Pattypans Cottage Pie

Everyone has their own delicious recipes for Cottage Pie, here's my take on it:

Ingredients

Potatoes
1lb good quality minced beef (we get ours from the butchers and freeze it ourselves)
Peas
Carrots
Onions
2 oxo cubes
Worcester Sauce
Water or stock

Method

Fry two onions that have been sliced in a pan with a little oil - not much until starting to go brown;  then add the mince until it is browned all the way through; strain off any excess fat, add the oxos and a little stock or water to make a gravy - you don't want too much gravy as it will seep into the topping just enough to keep everything nice and moist.  Add peas and slice carrots (these can be tinned in which case use the liquid out of the tins to make the gravy or they can be frozen and a raw carrot used in which case I grate it into the mixture and then add water or stock to make the gracy). Add the Worcester Sauce (only a dash) and  cook through.  Add a little more water or stock if required.  Taste to check happy with flavouring and seasoning if not adjust.  Pop into a big serving dish level out and leave to cool.

Meanwhile cook enough baked potatoes (I cooked 10 medium ones) in the Microwave for about 15 minutes a batch (I did two batches).  Put each potato into the Potato Ricer (If bigger potatoes chop in half) and process through the Ricer skins and all.  The skins are retained in the  bottom of the Ricer (saves peeling the potatoes).  The Riced potato is then spread out evenly on top of the cottage pie (this forms the Thatch) and then top with grated cheese lots of it.  Cook gas mark 5 until the cheese has melted and gone golden brown. [No this is not an advert for Marks & Spencers just good simple home cooking}

You can serve this with a selection of seasonable vegetables like broccoli, swede and carrot crush, Yorkshire Puddings (I make a little more gravy to go on top as well) or you can serve it a huge wadge on a plate with some bread and butter and a nice glass of cider so it becomes more of a supper dish this way on, this is the way we are having it tonight.  Makes a very filling and cheap meal with the majority of the vegetables you need each day in 4 of to be precise.  So good for you as well.

This sized dish will normally feed about six if given a wedge each. 

I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Apologies for no camera shots we still haven't found the battery charger.  Argh.

Catch up later once supper is over with its about ready

Pattypan

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