Claud and I make a lot of English dishes at our house. He loves a traditional English breakfast. This includes fried eggs, Heinz baked beans (these are crucial), pork breakfast sausages, bacon (thick), sauted mushrooms, a fried tomato, and toast (sometimes fried bread). Claud prefers toast over fried bread. However, I know people who only like the bread fried. It is a huge breakfast and perfect if you indulged in too much alcohol the night before. I make this at least twice a month on a weekend. We usually eat this in bed with coffee, while watching a movie.

We also love to eat jacket potatoes, which are baked potatoes loaded with whatever filling we desire. Claud loves them with Bolognese and topped with cheese. It’s like a sloppy joe with a potato rather than a bun. I love them with beans, spring onions, cheese and sour cream. There are so many versions of jacket potatoes. You can be so creative with the fillings.

I have made Sunday roast with Yorkshire pudding several times, especially when our British friends come for lunch. I enjoy making this because it takes hours and really reminds me of time spent at Claud’s mom’s house in England. We cook fish pie with bchamel sauce. This is so decadent and creamy. Claud’s mom makes the most perfect fish pie. Everyone loves our Sheppard’s pie. I make a vegetarian and regular meat version. This is the ultimate English comfort food. I have also written about bubble and squeak. This is usually made using leftover cabbage and mashed potatoes. I really love eating this and saying, “bubble and squeak.” I think my favorite British meal is fish and chips. These taste especially good when eaten in Bridport on the English seaside from a wooden hut, wrapped in newspaper. I smother them in vinegar. It doesn’t get much better than that. I also order this dish in restaurants here in Las Vegas all of the time.

This week, we decided to make another traditional English meal, bangers and mash. Our friend, Robert, came over to help us cook. He is originally from England. However, he spent most of his life in Australia. I refer to him as my Australian friend, even though he is really British. His accent is Australian. It is very confusing. Once Robert was an adult, he returned to England and worked as a chef in London. Then, he traveled the world on a yacht as a chef for a couple of years. We met Robert a few years ago at one of our dinner parties. A mutual friend ate dinner here with us. After dinner, she said she was going to run out and pick up a friend she thought we would like to meet. She brought Robert back with her and she was right.

Before we knew it, Claud and Robert realized they were acquaintances in London many years ago. Both Claud and Robert were chefs at the time in London. Claud ate breakfast in the caf where Robert worked almost every morning. It was around the corner from his flat. Robert says that Claud stole many of his recipes to use in the restaurant where he worked at the time. Claud doesn’t deny this accusation.

The next time we saw Robert, he brought some photos of that time in London. There was a photograph of the owners of the restaurant where he worked. Behind the owners, on the wall, hung one of Claud’s father’s paintings. Claud’s father is an artist. We just couldn’t believe all of the coincidences. We have been very close friends with Robert ever since. We spend at least one night a week cooking, eating and drinking wine together. Usually, he brings some food items and we combine them with whatever we have in the refrigerator. He is also a wine buyer for Whole Foods, so he never arrives without amazing wines to sample. This time, Robert brought sausages and some vegetarian sausages for me. I thought we could make some potatoes and salad to go with them. Claud said, “Let’s make bangers and mash. I’ll whip up some gravy.” That sounded like a great idea. We all agreed. Robert grilled the sausages, I cooked the mashed potatoes, and Claud made the gravy. We are an incredible team in the kitchen.

I believe the most important part of bangers and mash is the gravy. This could be because I am eating vegetarian sausages which are not even close to tasting as good as the real deal. I think sausages are the meat I miss the most. Anyway, gravy is an important part of the meal. Claud makes his gravy differently each time. This time he used barbeque sauce since we didn’t have any stock. This ended up being a great idea. Claud sauted onions, added in barbeque sauce, beer, and seasoning. Before you know it, he created an amazing sauce. Robert’s sausages were grilled to perfection and my mashed potatoes weren’t half bad. Together we created an incredible traditional English meal with a little American twist by including barbeque sauce.

Bangers and Mash:

Time: 40 minutes

Serves: 4

1 tablespoon butter

2 large onions, sliced

cup barbeque sauce

1 bottle porter ale (or any strong beer)

1 teaspoon flour

1 cup water

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

8 sausages of your choice

4 cups mashed potatoes

Melt butter in a large skillet. Add onions and saut slowly until clear. Add barbeque sauce. Add porter ale. Simmer for five minutes. Place flour into a cup with the water and mix. Slowly whisk this mixture into the sauce to thicken it. Add balsamic vinegar. Simmer five minutes more. Salt and pepper to taste. Place gravy onto each plate. Top with mashed potatoes. Put the sausages on top of the potatoes.