Boozy Bangers'n'Mash - Is My Blog Burning? 8

Today's challenge: Lift your Spirits High! IMBB 8, September 19, 2004. The only rule for IMBB 8: is to use wine or spirits as a central component of your recipe. Check out There's a Chef In My Kitchen where you can see the 45 entries from all across the globe.

Number of glasses of Kir Royale consumed whilst preparing this meal: 3
[Kir made with Prosecco (Italian Sparkling Wine) and Creme de Mure (blackberry) purchased in Bastille, Paris, France]



I started blogging in a vacuum. Gibby told me I should do it because I love talking about food, so I started "Becks Posh Nosh". (I figured he thought it would shut me up - if I was writing about food instead of talking about it!) I hadn't even considered that millions of other people were all doing the same thing. At first I was concentrating on getting a feel on what I wanted to create with my own page. But then, slowly, I started to learn about the existence of other bloggers just like me. Thousands of them. It suddenly felt even more worth it, to be part of such a passionate, cyber community.

I first caught a clue about IMBB when reading about dumplings on Life Begins at Thirty . But dumplings are something that remind me of bad school dinners in 70's England so I didn't pay much attention. Then, yesterday, whilst surfing through Le Hamburger et le Croissant , I saw IMBB mentioned again. I figured it was time to discover what it was all about.

I followed the links only to find that the deadline for the next chapter was today. I had to think fast. To my advantage I have had a lot more experience with alcohol than I have had with dumplings. No contest, I knew I had to make Boozy Bangers'n'Mash.

I invented this dish a few months ago. I am English, living in the USA (San Francisco) and I miss my good old Bangers'n'Mash. My boyfriend is French and I know there would be no way I could ever convince him to try 'English Onion Gravy' so I concocted a wine-base sauce to go with the sausage and potato instead. Every time I make this dish it's different because I never remember exactly how I did it the last time. But thanks to IMBB, this time I am writing it down - which is a good thing as today's was the best version I've made to date.

Ingredients (for two):
-1 x humungous onion, sliced into thin rings
-several garlic cloves, roughly hewn into small chunks
-a handful of mixed herbs (I used thyme, marjoram and a little rosemary), finely chopped.
-1 large, ripe, dark red, juicy, heirloom tomato (deskinned if you have guests, don't bother if you don't)
-2 large (American-sized) sausages. I used Lamb Sausages Cured with Red Wine from the San Francisco Ferry Building's Golden Gate Meat Company which are perfect for this particular dish. Try and get something along those lines if you decide to try out this recipe.
-1/2 a bottle of crappy red wine (someone had been gauche enough to bring Charles Shaw to a dinner party recently, so I used that tonight).
-Olive Oil
-Seasoning
-Chopped parsley for garnishing.
-Mashed potato made to your own taste.

The method:
-Slowly cook the onion rings on lowest heat in olive oil until they are soft. This takes about 30 minutes.
-Remove onions from pan and add the sausages. Brown them all over, adding the garlic and the mixed herbs.
-Add the chopped tomatoes, reintroduce the cooked onions and pour in the half bottle of plonk.
Simmer on a low heat for about an hour whilst the wine reduces and the onions turn a deep red colour.

In the meantime cook your poatoes for mashing. I mash mine with a little Creme Fraiche and French butter, salt and pepper.

Today I found that cooking this dish so slowly (usually I am in more of a hurry), resulted in the sausage being far more deliciously tender, crumbly and melt in your mouth than in previous attempts.

Serve as illustrated, preferably with a better glass of wine than Charles Shaw...



Tne next IMBB will be hosted by An Obsession With Food

Boozy Bangers'n'Mash - Is My Blog Burning? 8