|
|
Posts Tagged ‘potatoes’
Sunday, August 24th, 2008 by urban foodie
 When summer turns to autumn, the skies are low and grey and you feel the first chill of winter in the air there’s nothing else for it than a comforting home made pie - especially when the cold comes and August isn’t even over yet!
Whether it is a crusty pastry pie, a soothing fish, a sweet custard covered fruit or, as here, my favourite combination of mince and mash, a pie is ideal when summer deserts us. This cottage pie is simple to make and like a warm hug to eat.
So, as the drizzle falls outside, spend an hour and a half in the warm kitchen. Its worth it for the soul.
Ingredients
4 medium-large potatoes (approx 800g)
500g beef mince
2 medium onions
1 medium carrot
3 tablespoons tomato paste
225ml beef stock
Dried herbs (2 bay leaves, thyme, oregano but you can mix and match your favourites)
splash milk and generous knob of butter (for mash, say 40g)
Cheddar Cheese for top (50g)
S&P, olive oil
Serves 3-4
1 Peel potatoes and put kettle on to boil, chop into 6/8 and put in pan with boiling water.
2 Chop onions and fry gently in big, deep saucepan for 8 minutes
3 Make up stock, turn on oven to 170 to warm, grate cheese
4 Add beef and break up well whilst browning, once brown add tom paste and cook for a further 2 mins
5 Add herbs, stir, add stock (so that it barely covers meat and onions), bring to a lively simmer, uncovered
6 Once pots have been boiling for 15-20 mins (about now) drain and mash with S&P, butter and a splash of milk, mash until you think you have mashed enough, and then mash a bit more (who says cooking isn’t good exercise!)
7 Put beef mixture into a caserole dish, cover with mash, sprinkle over cheese and pop it in the oven for 25 minutes (until cheese is bubbling and browning on top) serve with steamed greens, runner beans or some-such and enjoy the simple, comforting flavours warming right through to your toes.
Tags: beef, comfort, mince, pie, potatoes
Posted in Kid Friendly, Recipes | 1 Comment »
Saturday, April 26th, 2008 by urban foodie
 This recipe is a colourful delight on the plate and a salty medley of gorgeousness in the mouth. A Nigel Slater recipe from the paper, thanks Nigel!
Ingredients
1/2 cabbage (Savoy is the king of cabbages and best for this dish)
1 carrot
4 medium potatoes (or 2 handfuls new pots in season)
4/5 rashers of bacon
1 big clove garlic
1 medium onion
Olive oil, P (no S)
Serves 2 very well
1 Chop onion and peel and dice potatoes (new pots only need scrubbing and halving)
2 Heat some olive oil in frying pan over a medium heat, add potatoes, cover pan and cook for 10 mins, stiring occasionally
3 Uncover pan and add onions, mix well, cook for 5 mins (until potatoes are very nearly done)
4 Chop carrots into thin flat strips, add to pan, cook for a further 10 mins
5 Cut bacon up and add to pan, cook until bacon is browning nicely (7-10 mins)
6 Chop up cabbage, crush garlic, grind some pepper and add to pan, mix carefully (it wil be a full frying pan by now) and cover, cook for 3-5 mins stirring occasionally, it is done when cabbage has a few brown tinges on some of it’s edges
7 Serve hot with nothing more than a bit of mustard or caremelised onion chutney on the side
Tags: bacon, cabbage, potatoes, Quick Supper
Posted in Kid Friendly, Recipes | 3 Comments »
Wednesday, April 16th, 2008 by urban foodie
 Home made soup, there really is nothing to making it but it tastes so much more delicious than anything shop bought. Honestly it is the cheapest most cheerful food - pop it on on a rainy Sunday afternoon whilst you lounge on the sofa with the papers and you’ll have enough for 4/5 servings which in our house does for Sunday supper (if we’ve had a big lunch) and a couple of weekday lunchtimes too - I am determined to take my own lunch to work, although it will mean not eating at lovely Leon*, - I am, I am!
This recipe is adapted from a Delia one (Delia Smith’s Complete Cookery Course), I have just simplified her method a little and added some herbs. All quantities are approx with soup so don’t worry if you add a bit more/bit less if that’s what’s in the fridge.
Ingredients
4 medium leeks
2 medium potatoes
1 medium onion
150 ml milk
1L veg stock/water
50g butter
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon thyme
S&P
Serves 4/5 (can be kept in the fridge for 3 days and reheated as needed)
1 Dice potatoes (I like to keep the skins on for extra roughage and flavour, plus it means no peeling!), chop leeks and onion quite finely
2 Melt butter in large deep pan on low heat
3 Add above veg, mix well with butter, cover and sweat for 15 mins
4 Add milk, stock, herbs and S&P to pan, cover and simmer for 25 mins
5 Let it cool for a few minutes and then blend veg to smoothish texture (tip: there is no need to put the liquid in the blender, just fish out veg with slotted spoon - or pass through a sieve if you don’t have a blender)
6 Put puree back into pan with liquid, mix well and reheat, serve with a hunk of bread for dipping
*If you haven’t had the chance to eat at a Leon yet I would strongly recommend them, they use seasonal produce and free range meat to produce the most delicious fast food ever, with lots for vegetarians too - aioli chicken wraps to moroccan vegetable tagines, plus hot chocolate to die for - simply hot organic milk with shaved Valrhona chocolate flakes - oof!
Tags: leeks, potatoes, soup
Posted in Kid Friendly, Recipes | 1 Comment »
|
|
My favourites
Add recipe
Search recipes
