Wednesday 16 February 2011

Help me, I'm a vegetarian

Artisan hand-reared pork sausages served in a red wine jus with creamy potatoes. AKA bangers & mash.

One of my favourite meals and the dish we've decided to serve every Christmas day from now on.

The decision came after yet another 25th December involving frantic sweaty hours in the kitchen dangerously festooned with ribbons and bows from the prezzies of generous gift giving rellies, followed by a table groaning with a collection of dishes that we never normally eat. Enough. No more sad dry Turkey (for me, sad dry nut something) undercooked roasts and overcooked brussells. Bangers & mash is the way forward.

I need to be honest here. This isn't me or my kitchen.
But the model is wearing a CG apron and using the
CG Chef's Cloth - both critical elements of this recipe!
But how to cook it? And what am I, 20-years a vegetarian, doing writing down a recipe for a dish involving dead animals? Well, I think it's ok as long as the pigs were happy.

If I hadn't been veggie for so long (and if we had enough acerage for a small holding, and someone else chose who was going for slaughter,  and I never actually had to look the little piggies in the eye knowing they were going to demise) then, maybe, I'd actually eat the stuff myself... Who am I kidding? That's never going to happen. But I'm not a fascist and I'm quite happy to share a dinner table with people who do. As long as you don't put your fork anywhere near anything that's going on my plate.

So, how to do it? I've created the following myself - I think. If I've inadvertently stolen the idea from another recipe I read many moons back then I can only apologise. But, it's so rough and ready that I'm pretty sure no self-respecting chef is going to try and claim it.

I've tried it out on numerous guests (as I said, it is one of our favourite meals) and it works equally well with veggie sausages - Quorn seem to work best. Not sure why as they're not my favourite veggie bangers but there you go.

You'll need...
  • Enough sausages - happy/organic/veggie - to feed your guests
  • Lots of potato for the mash + plenty of butter
  • A bottle of decent red wine - cheap stuff really doesn't work. We've tried.
  • Some sage - a couple of sprigs will do
  • Bouillon
  • Bisto gravy granuals (I said it was rough and ready)
  • Couple of decent sized onions - softened in butter and olive oil with half a spoonful of brown sugar
  • 1 large savoy cabbage - finely shredded and cooked in a big pan with olive oil, butter, a pinch of good chilli flakes, salt, pepper and a couple of cloves of garlic
What to do...

Brown the sausages in a large roasting pan on top of the hob. The pan should comfortably hold the sausages but not so they're looking lonely and forlorn. When they're nicely coloured (but not cooked through), pour in the red wine so they're more or less submerged. Add a sprinkling of bouillon and the sage - I sometimes throw in a couple of bay leaves too. Not sure if they add anything but I just like going to get them from the garden.

Bung the pan in the oven at about gas mark 5 for half-an-hour to 40 minutes. You'll know they're ready when the wine has reduced and thickened. The joy about this dish is that you can leave it for longer if your guests are late or you forget you're meant to be doing the lunch.

Meanwhile make the mash, the onions and the cabbage. I generally put the mash in an oven dish and stick it in the bottom of the oven. 

Remove the sausages from the now thickened jus and pop them back in the cooling oven with your plates to keep warm. Quickly heat through the cabbage and onions that you've already prepared and stir some gravy granuals (I know, I know, it's so low brow) into the red wine. Season to taste. And Bob, as they say, is your uncle.

Disclaimer...

You'll need to trust your instincts with this recipe - it's definitely not Delia's sure fire moment by moment approach but it does work and it will taste scrummy.

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