Take three

Richard Fox explores ways of combining a humble trio to make tasty, original meals

This little combo is pub food heaven -quite literally cheap as chips and as potentially flavoursome as the epicurean garden of Eden. In fact, if you could only serve one dish in your pub, this would surely be a contender. You just know it's going to sell. Start adding a few good cooking techniques and flavours, and fame and fortune could be around the corner.

But we need to make one thing clear. When I talk about sausages, I'm talking about fresh meat, from well-bred animals, fresh or dried herbs, breadcrumbs and no more than two E-numbers (unless made by and bought from the local butcher, when it should be none at all). Anything less than this has no place in the self-respecting cook's kitchen.

Once we've established our quality control procedures for sausage procurement, we can start to have fun with varieties: from super-lean, low-fat, low-cholesterol venison, to big, fat, meaty pork. And then, of course, there are all the continental varieties such as bratwurst and Toulouse, providing the potential for more choice than an American ice-cream parlour.

On the potato front, Maris Piper is a fabulous all-rounder, yielding delicious mash as well as spot-on chips. However, it's always handy to have a few waxy new varieties for those tasty and original sausage salads.

A salad isn't the first dish that comes to comes to mind when thinking about sausage, potato and onion, but it works a treat. This is where the double cooking technique of poaching and de-skinning for mis-en-place (literally, everything in its place as regards prepping) with a quick char-grill for service comes in.

Cover the sausages in cold water, bring to a simmer, remove from the heat and allow to cool. The skins will now peel off easily, and the sausage can be cut either lengthwise through the middle, or in 1cm-thick ovals by slicing on the bias. The final char-grilling both heats the sausage through and gives fabulous flavour and colour through caramelisation.

Once done, toss in a bowl with sliced, cooked new potatoes, thinly-sliced red onion, some robust salad leaves such as watercress, spinach and rocket, plus a honey and wholegrain mustard salad dressing - delicious!

For a more trad dish, it's sausage, mash and onion gravy. Even this generic dish offers room for tasty originality. Think mustard and roast garlic-flavoured mashes, beer-infused gravy and maximising sausage varieties.

Sausages should be pan-fried very slowly until they achieve a dark, sticky exterior, and are just cooked through in the middle. They'll re-heat in a few minutes in the oven for service. Onions need the same, slow caramelisation before adding to the gravy of your choice. For smooth, velvety mash, make sure the potatoes are very well drained after boiling, and then pass through a potato ricer or vegetable mouli while still warm, before folding in butter, milk, a little cream and a good dose of seasoning. Repeated mashing can release starch, making the potatoes sticky and glutinous.

For occasions such as office canapé parties, buffets or finger bar food, the sausage and mash concept can be miniaturised into cocktail sausages. Cut lengthwise down the middle (but don't cut all the way through), and pipe the mash into the cavity. These can be re-heated quickly in the oven once assembled.

Finally, for good old-fashioned, home-made chips, a double frying process creates a soft centre and crispy exterior. The first stage is the pre-service par cooking when the chips are "blanched" in the fryer for about 10 minutes (depending on size) at no higher than 140°C. Drain well, before cooling and refrigerating. A quick blast at 190°C at service time will give that golden, crunchy finish.

So get down to the butcher for a few samples and price haggling, and start chalking up that specials menu. Bon appétit!