Bangers and Mash

British food Saturday! There's something very comforting about this little tradition I've created for myself. There won't be any new episodes of Doctor Who until next year but BBC America is airing the new season of Being Human so I still get my Brit show fix.

Anyway, on to the food. I made Bangers & Mash this evening and it turned out quite lovely. Bangers & Mash is probably my favorite gastro-pub dish, and the simple name says it all: Bangers (sausages) over a bed of mashed potatoes and gravy.


I didn't do anything fancy, I even used a mix packet to make my gravy. I baked the pork sausages in the oven (15 min at 450) while I mashed up the potatoes with milk and butter. Everything got thrown together in a baking dish and then placed in the oven for an additional 10 min. (This last part isn't even necessary, I just wanted the sausage juices to run over the potatoes.)

Very simple, very delicious. Throw in some carrots and peas and you've got a meal!

Jammie Dodgers

I'm being a little lazy with my British food Saturday. Today I'm snacking on Jammie Dodgers, my latest purchase from 17th St. Market. Hey, if Matt Smith can stall the Daleks with these little biscuits, they're good enough for me.

Toad in the Hole

I went a little overboard with British food Saturday today. My friend Kevin and I streamed the Eurovision song contest, a tradition of sorts, and as the wonderfully terrible music played I prepared my latest dish. Toad in the Hole. I'm not sure how I would classify Toad in the Hole, perhaps a casserole? Basically, you cook sausages and then pour a batter over them. You bake the dish for about 20 min and the result is sausages encased in a flaky dough.

It actually turned out pretty good! The sausages ended up sitting on top of the dough more than being encased, and if I did it again I would use a smaller casserole dish, but otherwise a success! It helped that I used actual pork sausages from Ireland, they weren't very expensive yet you could taste the quality. And it was lucky that the dough rised- I guess a flat Toad in the Hole is called Frog in the Bog! Ha!

The British menu continued with Spotted Dick. I didn't put much effort into it, it was Spotted Dick in a Can. I placed the can in boiling water for 30 min (as the directions said) and when I opened it, a warm raisined cake slipped out. (Sound appetizing?) It was tasty.

Pot Noodle & Pepperoni

Here's my dream man, David Mitchell, discussing British food.

Meat Pie

British food Saturday again- I heated up a frozen meat pie I got from 17th St Market. Not really the best pie I've had, although the pastry part was buttery and delicious. I smothered it in HP sauce (or as the Brits say, brown sauce). Brown sauce is a little like a vinegary A-1. The quality is very important, a bad brown sauce can make one gag. I also busted out my tea towels and had a proper tea- English Breakfast.

Egg In The Basket

I am an Anglophile. I will defend British food until my dying breath. (Which just might be from a massive coronary.) Recently Saturdays have become my official Brit food day as I curl up on the couch and watch the new seasons of Doctor Who and the Graham Norton show. Last weekend BBC America aired V for Vendetta and V prepared a traditional English breakfast called Egg In the Basket. (Or as some say, Eggy In the Basket.) I thought this looked delicious and decided to try it this morning. It was surprisingly simple.

All you need is 2 slices of bread (or just 1 if you don't want a bottom), an egg, butter and a drinking glass. I also prepared beans as the side.

Take the butter and melt it in the pan. Use the glass to create a hole in the bread. Place the bread in a frying pan, making sure to soak it in the butter. Break the egg into the glass and carefully pour it into the opening in the bread.

The only tricky part is flipping over the egg/bread combo to toast the other side, but if you've let the egg cook enough it should be properly fused with the bread. The finished product is pictured below. I spread jam on the leftover bread circle. I had a teapot going too, which meant I was using 3 out of 4 burners on my stove. That might be a record!