Bangers and Bourguignon

Yesterday I made straight forward bangers and mash, using some of Nick Brown's excellent traditional pork sausages. They were very meaty and filling, not full of bread and water, two sausages each were ample for us. I know it's not healthy, slimming or clever but the secret of good mash is to add plenty of butter. I understand that one should not add cold milk when making mash so I generally drain the potatoes in a colander, then pour a little milk into the bottom of the hot pan, return the potatoes, add butter and mash together with some salt and pepper. If I still need to loosen the mash I do add additional cold milk and it seems OK to me.

When I was at the butcher's I also bought 1kg of shin beef which needs long slow cooking so I decided to make Bouef Bourguignon. There seems to be as many recipes as there are cooks, some add tomatoes, some don't, some cook it in the oven, some don't. I'm combining what sounds the best to me and am adapting it so it will cook while I'm having a few pints. Then I will only have to finish it off when I get home. I've cooked the bacon, browned the meat and vegetables, added the wine and stock, herbs etc. and put it in a casserole in the oven. I've covered the top of the stew with a piece of greaseproof paper to stop the surface from drying out. The oven is set to automatic so it will just be a case of adding the small onions ( I'm substituting shallots), and button mushrooms when I come home. I've already sauteed the onions and mushrooms and they are in a bowl covered with cling film waiting to be added. Hope it works