Sausages, Bubble & Squeak and Onion gravy

I made this dinner after my long awaited return to running. After work I went with my boss for a 7.5km run and at the time I was feeling quite perky, but obviously an easy dinner was called for. My bangers and mash is a trusted favourite with very little margin for error. It can't just be mash though, bubble and squeak is far more fun! Allow an hour and half for the onion gravy, which gives you enough time to boil the veg. By the time dinner was cooked I had the mother of all headaches, at first I obviously assumed this was the onslaught of a lifetime of migraines and went to bed having hardly touched dinner... The morning after, I googled 'headache after exercise' and it appears I probably had just cained the running a little too hard*, since my legs since ache slightly three days later, the diagnosis is probably correct. Oh well, exercise isn't good for you after all!

*NB - a website did mention it was either exertion or bleeding of the brain, thankfully it appears to have been exertion :)

Anyway, onwards to what i think it is a pretty good sausages and mash recipe:

Ingredients:

Pork Sausages
6 potatoes
Half a Cabbage
1 Onion
300 ml of Diluted Bovril (or any beef stock, but Bovril makes the BEST gravy)
100ml Red wine ( i probably added more)
Mayonnaise
Butter
Wholegrain Mustard
Diijon mustard
Worcestershire sauce

Onion Gravy:

1. Slice your onions as finely as possible, add to a generous knob of melted butter in pan big enough to accommadate the 400mls of liquid you will add later.

2. Cook the onions until soft, then turn the heat down, leave for around an hour until browned, stirring occasionally.

3. Add a teaspoon of dijon mustard to the onions, a few splashes of worcestershire sauce, and give it a good stir. (you may wish to add some plain flour at this point for a thicker gravy, instead I add 'diluted' corn flour at the end if thickening is necessary).

4.Now add the red wine and stock to the pan and bring to the boil. Leave simmering for around 20 mins. Add cornflour mixed with a little water if thickening is required.

BUbble & Squeak:

1. Chop the potatoes into even sized chunks (quarters).
2. Boil the potatoes for 20/30 mins, until soft when pricked with a fork, nearly falling apart.
3. Mash the potatoes, I use a potato ricer which makes your life alot easier. I add whatever I've got
into the fridge into my mash (within reason). Today I added a drop of milk, some mayo, some
wholegrain mustard and a small knob of butter (which will help the squeak brown later). Season
well with salt and pepper.
3. Slice then chop the cabbage, boil for about 5 mins, until soft.
4. Add the cabbage to the potato and mash together.

5. Warm a non stick frying pan on the hob, but don't add any oil.

6. Add the mash & cabbage mixture to the pan, and spread it out to cover the span of the pan. Now leave the mixture for a few minutes before stirring. The mixture should 'bubble' a little (thus the name), I really like the brown bits so I cook the bubble and squeak for about 20- 30 mins.

*Bubble and Squeak is traditionally made from left over mash potato and cabbage (but I love it so much I make it from scratch).

Sausages:

Put the sausages in the oven, at about 180oC (Fan Oven), this depends on the sausages, but my chipolatas required about 30 mins to go brown and sticky (don't prick the sausages, or add any oil).

And we're done, hopefully you're in a fitter state to eat than I was :)