Best of Britain

Health-freaks be warned. The following post contains food likely to cause arterial cramping and excessive saliva generation.

On what has been by far the coldest day of the year here in Canberra, it was a happy coincidence that the meal I had planned to cook was an example of what the British do, oh, so well. Stodge. Getting up this morning, I had an idea of what I wanted to put together tonight, but that was all it was. An idea.

When I was in England last July, I was so very impressed by a simple meal that my grandma cooked up for my two brothers and I, so much so that I made some mental notes of what went into it and vowed to give it a go myself. I've tried it once before, and it was ok, but this time I set out to use that information together with what I could find online to throw together my own creation. The result was, in my own opinion, absolutely sensational. So here you go, my very own...

Bangers & Mash with Apple and Onion Gravy
(serves 4)

Ingredients
8 thick pork sausages
4 large potatoes, suitable for mashing, peeled and diced
1 brown onion, sliced
1-2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and diced
2 tbs butter
1 tbs olive oil
1/2 tbs flour
1 cup dry cider
1-2 tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 tbs HP sauce
malt vinegar, salt, cracked pepper to taste

Method

1. Bring a pot of water to the boil and add the potatoes, cooking for 15-20 minutes until soft. In the mean time, add 1 tablespoon of the butter and the oil to a heavy-bottomed fry pan and heat over a medium heat. Add the sausages and cook for 2-3 minutes each side before turning.
2. Remove the sausages from the pan and place under a grill on low heat to keep warm while you prepare the gravy. Add the onion and apple to the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes until the onion is golden brown and translucent.
3. Add the flour to the pan and stir to soak up all the liquid. Cook for a minute to cook the flour, then stir in the cider and sauces. Add a generous splash of malt vinegar and season to taste with salt and pepper. If the gravy is too thick at this point, you can add a little water to thin it down a little.
4. Drain the potatoes and mash them with the remaining butter and salt and pepper to taste. Spoon the gravy over the sausages and serve with peas or beans.

A couple of notes on the above. 

1. The ingredient amounts are general guesstimates by me, as I just added ingredients until I was happy with the taste. 
2. If you're not a fan of pork sausages, beef works just fine, but thick is definitely better than thin.
3. I found a suggestion for mashed potatoes which involves baking the potatoes rather than boiling them. I think that sounds like it would be fantastic, but didn't have the 90 minutes spare to bake my potatoes.