FOOD & DRINK

MORE BANGERS FOR YOUR BUCK

By Ilona Saari

Our intrepid correspondent cases the joints of Ojai for an English import that’s comforting for the cold days ahead.

It’s that time of year. Foliage and football. Cold, crisp air that visualizes your breath (well, on those fall/winter days when it’s not 100 degrees in Ojai). Soup and stew weather. Carved pumpkins and pumpkin pie. And, how can we forget bangers and mash? Huh?

This time of year, I often flashback to a trip to London just before Thanksgiving. Being a ‘60s kid, that’s not all I flashback to, but I digress. It was cold and damp in London (or is that redundant?) and, after spending a day shopping on Portobello Road, I needed to warm up, so I wandered into a pub (a genuine British pub – not today’s trendy gastro pub, but a “pub grub” pub).

Sitting by a roaring fire, sipping ale, a waitress whizzed by carrying a plate covered with appetizing sausages, a huge mound of fluffy mashed potatoes and something green.When she came for my order, I pointed to a woman now ravishing those sausages and said, “I’ll have what she’s having.”

Soon, I, too, was savoring sausages that tasted like nothing I’d ever had before. They certainly weren’t Jimmy Dean’s… or wieners or knockwurst or bratwurst, oh my.

Bangers & Mash

Bangers and Mash, a comforting food for discomfiting times.

So, being a fledgling foodie at the time, I asked my waitress, who cheerfully answered: “Bangers!” OK. New to me. But, ever the diligent researcher, I soon discovered that the term bangers goes back as early as World War I, when meat shortages forced folks to use more water than meat as filler when making sausages.

This made them pop when heated, thus, “Bang.” Traditionally they are served with mashed potatoes, onion gravy, fried onions and peas (the something green). I feel ever so British when I have them, eh wot?

The dish has become my cold weather comfort food, but where does one find bangers in California’s sunny Ojai Valley? Westridge ho, the wagons! Well, in my case, my hybrid SUV.

And, lo and behold, right there in the midtown store among the display of freshly made sausages in the meat section, ready to be tossed into a pan and live up to their name… bangers!

Timing is everything as Max Badger, the market’s young sausage maker, told me. He rotates the sausages he makes each day, but did assure me he’d make bangers to order. His entire sausage display is very impressive. Among the choices that day: traditional Italian sausages, pork or chicken with garlic & basil, Bratwurst made with Guinness stout, Andouille Cajun and, during the holidays, Max told me, he’ll create some French apple, cranberry sausages. Stuffing, anyone?

Before leaving, I wandered through the market’s spacious new delicatessen, enjoying a freshly brewed coffee from the coffee stand, looking for lunch. Should I choose from the organic juice and salad bars, or the sushi bar where two sushi chefs make fresh sushi daily (and do custom orders!), or try the cooked meats or maybe just have some baked goods? All at very affordable prices. And, still on Westridge’s deli menu are those delicious signature burgers and sandwiches, as well as other mouth-watering choices. Everything was so tempting!
But the aroma of gourmet pizzas coming right out of the oven won me over. Competitive in price to a frozen pizza, I had to have one.

A hot, freshly made margherita pizza for lunch… bangers and mash for dinner. I never have to leave Ojai. Good thing I belong to a gym!

BANGERS & GRAVY

Ingredients

2-4 Banger Sausages
Olive oil for sauteing
1 cup white onions, chopped
Sherry to deglaze
1 clove garlic, minced
3/4 cup low salt Chicken broth (or Chicken stock)
1/2 cup whole milk
Flour for thickening

Instructions

  1. Heat a large skillet. When hot, add the olive oil and swirl.
  2. Add the bangers and cook through on all sides until done – about 10-15 minutes.
  3. Remove them to a plate and place a loose, aluminum foil tent over them.
  4. With the pan still hot, add the onions and cook them until browned, occasionally deglazing with a little sherry.
  5. When the onions are almost done, add the garlic and continue to cook for 1 minute.
  6. Add the Chicken broth (or stock), milk, and combine well.
  7. Sprinkle in small amounts of flour, until the gravy thickens.
  8. If it gets too thick, thin with more milk or chicken stock.