Cottage Pie

The Lovely Muffin

Hey

Can recommend/post/suggest a nice recipe for cottage pie please?

I made one this evening, I used a recipe from BBC Good Food website; this is the recipe I used;

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/comfortingcottagepie_14505.pdf

I didn't like the pie, there was something missing from it, but I don't know what.

I left out the following as I didn't have any of them;

1 bay leaf
fresh thyme leaves from 1 sprig
225g/8oz parsnips, peeled and chopped (I don't like Parsnips so wouldn't have used them even if I had any in)
2 tsp creamed horseradish

Thanks for any help.

gigawatt

try fying off some mince with onion, carrot and a little bit of garlic, salt pepper mixed herbs and maybe some mushrooms if u like. throw in a handful of frozen peas and stock cube. thicken it with gravy mix or even just cornflour, volia! best pie filling ever!

The Lovely Muffin

gigawatt wrote: »

try fying off some mince with onion, carrot and a little bit of garlic, salt pepper mixed herbs and maybe some mushrooms if u like. throw in a handful of frozen peas and stock cube. thicken it with gravy mix or even just cornflour, volia! best pie filling ever!

Thank you, will give this a shot at the weekend.

I don't buy frozen peas (don't like them lol) are the peas you have to soak for 24hrs OK to use?

Normally I used tinned peas, but I ain't a big fan of those either, they have a sweetish taste lol.

Dizzyblonde

Here's my recipe:

1lb of lean minced beef
2 medium carrots, diced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 pint of hot water
2 red Oxo cubes
A teaspoon of tomato puree
A dessertspoon of flour - any kind
A dash of Worcestershire Sauce if you have it
A pinch of mixed herbs
Fry the onion and carrot in a little oil over a low heat until they start to soften. Turn up the heat and add the minced beef, fry until browned. Sprinkle on the flour and stir well over a low heat for a minute. Pour on the stock made with the Oxo cubes and hot water and stir well. Add the tomato puree, Worcestershire sauce and herbs then season with salt and black pepper (not too much salt!). Stir well and add a little more hot water if it looks too thick. Simmer for around 30 minutes.
Place in an oven-proof dish and cover with potatoes mashed with real butter and milk until light and fluffy (I whip it with a fork at the end), and drag a fork across the top to rough it up. Bake for 30 minutes at 180 degrees, gas mark 5.
For a change you can cover it with new potatoes sliced thickly and boiled until tender. Place them overlapping on top of the meat sauce and brush with oil.

phormium

Don't use the peas you soak, they will go into mush in it, unless you like that. If you dont like frozen peas then I would leave them out altogether.

The thyme you left out would have added to the flavour, parsnips not that important unless you like them. Would have given the horseradish a miss myself.

Darkginger

Copied from my blog:

Ingredients:
1lb minced beef
1 onion, finely chopped
5 or 6 medium mushrooms, chopped
Bisto Gravy Granules for beef
6 medium sized potatoes
2 oz cheddar cheese, grated
Milk
Butter
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method:
Start by peeling the potatoes, cut them into even chunks, and put them on to boil whilst you cook the mince.
Put the mince in a pan over a medium heat, and cook until browned – no need to add oil unless you’re using very lean mince, which I wouldn’t recommend for such a homely dish. Add the chopped onion and mushrooms, and continue cooking until the onions have softened. Grind in some black pepper. Sprinkle over about a tablespoon of the gravy granules, then add a little boiling water to make a fairly thick gravy – don’t make it too thin or your potato topping will sink!
Put the meat mixture into the base of an overproof casserole dish.
Drain the potatoes when they’re soft, add a bit of butter, then mash – I use a fork, it seems to give a better result than a proper ‘masher’ or even a ricer – I’m all for simplicity! Add half the grated cheese and continue to mash. Use a little milk to loosen the mash – not too much, you don’t want it sloppy. Taste, and add salt if necessary.
Spoon the potato over the meat base, then use the tines of a fork to spread it out and leave furrows in the top. Sprinkle over the remaining grated cheese and put into the oven at 180 degrees until the top goes golden (about 40 minutes).
Serve with Heinz baked beans for some real comfort food!

the beer revolu

In fairness, you left four ingredients out of the recipe and wonder what might be missing?

Whatever about the parsnip and horseradish (both of which, in my opinion would lift the dish beyond plain old cottage pie) the bay and thyme would leave some flavour missing. Might also lack seasoning or maybe your beef stock was too watery?

The Lovely Muffin

Thanks for the replies everyone.

I'm gonna try it again at the weekend, but leave out the tomatoes. My mam had some of the pie yesterday and said the tomatoes weren't nice in it.

I'll report back here and let you know how it goes

olaola

1 can of condensed veg soup (I think it's Erin now) beef mince, 1 onion and peas. That's it - and it's sooo very tasty.
I normally make things from scratch, so this is my only cheat. But I love it. Put grated cheese in the mash too - they've the recipe on the can.

The Lovely Muffin

Thanks for the help everyone. Gonna make it today and see how we go. Will report back here after.

the beer revolu wrote: »

In fairness, you left four ingredients out of the recipe and wonder what might be missing?

Whatever about the parsnip and horseradish (both of which, in my opinion would lift the dish beyond plain old cottage pie) the bay and thyme would leave some flavour missing. Might also lack seasoning or maybe your beef stock was too watery?

Plain old cottage pie is what I'm looking.:)

Yeah the beef stock was watery.

The Lovely Muffin

I went with DarkGinger's recipe today and it was gorgeous, absolutely delicious.

I had no mushrooms or cheese, but will have them for the next time.

Darkginger wrote: »

Copied from my blog:

Ingredients:
1lb minced beef
1 onion, finely chopped
5 or 6 medium mushrooms, chopped
Bisto Gravy Granules for beef
6 medium sized potatoes
2 oz cheddar cheese, grated
Milk
Butter
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method:
Start by peeling the potatoes, cut them into even chunks, and put them on to boil whilst you cook the mince.
Put the mince in a pan over a medium heat, and cook until browned – no need to add oil unless you’re using very lean mince, which I wouldn’t recommend for such a homely dish. Add the chopped onion and mushrooms, and continue cooking until the onions have softened. Grind in some black pepper. Sprinkle over about a tablespoon of the gravy granules, then add a little boiling water to make a fairly thick gravy – don’t make it too thin or your potato topping will sink!
Put the meat mixture into the base of an overproof casserole dish.
Drain the potatoes when they’re soft, add a bit of butter, then mash – I use a fork, it seems to give a better result than a proper ‘masher’ or even a ricer – I’m all for simplicity! Add half the grated cheese and continue to mash. Use a little milk to loosen the mash – not too much, you don’t want it sloppy. Taste, and add salt if necessary.
Spoon the potato over the meat base, then use the tines of a fork to spread it out and leave furrows in the top. Sprinkle over the remaining grated cheese and put into the oven at 180 degrees until the top goes golden (about 40 minutes).
Serve with Heinz baked beans for some real comfort food!

Darkginger

Yay! I'm delighted it worked for you - it's a family staple - not haute cuisine, but it hits the spot every time. Even better when you have cheese, but good without it too

kylith

Darkginger wrote: »

<Darkginger's recipe>

That's pretty much what I do, but I'll chuck in a stock cube, Worchestershire sauce, a bit of soy sauce and some bacon bits.