Cheesy Cottage Pie

The humble cottage pie isn't the most glamourous of dishes, but it is the perfect antidote to a miserable Sunday evening. Mash potato is the ultimate comfort food, add melted cheese and juicy beef into the mix and you've got yourself a delicious dinner!

Serves 4-6

500g beef mince

1 onion, chopped

1 carrot, peeled and chopped

4 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tbsps tomato puree

250ml red wine

500ml beef stock

1 tbsp plain flour

A couple of bay leaves

Worcestershire sauce

For the topping:

900g floury potatoes

Butter

Milk

100g cheddar, grated

1. Fry the beef in a little oil for 10 minutes until it has begun to brown. Add the onions, garlic and carrot and cook for a further 10 minutes until softened. Add the flour and fry for a few minutes, next add the red wine. Bubble away until most of the liquid has evaporated. Add the beef stock, tomato puree and bay leaves. Turn the heat down, cover and simmer for 1 hour. Taste and add the Worcestershire sauce and seasoning
2. At this point you want the sauce to be nice and thick, so that mash can sit on top of it rather than just melting in. If you need to reduce it further, remove the meat & vegetables with a slotted spoon, you can discard the bay leaves at this point. Then put the gravy over a reasonably high heat and simmer until it has thickened
3. Meanwhile, boil the potatoes for 20 minutes or until soft. Mash with the butter and milk and season. Pour the meat and gravy into a large dish and top with the mash - make sure you rough the mash up with a fork so it goes nice and crispy. Grate the cheese over the top and bake for 45 minutes. Serve with your vegetable of choice, I went for stir fried cabbage with caraway seeds

Beef & Mushroom Pie with Parsnip Mash

I made this beef and mushroom pie for our pre-Christmas day, it's one of my favourite recipes as it's easy and doesn't have too many ingredients. The recipe is originally from Good Food, but I made a few changes (mainly more wine, garlic & herbs). It's easily the best pie I've ever made, largely due to the excellent meat I bought from Meat N16. I normally just pick up beef from the supermarket, but it is often a little tough, even when cooked for hours. If you live anywhere near Church Street, I'd definitely recommend heading to Meat N16. Their braising steak is beautifully marbled, when cooked it is perfectly tender and adds an incredibly rich flavour to stews or pies.

I served the pie with parsnip mash; simply boil parsnips in salted water until tender, mash with a little milk, butter and a dollop of horseradish to perk it up. Parsnips can be a little stringy, so I like to add a little potato to improve the consistency. I also served braised leeks, but any greens would be lovely.

Serves 4

500g beef braising steak

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

250g mixed oyster & chestnut mushrooms

A few sprigs of rosemary & thyme

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 tbsp flour

250ml red wine

300ml hot beef stock, use one of the Knorr stock pots

350g potatoes, peeled

25g butter, chopped into small pieces

1. Pre-heat the oven to 130 degrees. Cut the beef into cubes a couple of centimetres across. Using a heavy based pan, brown the meat in batches using a little oil. Once all the meat has been browned, remove from the pan
2. Add a little extra oil, turn down the heat and fry the onion until softened. Now add the mushrooms and garlic and soften for a further 5-10 minutes. Mix in the flour and tomato paste, and gently fry for a few minutes
3. Turn the heat up and add the red wine, simmer until most of the liquid has cooked off. Now add the stock, beef, herbs and seasoning, bring to a gentle simmer. Cover and cook in the oven for 2-3 hours until the meat is tender
4. For the topping, boil the potatoes whole, leave to cool, then grate. Transfer the beef to a pie dish, top with the grated potato, dot with butter and sprinkle over a little paprika if you fancy. Pop in the oven at 170 degrees for 30 minutes. Finish off under the grill to make the topping super crispy

Sticky Sausage, Apple & Sage Bake

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In honour of National Sausage Week Chris made us a super tasty bake for Sunday night dinner. The recipe is from one of the excellent Waitrose recipe cards you can pick up for free in store, you can see the recipe online here. With some greens on the side, it was a speedy and cheap meal with plenty of leftovers.

We used sage rather than thyme as I have some growing on the balcony and we also added another tablespoon of the onion marmalade to make the sausages extra sticky. We bought the sausages from Meat N16; the new butchers & delicatessen on Church St. Alongside the usual pork they have plenty of more interesting options, we went for 3 pork and 3 lamb for a bit of a change. Whilst they were very nice, the lamb sausages didn't go particularily well with the apple and onion marmalade, so next time I'll stick to pork. I'd like to try this recipe with butternut squash, honey and wholegrain mustard or maybe some parsnips, yum!

Shepherds Pie with Goats Cheese

After a long trip to IKEA on Sunday afternoon I decided to cook one of my mum's recipes. There's something very comforting about cooking a meal you're used to eating at home with your family. My version wasn't a patch on my mum's unforunately, as I put too much stock into the sauce and didn't have the time to let it reduce. Nevertheless, it's a great take on a traditional shepherds pie; the spices and goats cheese add a middle eastern flavour which works beautifully with the lamb.

Serves 4 - 6
500g lamb mince
1 sweet potato
1 large onion
2 sticks celery
2 carrots
1 courgette
Chopped fresh thyme & rosemary
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ground coriander seeds
2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp paprika
Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp tomato puree
Bouillion powder
1 tbsp Flour
850g potatoes
1 Capricorn goats cheese

Method:

1. Fry the lamb until lightly browned. Add the chopped onion, carrot and celery and fry for 10 minutes. Then add the chopped courgette and sweet potato, fry until soft. 
2. Add the flour, spices and herbs. Gradually add the stock, then add the puree, Worcestershire sauce and seasoning. Simmer for an hour until the sauce has thickened.
3. Meanwhile boil the potatoes for 20 minutes until soft. Drain and mash with a little milk and butter.
4. Put the meat into a dish and top with the mash and slices of goats cheese. Cook in the oven for 30 min and serve with winter greens.

Before:

After: