Bloomsday Bangers and Colcannon with Brown Sugar Guinness Gravy

Peel and cut the Yukon gold potatoes into eighths. Place them in salted water and bring to a boil for about 15 minutes, or until they can be easily pierced with a fork.

Dice the thick-cut bacon and thinly slice the cabbage.

Place the diced bacon in a hot pan along with a generous helping of fresh cracked black pepper. Render all the fat and crisp the bacon.

Add 2 tablespoons of butter to the pan with the bacon fat. Once the butter has melted and foamed, add the sliced cabbage. Toss very well, coating all the greens with slick bacon fat. Set the heat to medium and let it sizzle and sauté for about 10 minutes, until the cabbage is just tendercrisp.

Roughly chop the spring onions, reserving an inch or so of the ends to julienne for a final plate garnish.

Add the chopped onions to the cabbage pan and toss them in well. After about 5 more minutes, season with salt and pepper to taste, mix one or two more times, then remove the cabbage mix from the pan and set aside.

Set a large skillet over medium-high heat and add a few glugs of extra virgin olive oil until shimmering hot. Add the pork sausages and sear on each side until they are striped with brown.

When the sausages are nicely browned, add the 12 ounces of Guinness beer. Set the heat to medium and let the sausages steam the rest of the way until fully cooked through. The Guinness will reduce and condense, concentrating its malty, chocolate, Irish flavor, getting ready to become gravy.

Meanwhile, drain the boiled potatoes. Mash them with a fork. Add 2 tablespoons each of butter and sour cream, and about 1 cup of milk. Return the pan to low heat and whisk this well into a nice, creamy whipped potato, adding milk as needed until it is just the right consistency.

Add the reserved bacon, cabbage, onion, and black pepper and butter mix to the mashed potatoes and stir well, fully blending the two delicious side dishes into one to create the colcannon.

Once the beer has reduced by two-thirds and the sausages are perfectly cooked, remove them from the pan and set them aside, leaving the beer boiling over the heat.

Take about 1 tablespoon of softened butter and 1 tablespoon of all-purpose flour and mash them together to form a paste.

Whisk the butter-flour paste and 2 tablespoons of brown sugar into the boiling, thickened Guinness. Lower the heat to medium and let this simmer down to a glossy, syrupy glaze.