Good Ole Bangers & Mash

Don't you wish you could just pluck this one off the screen and indulge?  This old fave of mine gets a mini makeover with the addition of red wine and herbs.  No gravox here folks, this is the real McCoy.....don't be afraid, its actually very simple and you will not regret it......you will be the Worlds Best Mum, if only for a day!

Serves 4

1tbs of olive oil
8 good quality big fat beef sausages
4 large good mashing spuds (sebago, cream delight etc), peeled and roughly chopped
1 large brown onion, halved and sliced
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
1/2 a bunch of thyme, leaves removed, stalks discarded
11/2 tbs of plain flour
1 cup of dry red wine
1 cup of beef stock
Extra water, just in case
1/2 a cup of warm milk
50gm of butter or margerine
Sea salt and Pepper

Steamed veg to serve.....

Bring the potatoes, with just enough water to cover,  to the boil in a large saucepan and cover with a lid.  Boil for approximately 20 minutes or until tender.

Heat a large fry pan to a medium heat, add the olive oil and brown the sausages on all sides.  Don't worry if they are not cooked all the way through, they will continue to cook in the gravy.  Remove from the pan and drain on paper towel.

In the same pan, lightly fry the onion until soft.  Add the garlic and thyme leaves and fry for a couple of minutes until fragrant.  Sprinkle over the flour and mix with the pan juices.  Cook the flour for at least one minute.  It will look a litlle claggy but will be fine once you add the wine and stock.  Once you have added the wine and stock, stir really well until all the lumps are gone (should happen fairly quickly).  Once the gravy has come back to a simmer, pop the sausages back in.  Stir occasionally, moving the snags about and add a little water if you think it is getting too thick.

Drain the potatoes really well and mash with a potato masher until all the lumps are gone.  Add the milk and butter, season generously with salt and pepper and whip really well with a wooden spoon until you have a scrummy, creamy, mash.

Divide the mash in nice big dollops between four plates.  Top with a couple of sausages each and spoon over generous portions of the rich gravy.  Serve immediately with steamed veg......