#WhatsCookingChallenge – Kicking Bangers and Mash up a Notch

Let’s face it traditional bangers and mash is pretty boring… a couple of weenies slapped on top of a pile of mashed potatoes then smothered with some non-descript brown gravy. It does taste better after a few pints of Guinness.

So when I read @jaynie’s post last week, I was inspired! https://steemit.com/whatscookingchallenge/@jaynie/whatscookingchallenge-my-pimp-d-bangers-and-mash

I pretty much adopted @jayne’s recipe to use things I had at home. I loved @jaynie’s idea of using bacon. Bacon makes everything taste better! So that’s probably the only common ingredient besides sausage.

So, here’s what I used:

Mild Italian sausage
Butternut squash
White rice
Bacon
Butter
Olive oil
Cilantro
Mascarpone cheese
Diced tomatoes
Italian herbs
Anise seeds
Salt
Pepper

The Mash

Start with the squash. It takes the longest to cook. Butternut squash makes a nice slightly sweet and creamy mash.

Cut the squash in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Wrap each half in aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes at 375 degrees F.

When they're done let them cool until you can handle them. Then scrape the squash into a bowl

Mash it up until smooth. I used a hand held blender, but you can use whatever kind of masher you have.

The Rice

Just for a little starch. Make the rice your way, if you like, but here's my way.

Throw a hunk of butter in a saucepan. Heat it up on low until the butter melts. Add the rice and raise the heat to medium high. Saute the rice until it has a light golden color. Doing the rice this way gives it a nice nutty flavor.

Add the water. I use double the amount of water to rice. One cup of rice to two cups of water. You get the idea.

Bring the water to a boil. Stir a couple of times. Cover and lower the heat to just about the boiling point. If the lid is rattling lower the heat a little more. Time the rice for 20 minutes. Trust! Don't peek!

The Bangers

I used Italian sausage because that's what I had. So there's a little Italian theme to this meal.

This time I parboiled the sausage. That way all I had to do was give them a quick browning and they were good to go!

They brown up nicely!

The Gravy

I didn't feel that a traditional brown gravy would work with this meal, so I opted for a tomato sauce. Lucky I had a small can of diced tomatoes in olive oil and garlic in the pantry. All I needed to do was add a little Italian herbs and anise seeds and cook it a tiny bit. This really, really worked!!!

The Bacon

Bacon rules!

All that I did with the bacon was cut the slices in half and zap them in the microwave for a few minutes. Perfect every time!

Cilantro

Who doesn't love cilantro? This adds a little more color and of course that great cilantro taste!

Chop up a bunch!

A few notes

I only have one cooktop and one microwave/oven to work with. Did I mention I live in a motorhome? So, before plating I did have to reheat a few things like the squash and rice. You know what to do. You want everything to be about the same temp!

Plate 'er up!

Assemble everything on a plate. Put a big dollop of Mascarpone on the squash. Serve the gravy/sauce separately. Enjoy!

This is my entry for #whatscookingchallenge by @jaynie.

Here’s the challenge:

NB: The #whatscookingchallenge is an ONGOING challenge, so you can enter WHENEVER you want and as OFTEN as you want!
1: Use the #whatscookingchallenge tag and tag me @jaynie in your post.
> 2: Create and publish a post showcasing something that

you have prepared in your kitchen which is either

a) uniquely yours, or b) has been adapted and made your own.
(The more elaborate the post the better, naturally...)
PS. This is NOT limited to "plates of food" - it can be preserves, snacks, anything!
3: Accompany the post with at least 2 photos of whatever it is that you have prepared.
(and in the spirit of avoiding plagiarism, a photo of YOU WITH your dish would be a plus, but is not a requirement)
4: Tag at least 5 (but not limited to) of your foodie friends
that you think would like to participate...

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Enjoy!

Roger

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