LUXURY SHEPHERD'S PIE

The ultimate comfort food! Shepherd's Pie should be made with minced lamb and have a topping of mashed potato to represent the fleece of a lamb.  Cottage Pie should be made with minced beef and have a topping of overlapping sliced potatoes to represent the tiles of a cottage roof. My version is a hybrid version of the two! I also add lots of vegetables as a way of getting them down my children.

INGREDIENTS
1lb Minced Beef
1 Onion, finely chopped

1 Beef Stock Cube

1 heaped tsp of Bovril or Marmite

Worcestershire Sauce

Mixed Herbs

Beef Gravy Granules

Frozen Peas

For topping 1:

Carrots & Swede - mashed

For topping 2:

Potatoes - mashed

Leeks - chopped and sautéed

Milk

Butter

Salt and Pepper

Grated Cheddar Cheese

METHOD

I make this by eye and taste so I can't offer you exact measurements but I'm sure you will be able to work it out!

In one pan add the peeled and quartered potatoes to salted water, bring to the boil; simmer until tender.

In another pan add the peeled and chopped carrots and swede to salted water, bring to the boil; simmer until tender.

In another pan sauté the chopped leeks in a little butter until tender.

To a large deep sided frying pan add the chopped onion and minced beef. There is enough fat in the meat to cook the onion. Break up the beef as it is cooking.  Turn and cook until it is browned.  Add some water and a beef stock cube. Add the mixed herbs, Bovril, and a dash of Worcestershire sauce. Simmer for about 15 minutes. Thicken with gravy granules and add some frozen peas. Check the flavour, adding more Bovril or Worcestershire sauce to taste. The final mixture should be in a rich, reasonably thick, gravy.

Add the beef mixture to an ovenproof baking dish.

Mash the carrot and swede and spread it in a layer over the beef mixture.

Mash the potatoes, add a little butter and warm milk.  Add the chopped leeks and season to taste with salt and pepper. Spread it in a layer over the carrot and swede layer.

Fluff up the mashed potato with a fork, top with grated cheese.

Bake in preheated hot oven for about 20 minutes until bubbling and the top is browned.

Serve with broccoli or another vegetable.  It is also good served with pickled red cabbage.

NB: If you want to make the meat go a little further you can add lentils to pad it out.

COWBOY HASH

A quick and easy store cupboard recipe using tinned goods. The beans and sweetcorn make it a favourite with kids and it’s nutritious. Perfect recipe for students too. 

INGREDIENTS

1lb Minced Beef
1 Onion, finely chopped 
Beef or Onion Gravy Granules 
Tin of Baked Beans (415g)
Tin of Sweetcorn (198g)

METHOD
Dry fry the mince and chopped onion together until the onion is cooked & the mince has browned (the mince should produce enough fat to cook the onion). 

Add a little water and sprinkle in some gravy granules to make a gravy, but not too much as there’s more liquid to come. Stir & simmer for a few minutes. Add a tin of Baked Beans and a tin of Sweetcorn; stir to heat through. Season to taste. 

Serve over baked potatoes, topped with grated cheese. You can cook your potatoes in the microwave in the time it takes to cook the mince. Not as good as oven baked potatoes but ok for a quick supper.

NOTE: The original 70s magazine recipe used a tin of Oxtail soup for the gravy, which you could use, but I would add just a little at first and add the rest at the end if needed, or it could end up too sloppy. 

TINNED GOODS
It's always a good idea to keep your cupboards stocked with tinned goods. On caravan trips I’ve used Marks & Spencer’s tinned ‘minced beef and onion in gravy’ in this recipe and it works. Tinned potatoes could also be added to the mix. Tinned potatoes are also quite good fried, they’re waxy so they don’t collapse and as they’re already cooked it’s just a case of browning them so they’re quick to do.

HOMEMADE BURGERS

Making your own burgers is so easy once you have done it you will never use shop bought again and this way you know exactly what is in them!  It is important to use good quality lean meat.  This recipe should yield 6 burgers.

INGREDIENTS

1lb Minced Steak

1 Onion - grated or very finely chopped

1 egg

Plain flour

Mixed Herbs (I favour Herbes de Provence)

1 large clove of garlic, crushed

Sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

NB:  Lots of people don't like onion in burgers but it adds flavour.
Grating it into the mixture means no-one will even know it's there!

Burger Buns and any or all of the following:

Sliced Cheese

Sliced Tomato

Sliced Onions

Sliced Gherkins

Iceberg Lettuce

Mayonnaise

Tomato Ketchup / Relish

Caramelised Onion Relish

METHOD

Place the minced steak, grated onion and seasonings together in a large bowl.  Add a beaten egg and a little flour to bind.  Get into the mixture with your hands to combine thoroughly!  Then form your burgers. I use a Burger Press and Waxed Discs to keep all the burgers separate.  They're not expensive and using one means that the burgers don't fall apart and look great!  You can buy them online at Lakeland Plastics.  If you haven't got one though you can form them with your hands.

If you're not cooking these on a BBQ you can grill them quickly under a very hot grill or use a griddle pan. They need to have a good brown colour to add to the flavour.  Whichever method you choose they need to be cooked in a quick manner on a high heat.

TIP: If you are using a griddle pan oil the burgers, NOT the pan!  Get a dish and put some olive oil in it.  Take off the waxed disc on one side of the burger and using a pastry brush, brush a little oil on one side of each burger.  Heat the pan so it is very hot and place the burgers in the pan, oil side down.  Whilst they are cooking remove the waxed disc from the top side and brush a little oil on each burger.  Don't be tempted to jiggle the burgers around the pan, you want some nice brown stripes!  After a couple of minutes flip them over to brown the other side.  You could also place a slice of cheese on the top at this point.

When the burgers are cooked place in a warm Burger Bun with accompaniments of your choice ...

I like to put mayonnaise on one side of the bun, tomato ketchup / relish on the other side and then sliced onions, tomato, crispy lettuce before adding the cheese topped burger. Another variation I like is to add just tomato ketchup, caramelised onion relish and sliced gherkin to a cheese topped burger. Yum!

SPANISH MEATBALLS

This is a great dish, everyone loves it!  I've lost my Tapas Cookbook so this recipe is from memory but it should serve 4 people very well as a main course. You can make the meatballs bitesize for a tapa, served with crusty bread or make them a bit larger and serve as a main dish with spaghetti or tagliatelle (flat noodle type pasta).  The sauce is my basic FRESH TOMATO SAUCE but with *one important addition!

INGREDIENTS

MEATBALLS:
1lb Minced Steak
1 Onion - grated or very very finely chopped
Handful of damp breadcrumbs (made from stale bread, dampened with a little water)
1 egg
Mixed Herbs (I favour Herbes de Provence)
2 large cloves of garlic, crushed
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Plain flour (for rolling the meatballs in)

SAUCE:
Tinned tomatoes (cheapest supermarket own brand is fine)
Olive Oil
Mixed Herbs (Herbes de Provence)
2 large cloves of garlic, crushed
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
A small amount of sugar (a teaspoonful, then taste before adding more)
*Fino - Spanish Dry Sherry

*Fino is the added ingredient to my FRESH TOMATO SAUCE and is very important, the sauce is just not the same without it!

METHOD
Make the sauce as per my FRESH TOMATO SAUCE, adding a good couple of glugs of Fino.  You need to use a deep pan so there is room for the meatballs to be added later. Leave the sauce to simmer whilst you make the meatballs...

Place the minced steak, grated onion, breadcrumbs and seasonings together in a bowl and mix well with a beaten egg.  If the mixture is too wet add a little flour.

Put 2 plates out and sprinkle some flour on one.  Using your hands roll small amounts of mixture into balls, roll in flour to coat on all sides and put to one side.  Repeat until you have used all the mixture.

In a frying pan heat a small amount of olive oil and brown all the meatballs.  Don't put too many in the pan at once.  You are just sealing the meat and giving it some colour so don't leave them in too long.

Once all the meatballs are browned place them carefully into the pan of sauce and cook on a low heat for about 15 minutes.  The sauce will thicken slightly.  If you are making them in advance turn off the heat when you have added the meatballs and reheat through later.

If you are going to serve the meatballs with pasta now is the time to cook that and set the table!

These are delicious served as a tapa in small individual dishes with lots of sauce and some crusty bread to mop it all up!