Bangers and Mash ala Darci

Again with the Spring theme...this time it's Bangers (or sausages) and making smashed potatoes (boiled with skin on) with sun chokes and Yukon Gold potatoes from Nash's store.

Sun chokes are this funny looking tuber which look to me to be related to fresh ginger but have a starchy consistency that tastes to me a cross between a turnip and a Yukon Gold type of potato. Into a stock pot of hot water, I put the 3 peeled sun chokes and about 12 whole small Yukon Gold potatoes. For additional flavor while boiling I added 4 pealed garlic toes, 2 dried bay leaves, a half a slice white onion (all the produce was from Nash's), a dozen or so peppercorns and a few grinds of sea salt and boiled for about 10 minutes.

While the spuds/chokes were boiling away, I took these "new-to-me" natural Smoked Andouille chicken sausages (2 pkgs. of 4 ea.) and sauteed them with the other half of the white onion with a few tablespoons of Canola oil for about 10 minutes, with the lid on for expediting the onion's carmelization process.

After about 10 minutes, make sure your veggies are all "fork tender", which is when your fork easily penetrates the food when inserted, then use a slotted spoon to place in mixer bowl.  I added about a half cup of buttermilk and a few tablespoons of Sunny Farms' farm butter(it's a premium European style butter; denser, unsalted, much less water) to the mix but now I wish that I had just added milk or heavy cream. My young son thought that they were too "sour" or tangy-my estimation was from the buttermilk.  Turn mixer/beaters on "low" until the liquid is absorbed or you'll be displaying your spuds on you and your kitchen! Turn off and taste the mixture; does it need additional seasoning? I added another few cracks of ground pepper and sea salt, then you can finish on "high speed" until the consistency you prefer is reached. My family prefers pretty smooth without any large lumps, about 3-4 minutes.

Now for the GORGEOUS (what a food geek I am-LOL!) cauliflower from Nash's. They are the one of the quintessential Spring veggies to me and the small heads seem sweeter to my palate. Now need to fuss with these babies, just cut them into quarters and blanched for a minute in the same boiling water I used after the potatoes were put into the mixer bowl. Please season as you wish if they need more salt and/or pepper. My trick to get my guys to eat more veggies is to have their favorite Ranch Dressing from Sunny Farms in a little dish for dipping. True story-it works!

Another happy family dinner, at least I liked the food:) We ate healthfully, quickly and we tried some new items...that's my idea of time well spent together! Bon Appetite!