If you didn’t catch it from the title, the name of this dish is a play off of the infamous British Bangers and Mash. It came about from a refusal to go grocery shopping. A few weeks ago, as we prepared to leave for Colorado I was trying to use up whatever I had left in my refrigerator. I was shooting for something at least edible to feed the family and what I got was a recipe I will definitely make again. I decided I would wing it and make a mish-mash of whatever I had on hand. That turned out to be: All natural chicken and apple sausage cooked until crispy on the outside, nestled into a bed of roasted root vegetables and carmelized onions and apples that were deglazed with dark beer. It is practically guilt-free comfort food perfect for a cold night. (What?! Don’t roll your eyes…The sausages are all natural… Obviously that’s code for “total health food.”)

Andy is out of town on business right now and that usually means I don’t cook much. The girls and I generally pick up pizza or any sort of meal that requires little more than heating and serving. However, I have to confess something to you. We spent the weekend re-doing much of the house. That means that on a trip to IKEA we fed the girls 50 cent hot dogs for lunch. Then after a day of moving furniture and swapping closets and purging clothes and putting up shelves, etc, etc, I wasn’t about to cook dinner. Yup. I fed my kids hot dogs and pizza in the same day! I’m not proud of it, but there it is. So, despite Andy being out of town, I decided I had to cook a real meal tonight. Bangers and Mish-Mash it was! Make sure to read the recipe through all the way before you start as there is a lot of “while that cooks, get this going…” Wouldn’t want you to get done with all the mish-mash and realize you have stone cold bangers! I almost did that tonight. (Cue the comment my brother-in-law is sure to leave about that one!) Obnoxious comments aside, this really is a yummy dish and I hope you’ll give it a try.Bangers and Mish-Mash

Ingredients – serves 4

• 6 cups root vegetables peeled and cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces. I used a mixture of carrots, sweet potatoes, and parsnips.
• 4 All-natural chicken-apple sausages (fully cooked) or more depending on how big of eaters you have.
• 1 medium onion peeled, halved, and thinly sliced
• 1 medium apple peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
• 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• about 1/4 cup dark beer – a porter or black lager work well
• 1/4 tsp sugar
• salt and fresh ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 tsp fresh Rosemary, chopped
• 1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Heat about a tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onions, season with a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add the sugar (this just helps them brown beautifully) and give them a stir.

While the onions begin cooking, place the root vegetables on a sheet pan in a single layer. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and toss with rosemary and thyme.

Place veggies in the oven and set a timer for 15 minutes. Stir the veggies, then roast for another 10 minutes or until they are slightly browned on the outside:

Meanwhile, as the vegetables are roasting, and the onions have started to brown like this:

add the apples to the skillet. Allow them to cook for about 5 minutes, then add the Dijon mustard and 1 Tablespoon of beer. Continue allowing to cook and caramelize deglazing with more beer 1 tbsp at a time as needed. Eventually they will look like this:While the root vegetables and onion/apple mixture are still cooking heat another skillet over medium heat and add the sausages. Cook until heated through and crispy on the outside. Once they are almost done I like to cut them into three pieces and pop them back into the pan vertically for a minute so the cut ends get a little crispy too! So they look like this:When everything is ready, plate up and enjoy! I was going to try to make it look elegant for the pictures until I remembered I’m not serving the queen of England…just enjoying a homey hearty meal.