Cooking with Dr. Monkey

Today's episode: Bangers and mash with devil's gravy.

I got this recipe out of the new Rachel Khoo cook book The Little Paris Kitchen.  I modified it slightly.

I started out by finely chopping up one white onion and one stalk of celery.

 Next I chopped up two slices of smoked bacon and I began frying it up.

 Next I added the onion and celery and let it all cook up together.

Once the bacon veggie mix was cooked up, I cooked it until the onions turned a golden brown and I had to add water a few times to prevent it all from sticking to the bottom of the pan, I took it out and set it aside.  Then I added to my hot pan two tablespoons of butter and one quarter cup of flour.  I mixed it together and then I poured in two cups of beef stock and I whisked it all together so the flour butter mix didn't lump up.  I then whisked in one tablespoon of tomato paste and one quarter cup of white wine.  I cooked that mix on medium to low heat while I put my bacon veggie mix in a food processor and pulsed it until it became a paste which I then added to my gravy.  I whisked it all together and let it simmer, it smelled heavenly.

I then mashed my potatoes, don't whip your potatoes, MASH them so that there are still a few lumps here and there in them.  I also fried up, in another pan, three Irish banger sausages.  Once the sausages were cooked about three quarters of the way, I put them in my gravy to finish cooking. 

I let the gravy and sausages simmer for about five minutes on low heat and then I served them up with a heap of mashed potatoes.  Salt and pepper the gravy to your taste.

The verdict: holy hell this gravy is nirvana.  It's rich and got more than a hint of bacon goodness in it.  Ms. Khoo added a carrot and a bouquet garni of thyme, parsley, and bay leaf to her  gravy but since I didn't have all those herbs and I refuse to knowingly eat a cooked carrot, I omitted them from my version of this dish.  Seriously, this gravy is unbelievably good.  And it goes so well with Irish banger sausages, which aren't spiced too heavily so the gravy really stands out.  I had the leftover gravy over bread for the next two days for lunch and it held up super well.

This meal is more of a cold weather, stick to your ribs, kind of meal and I'll definitely be making it again and I'll make that gravy again with other dishes, it will pair well with pork roast and cuts of beef.