Bangers and Mash (I know! Right?)

There is something to be said about food from the United Kingdom....it's bland.  With the exception of that fine, layered dessert, English Trifle, I just find most of it bland.  So when I heard of the dish Bangers and Mash, I thought "that sounds delicious" - with a name like that and ingredients like sausages and mashed potatoes, what's not to love?  Then I heard that it was a traditional English dish and thoughts of deliciousness died right there in my head.  Just to confirm, I made a traditional Bangers and Mash recipe last night for dinner and my beloved confirmed.  Bland.

Not to be daunted, I am determined there is a way to bring this dish up a notch (or seven) and make it full of flavor.  As a side note, the term "bangers" is attributed to the fact that sausages, particularly the kind made during World War II under rationing, can explode under high heat if not cooked carefully. Modern sausages do not have this attribute.  And I say they are the worse for it.

Bangers:
- 1 lb. (or more) sausages Traditionally, cumberland sausages are used.  I don't know what those are, but I don't have high hopes for their flavor.  I used Colossimo's New York Style sausage.  What makes them New York style, you ask?  I have no clue.  They looked like every other Colossimo sausage.
- Lots of shallots lots and lots and lots

The recipe I tried called for boiling the sausages.  That was not a typo, my friends.  It said "boil".  I say "grill".  But brown the sausages in a little bit of butter and olive oil first.  This is not really for the sausage's sake, but for the shallots.  Flavor, flavor, flavor!  While the sausages are grilling, saute the shallots in the pan drippings from the sausages on LOW HEAT.  This is very important, you want a nice, slow, delicious caramelizing of the shallots.  This gives them a wonderful, sweet, nutty, brown flavor.  If the heat is too high, the shallots will crisp up and burn, imparting bitterness.  Not to mention how bitter I will be for such poor treatment of the royal shallot.  If you want to turn this into a gravy, add 2 T. of flour, cook gently to cook off the flour taste (5 minutes), then add chicken stock and reduce to thicken.

- 5-6 potatoes I say go with Yukon golds - nothing beats their texture for creaminess
- butter
- heavy cream
- creme fraiche, sour cream or crema mexicana
- salt
- pepper

Quarter the potatoes and put in a pot of cold water.  Set to boil for 20 minutes or until fork tender.  You will notice I didn't put in portions for the other ingredients.  This is really to taste.  I love my mashed potatoes - I love them creamy and rich and just full of flavor.  I also love "flavored" mashed potatoes - so divine.  For my preferences, I used about 1 stick (8 T) of butter, 2-3 tablespoons of the creme fraiche and just kept adding the heavy cream as I mashed until it was as creamy as I wanted.  Then, and here is my big finish on these mashed potatoes, throw in about 1/2 of the slowly sauteed, uber rich shallots...and mix it all together.  If you do make the shallots into gravy, then you can skip this part...or not.  Season with salt and pepper.

Can you just taste this?  Creamy, shallot mashed potatoes, topped with 2 perfectly grilled bangers, topped with a rich, shallot gravy.  I don't even think I need to post a picture.