Photo © closetcooking.com

Recipes around the world: England (Bangers and Colcannon with Guinness Gravy)

For this post we’re heading back to England to highlight a traditional recipe from that region: Bangers and Colcannon with Guinness Gravy. This dish falls under the “Bangers and Mash” family and is a simple dish essentially made up of sausages and mash potatoes. This dish is very common in England, Ireland, New Zealand and Canada. The “Bangers” nickname for the sausages is said to have originated during the World War I era: due to severe food shortages, sausages were made with little meat, cereal and water, and this caused them to “pop” when cooked. Full credit for this recipe goes to Kevin Lynch and his recipe blog, closetcooking.com. He has a lot of awesome recipes on his site, be sure to check him out. This recipe will also consist of Colcannon; a traditional Irish version of mashed potatoes with kale or cabbage. Let’s get to it.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1/4 pound bacon, cut into 1 inch slices
• pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/4 small head cabbage, thinly sliced
• 4 green onions, sliced
• salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 pound sausage (Irish or English bangers if you can get them)
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 teaspoon thyme, chopped
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 bottle Guinness
• 2 tablespoons mustard
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon sour cream
• milk to taste

Process:

1. Bring some water to boil, add the potatoes and simmer until fork tender, about 20–30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile cook the bacon in a large pan over medium heat until it renders, about 3–5 minutes.
3. Add the butter to the bacon, season with salt and pepper and cook until it foams, about a minute.
4. Add the cabbage to the bacon, mix to coat and let cook until tender, about 10 minutes.
5. Add the green onions to the cabbage, cook for 5 minutes, season with salt and pepper and set aside.
6. Heat the oil in a pan over medium high heat.
7. Add the sausage and cook until golden brown, about 2–4 minutes per side, and set them aside.
8. Add the onions and saute until tender, about 5–7 minutes.
9. Add the garlic and thyme and saute until fragrant, about a minute.
10. Sprinkle in the flour and let it cook for a few minutes.
11. Add the Guinness, mustard and Worcestershire sauce and brown sugar along with the sausage and simmer for 10 minutes.
12. Remove the sausage and continue to simmer to reduce by half about 10 minutes.
13. Meanwhile, mash the potatoes, mix in the cabbage followed by the butter, sour cream and enough milk until you get your favourite mashed potatoes consistency.
14. Divide the colcannon between 4 plates, top with sausages and cover in gravy.

Enjoy!

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