Bangers

Among the many fine smoked meat and sausage products from North Country Smokehouse here in New Hampshire are real British-style bangers--sausages that have bread crumbs mixed into the filling instead of the traditional 100% meat of American sausages. My English friends used to complain about how dry and tough American sausages are compared to bangers. I've never tasted or cooked them before, but when I saw them for sale at the local supermarket, I bought a package. So now that I have bangers, how should I cook them? And what to serve them with? I know bangers and mashed potatoes is a classic combination in the UK. Any other suggestions?

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

I just *love* bangers, and one of the delights of living so close to the Canadian border is that bangers are easily available. And I do remember my first encounter with them--on British Airways, flying into London upon my being transferred to our company's Manchester office. I also remember conversing with other Americans about them--they were horrified, "it's like eating bread!", they said. And I got what they meant, but to me it was an improvement. I loved the delicate seasoning and the finer texture. I cook them by putting some water in a pan and boiling that off, which steams them through, and then adding a bit of oil so that they can then brown in the same pan. Serve for breakfast with eggs or what have you, or serve at lunch or dinner with mashed potatoes. When I do the latter, I tame diced white onion in vinegar cut with a little water and seasoned with salt and pepper, often with parsley or some chopped scallion for color, and sprinkle that over the mashed potatoes. It's a wonderful fresh sauce that adds a lovely tart contrasting element to the plate. No gravy required.

I have a recipe for making bangers. The seasoning mixture is very similar to the recipe I have for brats, but less so.

I grill (=US broil) them to keep fat down. Don't prick them, if the case splits doesn't matter.

Cook under a medium hot grill regularly turning them till outside browned and inside thoroughly cooked.

There are a great number of different brands and the cheapest ones have most bread and fat as fillings. We avoid those.

We have them either in Toad in the Hole* or as a simple supper grilled with halved grilled tomatoes on toast.

*Cook sausages, put in large pan, fill with Yorkshire pudding (US=popover)batter and bake in very hot oven till batter has risen and crisp around edges.

Served with onion gravy and vegetable of choice. And a decent red wine

Jenise and Peter, thanks for the suggestions. I think I'm going to go with the broiled halved tomatoes--it's peak season right now for fresh garden tomatoes around here.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

There are a great number of different brands and the cheapest ones have most bread and fat as fillings. We avoid those.

Agreed, for the UK. Here in North America one isn't going to have choices, though; and what Paul has are made by a good local sausage maker. My favorites, when I lived over there, were Marks & Spencer's own brand, in particular a 'Sage & Onion' version that was more herbal than the norm.

I cooked the bangers last night. I followed Peter's suggestion and grilled/broiled them and served them with grilled tomatoes and boiled small Yukon Gold potatoes. A bottle of HP Sauce on the table as a condiment. The bangers came out beautifully--tender but not mushy, moist but not greasy. The seasoning in the meat was very tasty, both without and with the HP sauce.

-Paul W.

You can get HP sauce in the US?

The real thing, thick? (not all runny like A1 steak sauce).

Gosh, yonks ago when we were living in Phoenixville, PA we used a trip to Canada to bring back two huge bottles.

Unfortunately it's currently on my restricted list as I'm counting calories.

You can get HP sauce in the US?.

For sure, for some years now. Once I tried it, this is the only brown sauce I use now.
It is so good on a bacon sandwich.

You can get HP sauce in the US?

The real thing, thick? (not all runny like A1 steak sauce).

Gosh, yonks ago when we were living in Phoenixville, PA we used a trip to Canada to bring back two huge bottles.

Unfortunately it's currently on my restricted list as I'm counting calories.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_8?url=search-alias%3Dgrocery&field-keywords=hp+sauce&sprefix=Hp+sauce%2Caps%2C328

You can get HP sauce in the US?

The real thing, thick? (not all runny like A1 steak sauce).

Yes, the real thing, imported from the UK. It's not usually found in supermarkets, but there are stores in New England that specialise in imported foodstuffs from Europe.

-Paul W.

HP is the sauce of the gods.

BTW - it adds a nice depth when added to stews.