Not M & S But Pattypan's Kitchen

We have had Cottage Pie for tea tonight.  Cottage Pie not from M & S but from Pattypan's Kitchen.  Full of minced beef, diced fresh carrots, a diced onion and a little bit of celery to pad it out a bit.  You could also add peas if you wanted.  I know some people add baked beans or tomatoes which I am not a fan of.  I am just a plain simple cook who loves her food.  I aim for flavour everytime.

Ingredients for my Cottage Pie are

1kg of Minced Beef - reasonably lean.

1 diced onion

2 sticks of diced celery (I did not use it all)

1 Pack of Carrot batons of approximately 3 to 4 carrots.  (Batons make it easier to dice)

4 Large Potatoes the size you would use for Large Homemade Chips

Butter

Milk

A pinch of mixed herbs

White Pepper

Half a tablespoon of Redcurrant Jelly

Vegetable stock jelly tub

About a cup of water

Some Oxo Beef Powdered stock to thicken up the gravy

A good couple of shakes Lea & Perrins Worcester Sauce or to taste

250g Grated Cornish Cruncher cheese (this is from M & S)

Method

Prepare your veggies i.e. carrots, onion and celery (OH went to the shop for me and came back with carrot batons as they had no ordinary carrots.  In retrospect this made it easier to dice the carrot, so it worked.

I chopped two stalks of celery, however did not use all of it only about half as celery can overpower.

One onion chopped amongst me crying!

Frying gently the onion, celery and carrot then adding in the mince.

I always add in a little water to make a gravy - not too much and if perchance you add too much you can thicken with a little cornflour.  We prefer the mince to have some gravy as it makes it moister but not so much that it drowns it.  I then add in some Redcurrant Jelly, some white pepper, a veggie jelly stock tub such as Knorr, a couple of good shakes of Lea and Perrins Worcester sauce (or to taste), and some Oxo Beef powder to help thicken up the gravy a little more.

Once cooked through add it to your chosen dish.  I used a long Pyrex dish which is the size I could get in my small oven. I was going to use another deeper dish but it was too large.

Boil your potatoes and mash them.  I always add a little butter and milk.  Mash until smooth.

Using a dessert spoon, I thatched the top of the pie with the mashed potato and then smoothed it over.

You could serve this for friends or family, in which case you could pipe the mashed potato in swirls to give it more kerb appeal.

I use a stronger cheddar as this is my personal choice for the topping.  Either Cornish Crncher or Tickler.

Grate your chosen cheese and then top your thatch liberally and put into the oven at 190 degrees C.  Turn around half way through cooking so that you get an even cook.

Part way through cooking and turned around.

Evenly cooked ready for serving.

We cut a big section of this each and serve it on a plate with bread and butter.  You can serve with other veg.  However we find this very filling and an ideal meal for a cold winter's evening.  Warms you up from the inside out.

Plus there is enough for tomorrow's mid-day lunch if himself does not go back for anymore.  He has already had two servings.

Nursery food for OH for pudding.  Bananas and custard.  I have just had the custard as Bananas do not agree with me and make me poorly.

I am busy again as usual and tomorrow is going to be even busier.  Fingers crossed though my new cooker will be fitted tomorrow and we will have the heating back.  Looking forward to really cooking again and my preserving.

Must dash I have an appointment with the kitchen sink.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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