November 17, 2010

Fancy-Pants Bangers 'N' Mash

You know when you get blackout drunk after chugging a fifth of After Shock your first time drinking and the next day you spend with your best friend, the toilet? Then how the scent of cinnamon makes you want to vomit for years after? Me neither. Sorry mom for getting drunk on a school night when I was 16.

How does the above story relate. Mashed potatoes. You know how you stuff yourself on mashed potatoes and get that incredibly achy-need to unbutton your pants feeling after doing so? Anytime I think of mashed potatoes my stomach turns and I remember that uncomfortable feeling and how disgusting I feel every time I eat them. I'm sure you can now understand my hesitation of making mashed potatoes for Mr. Sideline Chef whenever he requests them with every meal.

His work sent him back on the road and because I had already done the menu planning and a recipe out of Rachael Ray 365: No Repeats A Year of Deliciously Different Dinners was on the lineup I set about making the meal for just the itty bitty and I. I cut the entire recipe in half to minimize leftovers and even portioned myself out a half serving of both the beef sausages and mashed potatoes.


After eating the perfectly portioned half serving I was left satisfied and not overly stuffed in that disgusting roll me through my bedroom door sort of a way. I even settled for an abnormally early dinner time, 4:30 p.m., in order to let the food settle before bedtime. Well played Pretend Chef, well played.

Bangers are a mild British pork sausage. I have never heard of bangers before this recipe. They can easily be substituted with any kind of mild pork sausage, beef, or chicken sausages. I chose a smoked beef sausage since our local market doesn't keep great stock of products.

The sausages are browned and then removed from the skillet while a red onion sauce is made with red wine and chicken stock and then added back to the skillet. The mashed potatoes have chives mixed in and are a creamy and delicious accompaniment to the sausages.

No need to unbutton your pants after eating this unless you over do it and in that case it most definitely is worth the achy belly. When will you ever learn?

Fancy-Pants Bangers 'N' Mash
Rachael Ray 365: No Repeats A Year of Deliciously Different Dinners
Makes 4 servings

Stars of the Show:


Milk is not set out since I am weird about leaving it out for longer than need be.
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 8 bangers or other sausages - I used Eckrich's smoked beef sausages. They were fulled cooked sausages.
  • 2 pounds small red potatoes, cut into quarters
  • salt
  • 2 medium red onions, thinly sliced
  • 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves, chopped - I used dried thyme since that was already in my spice cabinet.
  • 2 garlic cloves, chopped
  • black pepper
  • 1/2 cup dry red wine - I used Shiraz.
  • 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 2 tbsp cream cheese
  • 3 tbsp fresh chives, chopped
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped - I used dried parsley.
  • Juice of 1/2 a lemon
And Action:

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat with the olive oil. Add the sausages and brown on all sides, about 3 to 4 minutes.

While the sausages are browning, start the mashed potatoes by covering the quartered potatoes in water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, salt it, and cook the potatoes until fork-tender for about 10 minutes.

 Remove the sausages from the pan and place on a platter. Drain half the fat from the skillet (I skipped this step entirely.) then return the skillet to the stove top. Add the red onions, thyme, garlic, salt, and pepper. Cook the onions, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes, or until nice and brown. Actually didn't burn them like my other night's mishap. Add the red wine and chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Add the sausages back to the skillet and cook until the sauce is reduced by half, about 5 minutes.

Drain the potatoes and return to the hot pan to dry the potatoes out. Add the butter, cream cheese, chives, and milk to the potatoes and mash. Season with salt and pepper.

Finish the sausages with the chopped parsley and the lemon juice. You can either top the mashed potatoes with the sausages or lay them to the side.



8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love love love bangers and mash! I order it all the time when we go out to our local pub. The best I ever had was in a pub in Victoria, British Columbia. I could eat that stuff every night. Now funny enough, I've never made it! I have no idea why. This recipe sounds wonderful. Ms. Ray knows her stuff, I have one of her cookbooks and it's fabulous. And any recipe with wine in it has to be good! Looks scrumptious!

Chelle B said...

Brenda - This wasn't my first time making sausage and mashed potatoes but this was a substantially better recipe than I've made before.

Alexandria said...

The mashed potatoes look so yummy. I too am the girl that eats waaaay too much mashed potatoes. But thanks to an over eating experience involving coleslaw I know the stomach turning feeling. I have never eaten bangers but I believe my husband would love this!! thanks for sharing!

Kimberly Peterson said...

MmMMmMMmMmmmmmm... good ol' bangers and mash. It's been a while. I miss them. I might resurrect them this weekend, lol.

Chelle B said...

Alexandria - The mashed potatoes were really delicious reheated for lunch the next day too. I am generally don't like reheated potatoes.

Kimberly - You should make this. It was such a hearty and comforting meal.

Unknown said...

Cream cheese in mash potatoes, I saw the same thing on bobby flays thanksgiving throw down yesterday!!!! It sounds amazing! I will try it for sure!

Carolyn said...

I love bangers and mash, and I can imagine how it would have been an excellent post-hangover meal as an underage drinker ;) This really does look like a vamped-up bangers and mash recipe!

Carolyn said...

PS - so glad my blog helps with your mum's dietary restrictions. I think you said she was celiac, right? You can always sub in sugar where I've put in erythritol and stevia. Put in about 3/4 to 1 cup of granulated sugar in place of my sweeteners in most recipes. If you are in doubt, shoot me an email and I will try to figure out amounts for sugar.

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