Tuesday, March 8, 2016

"Oh my, what a pie!" - English Cottage Pie for British Pie Week 2016


In honor of British Pie Week from Monday, March 7, until Sunday, March 13, I will be featuring a few savory and sweet pies this week. And I am starting my personal pie week off with a lovely Perfect Cottage Pie.

Proper English Cottage Pie, a popular British pub-food staple, is a delicious, very traditional mince pie made with ground beef and topped with leftover mashed potatoes to form the top crust. For this version, to make the mashed topping you will use baking potatoes that have been pierced with a fork, put on a bed of a bit of rock salt and baked for about an hour, keeping the flesh nice and dry. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, scoop them out and pass them through a ricer.



Perfect Cottage Pie
(inspired by James Martin, from James Martin: Home Comforts)

Ingredients
  • 8 baking potatoes, medium-sized
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 600 grams (1lb 5oz) beef mince (lean ground beef)
  • 2 onions, finely chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 4 sprigs thyme, leaves picked and finely chopped
  • 1 celery stick, finely diced
  • 2 tbsp tomato purée
  • a dash Worcestershire sauce, to taste
  • 1 carrot, trimmed and finely chopped
  • 100 ml (3½fl oz) red wine
  • 500 ml (18fl oz) beef stock
  • a few peas (frozen are fine)
  • a bit of chopped Italian parsley and minced chives
  • 50 grams (1¾ oz) caster sugar
  • 125 grams (4½ oz) butter
  • 150 ml (5fl oz) milk
  • fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper




Preparation
  1. Preheat the oven to 190° Celsius (170° Celsius, fan-assisted or 375° Fahrenheit).
  2. Prick the potatoes all over with a fork, then rub with a little oil and bake for 1 to 1½ hours, or until tender.
  3. Heat a large pan until hot, add the vegetable oil and fry the beef in batches until just browned. 
  4. Add the onions, garlic, thyme and celery and fry for a couple of minutes until softened.
  5. Add the tomato purée and cook for 1 to 2 minutes then add the Worcestershire sauce and the finely chopped carrot. 
  6. Add the red wine and cook until reduced in volume by a third.
  7. Then add the beef stock and bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Simmer for 30 minutes until the beef is tender and the sauce has thickened. 
  8. Add some peas and chopped parsley and chives at this time.
  9. Once cooked, tip the beef mixture into a bowl. Season to taste with salt and black pepper and as much Worcestershire sauce as you like. Set aside to cool while you make the topping.
  10. When the potatoes are cooked, take them out of the oven to cool. 
  11. Turn the oven up to 220° Celsius (200° Celsius, fan-assited or 430° Fahrenheit).
  12. When the potatoes are just cool enough to handle, slice them in half, scoop out the flesh and pass through a potato ricer into a bowl, or mash them with a fork.
  13. Add half the remaining butter to the potatoes and warm the milk in a saucepan until just simmering. Pour onto the potatoes and beat until the mashed potatoes are smooth and creamy. 
  14. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.
  15. Pour the cooled beef mixture into a baking dish and spoon the hot mashed potatoes over the top, fluffing it with a fork. Scatter a few dots of butter over the top then place in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes until golden brown and piping hot through.
  16. Serve with some cooked carrots.




James Martin's Perfect Cottage Pie has lots of lovely rich flavor with red wine, a homemade beef stock and a bit of Worcestershire sauce, for some spice. This Cottage pie is the ultimate comfort food, the perfect dish to warm you up on a cold day. And a great way to celebrate British Pie Week!


16 comments:

  1. That looks fantastic. What a wonderful dinner!I can imagine kids would love it as well as adults.

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    1. Chris, this is most definitely a kid approved dinner!
      Thanks for stopping by,
      Andrea

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  2. aww Andrea ! Absolutely beauty and perfect cottage Pie : I love it !!!
    xoxoxoxo

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    1. Thank you, my dear Gloria! Always appreciate your comments!
      Andrea

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  3. This looks like a great dinner. I can't wait for the other pies.

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    Replies
    1. Gerlinde, hope you enjoyed my little pie frenzy!
      Liebe Grüße,
      Andrea

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  4. Andrea, der Cottage Pie sieht total lecker aus und die Extramöhren sind nicht nur dekorativ, sondern einfach eine tolle Idee fuer Extravitamine. Da bekomme ich richtig Appetit! LG

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    1. Liebe Wally, die Möhren sind unsere derzeitige Lieblings-Beilage während wir noch auf das neue Frühlings-Gemüse warten und warten...
      Lecker, einfach und ein echter Renner bei den Kindern!
      Liebe Grüße,
      Andrea

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  5. Hi Andrea, wow, recently got your Cottage Pie in my inbox, and you've already another Pie up that has not yet arrived! Cottage Pie, I love it and have been thinking of it lately for a post, I noticed you use red wine in yours and I only use beef stock, though I do use plenty of Worcestershire sauce! I came to Cottage Pie only five years back as it was a favorite of one of our team players from Wales according to her mom so I took on preparing it for her and did so then for four years at Tailgates, Team Parties, and when she would stay over the holidays- like Thanksgiving where I would prepare it the night of her arrival. The dish has so many fond memories to me besides being delicious! Love your version and photos too as always!

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    1. Unknown - I believe that is you, Peggy...red wine can be substitued by some lovely homemade beef stock, of course, depending on who you will serve this to.
      These pies make the best family food ever!
      Thank you for your kind comment,
      Andrea

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    2. Hi Andrea, this was me! I was having such difficulty commenting, and the word press was using some code I didn't know what was going on, hence also my difficulty in commenting during your British pie week which I was quite delighted over! Beautiful selections. I've just gone through some of your former posts with no commenting problems- though it appears my response here is determined to stay set onto Google. Hope you are having a good month!

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    3. Peggy, how nice of you to drop by again - sometimes I cannot comment on blogs either - happened this morning, again - I most certainly appreciate you letting me know about my little pie week. It has been one heck of a week but I have learned a lot and continue to do so - it is fun after all...
      Thank you, again, for all your comments,
      Andrea

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  6. We often make something like this with lamb! Such wonderful comfort food, isn't it? Mark shared your post with a friend who is in great need of good recipes for comfort food. She really loved it, and plans to make it! xo, David

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    Replies
    1. David, the hogget pie is up on my blog - so many pie recipes, so little time...
      Andrea

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  7. How come mine don't look like that, Andrea?!!1 xx YUMmmmmmm, so beautifully British!

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    1. Kim, maybe because if my lovely family did not eat this, they would not get any alternative for dinner...! Just kidding...
      Many hugs & kisses,
      Andrea

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