Ok... I tried this one the other day and my wife and I loved it. It's almost like a bangers and mash. We just bake some sausage - we tend to use sweet italian or a good bratwurst. Bake it or grill it up. Make a side of mashed potatoes - nothing special going on with any of this yet. The big thing that makes this is the sauce that I make.
1 Shallot - cut in half and then thinly sliced.
1 clove or garlic - minced.
Add these to a small saucepan on medium high heat with 1 Tablespoon of unsalted butter. All you want to do is cook these until they are soft and clear. You don't want any caramelization.
Add to this 8oz (1 cup) of your favorite porter.
I of course use my homebrew, How's Your Taddy Porter. Bring this to a boil and add 3 nice (almost heaping) teaspoons of brown sugar and begin stirring this. You want the sugar to dissolve pretty quickly and not burn on the bottom of the pan. Kind of like adding liquid extract to your brew (if that's what you do). You don't want it to scorch.
Once the sugar is disolved... just let it boil away - stirring occasionally. Let the liquid reduce by at least half. The flavor will concentrate.
Once it has reduced enough - turn off the heat. Add 3 to 4 Tablespoons of unsalted butter, a half Tablespoon at a time. Once the first piece melts, add the second one. This will give the sauce some body and shine - and of course a good flavor.
Put a nice glob (that's a technical term) of potatoes on the middle of the plate. Put one or two sausages on top (depending on the size of the sausage - no, size does not matter!). Top it all with a couple spoonfuls of the sauce. You mouth will thank you!!
I've been trying to cook with my own beer more and more. Shoot me your thoughts if you try this. There is nothing to this and it tastes so good.
