A welcome distraction, with some S&M

You may be reading the post title and wondering what I'm on about. Well I have been so involved in Cupboard Love lately, I haven't had a chance to cook out of other books. While reading The Next Nigella, I came across a Nigella Lawson dish from How to Eat I have never tried before, and I was sorely tempted. 'The Next Nigella' had made Nigella's mash from Nigella Bites and paired it with the Red Wine, Cumin and Onion Gravy from HTE and sausages. It looked to be a beautiful combination -- sausages and mash -- S&M; what did you think I meant, you perverts!??

Luckily for me, Tom also had a way of cooking up sausages in his Grills chapter!

93. Grilled Sausages - *Grills*

The sausages are simply the 'hot pan-hot oven' method. So, I seared some Italian sweet sausages (I was actually after some bratwurst but my communist-block Russian store didn't have any - they did have knackwurst though) on a hot unoiled pan.

Then, I put it in a preheated oven at its highest setting. I wasn't sure how long to leave them in there - see, Tom doesn't actually say. He did say that sausages are quite fatty so I should prick them, which I did, and that they benefit from this cooking method like chops, but no actual time was given. I looked at my Nigella books, and she shifts from 30 to 45 minutes. I kept an eye on the sausages and they took about 20 minutes to be the color I wanted and knew Rafa would like. He was the only one eating them because I have a horrible reaction to minced meat/sausage-type stuff.

While the sausages cooked I had the gravy already done but still simmering on the stove, and the potatoes for the mash were boiling. I added loads of butter and milk to the potatoes when they were done and what resulted was a beautiful creamy mash. I served up dinner to Rafa and myself - I had mash and leftover salad from yesterday, with the gravy of course. Here is Rafa's plate:
Rafa really enjoyed his meal, but only managed one sausage and some mash. It hardly happens, perhaps the culinary equivalent of a blue moon, but the man just wasn't hungry! Damn, the first time he really really liked something, and he wasn't bloody hungry! Well now I'm going to feed him veggies every day till he begs for some S&M! Hrmph!