Bangers and Mash (St. Patty's Day)

For St. Patty's Day a few years ago, from friends came over for dinner and made us "bangers and mash". What is that, you may ask? Well, according to Wikipedia, "Bangers and mash, also known as sausages and mash, is a traditional British (Irish) dish consisting of sausages and mashed potato. It may consist of one of a variety of flavored sausages made of pork, lamb, beef, or a meat alternative. The dish is usually served with onion gravy, but may also include fried onions and peas."

I found a highly recommended version of the recipe from the site "Belly Full" to try, and while I liked the end result, I felt like it didn't make enough gravy for us, plus it left me with half a carton of beef broth with no purpose. So, I am going to rewrite just a bit of the recipe more to our family's liking. Enjoy! For the original recipe, click here: https://bellyfull.net/bangers-and-mash-recipe/

Bangers and Mash

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 10 sausage links of your choosing (I used two 16 oz packages (5 links per package) of Hempler's bacon and white cheddar smoked sausage)
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 large sweet onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4-6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 32 oz carton beef broth
• salt and pepper, to taste
• mashed potatoes, for serving
• sweet baby peas, for serving

Directions:

1. Warm oil over medium heat in a large nonstick skillet. Add sausages and cook, until browned all over and cooked through (rolling frequently to prevent burning), about 10-12 minutes, trying to get as much drippings and brown bits in the bottom of the pan for the gravy. Remove from pan.
2. Add butter; once bubbly, add in the onion and stir to coat. Continue to cook for about 10 minutes until the onions are translucent, golden, and begin to caramelize.
3. Add in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
4. Add flour and mix through until completely combined.
5. Slowly add beef broth and mix into the onion so it becomes a sludge. Then add remaining beef broth and mix until combined.
6. Simmer, stirring, until the gravy thickens but is slightly thinner than you want – it will thicken more as it sits.
7. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
8. Transfer the cooked sausages back to the pan just to warm through.
9. To serve, mound some mashed potatoes on a plate, top with 2 sausages, drizzle with gravy, and some sweet baby peas on the side. Yum!