By now, you know that I love food, cooking and traveling, but one thing you might not know is that I love music, too. Big time. (I play fiddle with the Bob Dylan group at Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music and my head almost pops off every Saturday at how much it is.) And I’m a Stones fan. So when Keith Richards’ autobiography, “Life,” came out in late October, I ordered it immediately. It’s a fantastic book, through and through.
And while we all know that Keith can play the guitar and do drugs like nobody’s business (tho he’s been clean for 30 years now), who knew he could cook? Yes! And he can cook more than a spoonful of smack, too! On page 525, Keith shares his recipe for Bangers & Mash, and I just have to share it here, because it’s freaking hilarious:
Well, what’s a food blogger/musician to do, but make the damn thing? And you know what? It’s good. Really good. Look!
So herewith, I share with you how I did it, using Keith’s basic instructions, above. Tto round out this rockin’ dish, I suggest “Exile on Main Street” for dinner music, and a nice British stout to drink. Thank you, Mr. Keith Richards, for sharing your Life with us, and your recipe for Bangers & Mash. You’re the man. You are invited over for dinner any time. Just email me.
INGREDIENTS
The Bangers
2 good-quality sausages (I used a chicken/pork sausage)
2 strips of bacon
1/2 a large red onion, sliced
About 1 C chicken stock
Splash of Balsamic vinegar
Salt, pepper, fresh thyme – anything you want to season with, really.
A bit of cornstarch
WHAT YOU DO
1) Put the onion and bacon into a 10-12 inch straight-sided saute pan and fry it up on medium heat for about 10 minutes, until everything’s cooked through and soft. I had to use a bit of chicken stock to deglaze the pan mid-way through. Add your sausages and let them cook; Turn them with tongs every few minutes. If your onion and bacon are getting over-cooked (aka, burnt), remove them to a dish and you can return them to the pan later, for a little onion-bacon gravy business that I sort of made up. More on that in a minute.
2) So after about 15 minutes, your sausages should be cooked. Remove them to a dish and return the onion-bacon muck to the pan. Deglaze the pan with chicken stock (that is: just pour in a bit of stock and all the delicious brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pan will magically come up and you’ll get all that flavor into your gravy. I added maybe a teaspoon of corn starch to thicken up the whole shootin’ match, and tossed in some fresh thyme leaves, salt and a splash of Balsamic vinegar (maybe a Tablespoon’s worth). And you know what? This gravy is BANGIN’! Alright, leave it on low, to keep warm, and move on to “yer mash,” as Keith calls it.
The Mash
INGREDIENTS
About 5-6 small-ish red skin potatoes (but really any kind of spud’ll work; use whatever you’ve got)
1 carrot, diced
About 1 Cup of frozen peas
About 1/4 quarter of a red onion, diced
Salt, pepp, butter and milk or half-and-half
WHAT YOU DO
1) Put a large pot of water on to boil and add a splash of apple cider vinegar (about a tablespoon). When it comes to a boil, add a hefty dose of salt (at least a couple tablespoon’s worth; come on, these spuds need some flavor!)
2) Chop yer spuds in half and add them to the boiling water. Cook for 15 minutes. Stick a fork into a potato half; if it goes in easily, you’re right on course.
3) Add the carrots, peas and red onion and cook 5 more minutes. Dump the whole lot into a colander and then dump it back into your pot.
4) Add some butter – a couple of Tablespoons – and some milk or half-and-half (maybe 3 Tablespoons) and mash the whole thing up into as smooth or chunky a mixture as you like. Taste. Add salt. Maybe some pepper. Taste again. Good? Ok. You’re ready to plate.
Put a blob of mash onto the plate, top with diagonally sliced sausages and either top with gravy or put it on the side – your choice. Keith likes HP sauce, but he’s British and I’m not, so you’re on your own there.
Thanks for posting this. I want to serve this at my book club meeting (we’re reading Keef’s book), but had NO idea how to translate it from his recipe. Question: how many does this serve?
Thanks!
Karin Sanford
Also! Do you think you can make any of this ahead of time? Don’t want to be in the kitchen all during the meeting….
Bloody thanks, Karin
Hi! Glad you like it! Yes, you could totally make all of this ahead of time – it all stores great in the fridge and heats up nicely in a microwave, or in the oven. The recipe made enough spuds for at least 4 people, so just increase everything a bit to serve more people. Be creative – you really can’t muck up this recipe – it’s a sturdy one, just like Keith. 🙂 Hope it works out for you! Thanks for visiting!
Thanks for your response…can’t wait to try this!
Thanks for posting this! I read Keith’s book (very good read) and wished I knew how to do his recipe. So, when I saw stumbled acrossed this, I knew I had to make it. It was fantastic!! Thanks again!
Glad you enjoyed! I was so happy how it turned out and am definitely going to make it again. I’m a little obsessed with Keith and hope he’ll see this post and accept my dinner invitation! 🙂
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Thanks for the link! Loved your post, too. Keith Richards is so inspiring in so MANY ways!
Just found Keefs receipe as I was finishing “Life” GOOD read! I made it like you did here today for lunch, loved it! Its a keeper mate!!
Thanks for visiting my blog. Glad you liked Keef’s Bangers & Mash. Like you, I loved his book AND his recipe!
agree with Shelley this recipe to ponder the pun…..ROCKS…
Mark
I just had the left overs a couple of days later, even better left over, yum! Wish he’d share more recipes. I too am a bit obsessed w/Keef and it was fun to know I was eating a meal he loves! He’s sexy in a very odd way but at the same time I want to change his diaper and tuck him in lol!! Thanks again, its a keeper! Or shall I say, a “keefer”!
P.S. forgot to add that in another section of his book there is a story where he is making this and has spring onions (I’m assuming scallions?) ready to top off the dish and someone takes them and he is irate!! Anyway, I sliced some up and put them on the top after plating, very nice addition! I added lots! Thanks again. You know, printing “star” recipes would be a very interesting Blog! Esp rock star recipes!
My husband and I made this tonight and it was outstanding. I really like your interpretation on Keith’s 8 point list, especially the vinegar/bacon/onion gravy. Loved it!
Thanks for visiting my blog – I’m so happy you liked the dish! The way he wrote his recipe in his book just cracked me up – I had to try it! Glad you did, too.
I just finished reading “Life” Saturday. I thought Chapter Thirteen with the Bangers and Mash recipe was cool. I didn’t realize Keith Richards had such a keen sense of observational humour. I found myself “belly laughing” several times. It was a fun book to read. Being a musician from Vernon, TX (Roy Orbison’s birthplace), I didn’t know what “Bangers and Mash” was so I used his recipe to cook up some Sunday. The whole family enjoyed it. Oh yeah, I have a 5 string electric now tuned to open G and was able to play “Start Me Up” correctly for the first time. Thanks KR!
Glad you enjoyed it! I, too, love Keith’s sense of humor. Thanks for visiting my blog! Love to get a comment from a fellow musician!
Had a pack of frozen bangers in the fridge, so I gave this a go. I caramelized a nice big yellow onion in some bacon fat, deglazed with white wine, and made the mash with sour cream and butter. Gotta say, this was nearly as good as the pub fare from my student days at Oxford. Thanks for posting this up!
So glad you liked it! It’s become one of my fave recipes. I’m definitely making it for a watching party when the new HBO Stones documentary comes out in November!
I’m glad you liked it too Alex and Liz, it has become a regular in our house too! Thanks again for posting it! I saw it in the book but never got around to making it until I saw your post. Its so yummy! Can’t wait for the documentary too! I have so many fun Stones DVD’s I wish I could share, just got the “new” Exile set, WOW
Shelley
KEITH’S FAVORITE COOKBOOK “GOT ANY KAHLUA” The COLLECTED RECIPES of The Dude by Daniel Zwicke
“Hey, Nice piece!” Thought people might to know about Keith’s favorite cookbook GOT ANY KAHLUA ?..
Hey thanks! I just ordered this book for my Kindle!!! Love the Bangers and Mash soooo much. This should be fun!
I had to come back again and let you know I made bangers and mash with a new twist, equally yummy! I used lamb sausages and put replaced the balsamic vinegar in the bacon paste with Cross and Blackwell Mint sauce. DELISH
P.S. If you are not familiar with Cross and Blackwell Mint sauce, its a malt vinegar, sweetened with mint leaves in it. Best thing ever on lamb
Reblogged this on Bohemian Glade and commented:
One of my favorite recipes from the man himself!
[…] sources for the recipes: Rijsttaart Bangers & Mash Horseshoe […]
Unfortunately I had a mouthful of coffee when I got to number 4 of Keef;s recipe and sprayed my computer monitor thoroughly. It was worth it. .