My wife and I love anything English. We are the original Anglophiles. We love all the English shows on BritBox, Monty Don, Mary Berry, The Great British Baking Show and Downton Abbey. One of our family favorite weeknight meals is one of the most simple of English fare. Straight from the small British Pubs is my bangers and mash recipe. Bangers are any type of sausage. Pick the one of your choice and roast it in the oven at a high temp to brown and heat through, and bang! You have a protein. They can be hot, savory or even sweet.
Mash is simply mashed potatoes, but I make my Famous Mustard Mashed Potatoes. Our eldest son who claims to hate potatoes gobbles these down. He cleans his plate when we have this meal which I garnish with just a little something green to have him say, "eeew!" For my mash I start with boiled Yukon Gold Potatoes that I pressure cook for 5 minutes in my Instant Pot, but you can certainly boil them in a Dutch Oven until fork tender. Then, I add copious amounts of dairy: sour cream, butter and milk along with Dijon Mustard, dry mustard, onion and garlic powder and certainly bunches of fresh cracked pepper and Himalayan Sea Salt. All of this gets whipped to perfection in my KitchenAid Mixer with the wire whip attachment.
There you have it! The easiest and best savory meal perfect for the winter when produce and time is in short supply.
Ingredients
5-8 Italian Sausages (I allow one for each lady or child and two for men or teen boys)
8 Medium Yukon Gold Potatoes, Quartered
1/2 Cup Whole Milk
1/2 Cup Sour Cream
4 Tablespoons Butter
2 Tablespoons Whole Grain Dijon Mustard
1 Teaspoon Dry Mustard
1/2 Teaspoon Onion Powder
1/4 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
Salt and Pepper to Taste
*You can adjust all of these seasonings to your taste
Method
For the Sausage
Preheat Oven to 425º
Place the sausages on a cookie sheet and bake for 15-25 minutes until heated through, sizzling and browned. Turn half way through baking process. You can also line the sheet with parchment to make cleanup easier.
For the Mashed Potatoes
Wash, peel and quarter Yukon Gold Potatoes
Place potatoes in an Instant Pot and cook in 1 quart of water for 5 minutes at high pressure. Allow the pressure cooker to depressurize naturally for at least 5 minutes or until you are just about ready to serve dinner so the potatoes are extremely hot. Drain well in a colander.
Or boil potatoes in a Dutch Oven covered in water until fork tender. Drain well in a colander.
In a mixer fitted with a wire whip, whip the potatoes with the wet and dry ingredients. Adjust salt and pepper to taste and serve hot.
Garnish with parsley or a sprig of thyme.