English Banger Recipes

Steps:

• Cut pork and veal into 1-inch cubes and set aside.
• Rinse salt off fatback thoroughly, then soak in warm water for 20 minutes. Remove.
• Toss pork, veal, fatback, sage, garlic powder, salt, lemon zest, thyme, onion powder, mace, nutmeg, and pepper together very well and cover. Set in a refrigerator overnight for 12 hours.
• Pass all meat through a meat grinder. Lightly knead a couple of times, but everything should be close to blended evenly already. Cover and return to the refrigerator for 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, thoroughly rinse out casings, passing water through the interior. Let soak in warm water for 30 minutes.
• Knot one end of casing and slide the other end over a sausage stuffing attachment on your stand mixer. Feed cold ground meat into casing on medium-low speed. If it gets too warm it is a pain to feed into the casings.
• Twist into links of desired size as casing fills. Tie off other end after final link.
• Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Pan-fry sausages until browned and no longer pink in the centers, turning as needed, 10 to 15 minutes.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
• Place a baking rack on a sheet pan and arrange the sausages in one layer on the baking rack. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until the sausages are just cooked through.
• Meanwhile, place the potatoes in a large saucepan with 1 tablespoon of salt and enough water to cover the potatoes. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, until the potatoes are very tender. Drain the potatoes in a colander and return them to the saucepan. Add the butter, creme fraiche, milk, Dijon mustard, whole-grain mustard, dry mustard, 1 tablespoon salt, and the pepper and beat the potatoes in the pan with a handheld mixer on low speed until very smooth and creamy.
• To serve, mound a generous portion of potatoes on a dinner plate and top with sausages that have been cut in half diagonally. Sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley and serve.

Steps:

• In a large mixing bowl, add all the ingredients except the casings.
• Mix together with your hands.
• If using natural hog casings, salted or dry, follow the instructions on the package to prep them. If using collagen casings, use them dry.
• Stuff the casings with your preferred method, such as a sausage stuffer, a stuffer tube on a meat grinder, a hand held stuffer (my preference), or even a funnel.
• I use 28 mm (1.10 inches) collagen casings. To prep them, I tie a knot on the end then pull it out to 7 1/2 inches and cut it off, use a pin or toothpick and poke a hole near the knotted end, this allows air to escape when you start filling, and repeat for 10 or so casings.
• Now this step requires two people. Pick up a sausage, pinch the open end down to the meat, get the air out, and twist two times, have another person tie with a string. Repeat for all of the links.
• Trim off the excess string and casing, then use a toothpick or needle, and poke 3 holes in each sausage, one on each end, one in the middle, this reduces the possibility of it "banging" or popping during cooking. Sausages are now ready to be pan fried or frozen. Once cooked, simply snip off the strings before serving.

Steps:

• Place the potatoes in a pan, and add enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, and cook until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain, leaving the potatoes in the pan.
• Meanwhile, stir the bouillon cubes into the warm milk until dissolved. Stir the milk mixture and butter into the potatoes. Mash the potatoes until smooth and creamy.
• Heat the cooking oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Prick the sausages in a few places with a fork, and place them into the skillet. Cook, turning often, until golden brown and juices run clear, 12 to 15 minutes depending on thickness. Remove from the skillet and drain on paper towels.
• Using the same skillet, add the onion rings. Cook and stir over medium heat until the onions are golden, but still crisp, about 5 minutes.
• Heat the gravy in a pan over medium heat.
• To serve, scoop the potatoes onto a large serving plate. Arrange the sausages over the potatoes, top with the onions, drizzle with gravy, and sprinkle with oregano.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 200 degrees F (95 degrees C).
• Cook the sausage links in a skillet over medium-low heat until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes per side; transfer to an oven-safe dish and move to the preheated oven to keep warm.
• Place potatoes into a saucepan over medium heat, cover with water, and boil gently until potatoes are tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain and allow to steam dry for a minute or two. Mix in 1/4 cup of butter, milk, dry mustard, salt, and black pepper; mash until fluffy and smooth. Set aside.
• Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a skillet over medium-high heat; cook the onions until translucent and just starting to brown, about 8 minutes. Pour in the beef broth and red wine; boil the mixture down to about half its volume, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper. To serve, place a sausage onto a serving plate with about 1/2 cup of mashed potatoes. Pour the onion gravy over the sausage and potatoes.

Steps:

• Knead together the pork, veal, fat, and bread.
• Stir the salt, pepper, cayenne, nutmeg, mace, thyme, marjoram, sage, onion powder and lemon peel into the egg, and then knead into the meat mixture.
• CHEF'S NOTE: At this point, I fry a small sausage patty and taste it so that I can adjust the seasonings, because the recipe so far is fairly mild.
• Firmly stuff the mixture into the prepared hog (sausage) casings.
• Prick any air pockets with a pin.
• Poach, broil, grill, or fry them before serving.
• Serve the bangers, drowned in nice thick onion and mushroom gravy, with a heap of mashed potatoes.
• The raw sausages can be refrigerated for 3 days, cooked sausages for 1 week.
• They can also be frozen (raw, poached, or broiled) for 3 months.

Steps:

• Melt butter in a heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat. Cook and stir onion in the melted butter until softened, about 10 minutes.
• Reduce heat to low. Cover the pan and cook until onions are caramelized, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes.
• Stir flour into the caramelized onions and cook for 1 minute.
• Pour red wine, chicken stock (see Editor's Note), Dijon mustard, and Worcestershire sauce into the onion mixture; simmer until sauce is thickened, stirring frequently, about 15 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper.