Bangers and mash (otherwise knows as sausage and mashed potatoes) can sometimes be bland. With a mixture of Irish stout, spicy mustard, Dubliner cheese (an Irish cheese that melts smoothly and has a bold flavor,) and a few more ingredients, this is chock full of flavor and a wonderful but easy meal to make for St. Patrick’s Day, or actually anytime.
The Dubliner cheese is expensive, or at least what I consider expensive and not something I would use on a regular basis. King Soopers and Safeway has it on sale right now though it’s still costly. If you can’t find it or it just doesn’t fit into your budget, use an aged white cheddar or anything that melts easily. I personally would stick with a white cheese and please, don’t use the box of Velveeta…I believe in saving money but that just won’t work with this! For the beer, I use George Killian’s Irish Stout but you can use any beer you choose. I’m trying to keep in the Irish “spirit” of things. Red skinned potatoes were on sale for 39 cents a pound at Safeway, which was actually cheaper than the bagged potatoes I usually buy to save money.
The entire meal for 4 came in at approximately $10.58 with my sale prices.
A note about the sausage…the original recipe, which I found from at aspicyperspective.com (because I don’t typically cook this type of food, I had to find someone who did!) uses 6 to 8 pork sausage links. I couldn’t find any that weren’t Italian or spicy or sweet that were in my budget since I spent so much money on the cheese. What I use are the thinner ones I found at King Soopers in the larger pack. It’s simply called Pork Sausage Links that were $2.50 for 12 ounces, 14 links. Since they are smaller, I’ll serve 3 to 3 1/2 per person.
BANGERS & MASH –
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Serves: 4 for approx. $10.58
Ingredients:
- 6 to 8 pork sausage links
- 2 tablespoons butter, separated
- 1 large onion, thinly sliced
- 1 bottle beer
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 to 1 cup beef or chicken stock
- salt and pepper
- 2 pounds red skinned potatoes
- 2 tablespoon butter
- 3-4 tablespoon milk
- 1 tablespoon spicy or whole grain mustard
- 3/4 cup (6 ounces) Dubliner cheese
Directions:
Chop potatoes into large chunks and place in pot. Cover pot with water until it covers the potatoes. Add a large pinch of salt. Cover pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, remove lid, lower heat, and simmer about 10 minutes or until fork tender.
Drain potatoes and add butter and milk. Smash with a potato masher or large spoon. Once you’ve reached the desired consistency, stir in the cheese and mustard. Salt and pepper to taste.
While potatoes are boiling, add 1 tablespoon of butter to a large skillet over medium-high heat. Place the sausages into the skillet and cook about 1 minute. Add Onion slices. Brown the “bangers” and onions for about 10 minutes. Add beer and allow to reduce for another 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Mix 1 tablespoon of butter with 1 tablespoon of flour. Remove bangers and keep warm. Mix butter/flour mixture into the beer reduction. It should thicken immediately. Add Worcestershire sauce and beef stock to thin out the “gravy” to desired consistency. *Start with the smaller amount of beef/chicken stock and more depending on preferred texture. Salt and pepper to taste.
Serve bangers over mash and top with gravy.