates a smooth delicious flavor whether in mashed potatoes or in gravy.  While the dish was relatively easy to make, I think I will reserve that delicious smooth richness (and all of those fat grams from sausage and butter) for St. Patrick’s Day.

To be continued next year with English Sausage….