When I heard over the weekend that Tiger Woods had crashed out of the US open with a score of 16+, it reminded me of a couple of years ago when I drove passed The Castle pub on Childs Hill north west London; (don’t look for it’s now it’s not there anymore). To my surprise I noticed that Chas Hodges from Chas n’ Dave had been booked to perform. I stopped the car and checked; could it be that one half of London’s most famous pub rock band would now be reduced to playing, eerr well a pub on his own? How do people cope with failure I wondered?
Rather conveniently this weeks recipe takes its inspiration from a classic British pub menu, and could be described as a “knees up mother brown” of a dish. It’s none other then sausage and mash with onion gravy.
Mix the sliced onions with a little olive oil and roast in the oven at 180oC for 15 minutes; take out and set a side. For the mash peel, dice and boil the Maris Pipers in boiling water until cooked all the way through. Drain the cooking liquid, and combine the potatoes with the butter, cream, salt and pepper. Mash until smooth, or run through a ricer. Put the sausages in a cold pan, place on the hob with a medium flame and brown all over. Place the pan in the oven at 180oC for 12 minutes. When cooked, remove the sausages and set aside. Using the same pan add the butter, flour and when a paste has formed by whisking both together, pour in the stock, and bring to the boil. Throw in the cooked onions and reduce the liquid down to a thick gravy. Re-heat the mash, plate up with the sausages, and top both with the onion gravy.
On Friday it was “dad’s take kids to school morning”, and on arrival at my daughters alma mater, fathers were ushered upstairs to a classroom and asked to participate in a child’s chess tournament. I was beaten by a seven year old in less then nine minutes and left wondering what Chas N’ Dave would do? I checked out their website; this week they’re playing The London Palladium.
Sausage and Mash with onion gravy.
Serves 2
2 medium onions sliced
5 tablespoons of olive oil
2 large Maris Piper potatoes, peeled and evenly diced
30g unsalted butter
250ml double cream
salt and pepper to taste
4 very good pork sausages
20g unsalted butter
15g plain flour
½ pint of chicken stock
