Wednesday, after a stressful and unpleasant day (which we shall not mention again) it was time for some hearty comfort food.
Cottage Pie.
For two hungry adults and a bit of packed lunch the next day get from your grocer of trust:
- 3-4 large potatoes
- 2-3 sweet potatoes (as a variation use parsnips)
- 1 1/2 tbsp horseradish (as a variation use garlic)
- 500 gr lean beef mince (for cottage pie use lamb mince)
- 2 medium onions
- 4-5 medium carrots
- 3-4 ripe vine tomatoes
- 125-200ml of milk
Start by peeing the potatoes, and simultaneously get a big pot of water building, slightly salted. Only when the water is nearly ready peel the sweet potatoes (the lighter coloured ones tend to oxidize quickly and get some unsightly dark patches.) Chop everything into even chunks and boil until tender. Probably around 12-15 min, but I never time things anyway. Poking the pieces with a fork should tell you if they are soft=done)
In the meantime, peel and chop the carrots into chunks, dice the onions (small to medium) and spice the beef with some salt, black pepper ( I wonder if caraway would be nice…) and chop the tomatoes into bite-sized chunks.
I always remove the green bit at the top of the tomato which is green. Tomatoes are member of the nightshade (solanaceae) family of plants which contain solanine in their green parts.Solanine is mildy toxic, causing nausea from a dose of 25mg in adults. As I wouldn’t eat the green bit potatoes I’m not eating the green bit in tomatoes, as they contain the same substance. Start frying the onions in some vegetable oil until browning, then add carrots and after a short while the beef. Keep a good heat, you want the meat to seal and stay soft not loose all its juices. When the meat is browned, add the tomatoes, stir around and put the lid on a reduce the heat to a simmer until you’re one with the mash.
Preheat the oven to 200 °C
Mash:
Drain the water, and mash the sweet/potatoes/parsnips gently adding some milk. Keep the heat down, this sticks easily. Add the horseradish (or garlic) and spice with some salt.
Pour the beef mint mix (which should simmering in it’s own juices by now) into an ovenproof dish and add the mash on top. Decorate to your artistic content or get it straight in the oven if your stomach is rumbling. Around 20 -25min should see the mash browning over!
Serve with a cold beer and grate some chees over the plate if you like!
Result:
Hard to beat comfort food that has a surprisingly high veggie content. The horseradish tickles in your nose buds and the sweet potatoes are a very good companion to the tomato/onion/beef mix. Put your favourite tune on, maybe light some candles. Take your shoes off, sip on the beer and welcome the evening!
Do it again?
100%
