Bangers 'n' Mash

Author: Denni Schnapp Status: published Published: Nov 27,2008 license cc-by-nc-sa 0   Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

More seasonal fare:

Outdoor-reared pork bangers with mushroom and onion gravy, potato and celeriac mash and mustard cabbage.

For the sausages: fat for frying, 4 red medium onions, thinly sliced, 6 sausages, 5-6 button mushrooms, thyme, bay leaf, ½ chicken stock cube, 200ml cider, ale or 100ml wine/100 ml water, bacon bits (optional), cracked black pepper
The secret here is to caramelise the onions really slowly, 1.5-2hrs over very low heat. Red onions are best. Infuse with thyme, sage or bayleaves if desired. Meanwhile fry the sausages slowly and add the chopped mushrooms when they are brown. Add to the onions, deglaze the pan and add the juices and crumble over the stock cube. Heat, season and simmer to desired consistency.

For the mash: Use celeriac and potato at about half-and-half and add celeriac chunks once potatoes have come to the boil. Mash celeriac first over heat to drive off excess water. Add butter, milk, white pepper, salt and a small handful of parsley while continuing to mash potato chunks, stirring all the while.
Problem: celeriac retains a lot of water and bleeds out a lot of flavour while cooking. Some people recommend boiling the whole thing in its peel. Comments anyone?
Celeriac stays chunky when mashed. A food processor may be the solution, but it turns this rather into baby food consistency.

For the cabbage: fat for frying, 1tsp caraway seeds, bacon/fat trimmings, 1 savoy cabbage, chopped, splash gherkin juice, 2 heaped tsp Dijon mustard, 1tsp Marigold vegetable stock, pepper, 100ml (or less) water
Fry the caraway seeds and bacon bits, then add the cabbage bit-by-bit. Deglaze with a splash of gherkin juice, stir in the mustard and seasoning and add a minimum of water to steam the cabbage (ca. 10 mins).

Comments