Cottage Pie

Jack Handy quotes :

"When you die, if you get a choice between going to regular heaven or pie heaven, choose pie heaven. It might be a trick, but if it's not, mmmmmmmm, boy."

(American Writer and cast member of Saturday Night Live from 1991-2003.)

The Cottage Pie recipe traditionally originates from England, perhaps somewhere in Kent or Somerset county. The Cottage Pie is named after the pot they cooked it in, which resembles a thatched cottage. And also when they heaped the mash (or posh food word, pomme puree) on the top, it looked like a thatched roof made of straws (thanks to the info from my online cooking buddy, Scotty, in Rochester, UK, and his mom for sharing her family's secret pie recipe with me). Cottage Pies originally had beef, peas, carrots, swede and mashed spud toppings.

A few confessional ramblings here. First off, I have not baked a pie in 2 years. Secondly, this marks my very second pie quest. Cooking is one thing, but baking pies is yet another culinary skill I need to polish up on. So, after reading Cook Sister's, Waiter, theres's something in my pie, I am totally jazzed and inspired !! As Jeanne said, "So... what are you waiting for? Go and roll that pastry, chop that filling and let your house be filled with the fabulous smell of golden, crispy, delicious, warm pies!" That is exactly what I did. I stormed out and bought myself a brand new pie pan. With my brand new nonstick aluminum dulled finish pie pan which I picked up from Ralph's for a mere $3.29 and a couple of ready-made Pillsbury Pie Shells, I was all set to embark on my Cottage Pie journey and would love nothing more than to share the results with WTSIM.

Unfortunately, my first attempt resulted in a burnt pie shell because I was too busy sprucing up my blog and forgot to set the timer. You would think I have learnt my lesson after the "shrimp paste incident" from my Curry Noodle Rolls recipe :( My second attempt fared better so all that was left was the filling. I rummaged through my fridge and all I had suited for my Cottage Pie were potatoes. Not a mushroom, pea, or carrot could be found :( Anyway, I made the best of it and the end result was quite to my liking - a warm, scrumptious, meaty Cottage Pie covered in cubed taters. Hopefully, my new pie pan will lead me further down this route of culinary journey that I have yet to fully explore :)

For those who are partial to beef, you can substitute beef with lamb, and voila! It's Shepherd's Pie, another satisfying cousin in the meaty pies family. On that note, I'm going to include my online cooking buddy, Scotty's traditional Shepherd's Pie recipe along with my Cottage Pie recipe, which is actually a tweaked version of Scotty's.

Have a hap"pie" time baking, everyone! :)

Tags : pies, WTSIM, Food Blogging Events, waiter there's something in my

Melting Wok Cottage Pie Recipe

Ingredients :
1 9" pie shell ( thawed )
1 lb ground beef
2 tbsp minced onion
2 large Russet potatoes
4 dried bay leaves
1 tsp dried thyme leaves
1 tsp Bonito fish granules
4 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp white zinfandel wine
2 eggs
1 tsp unsalted butter
salt and pepper to taste

Method :

1) Spray pie pan with cooking spray. Preheat oven to 350F. Place pie shell on pie pan and bake for 5 minutes. Remove and set aside.
2) In a wok, saute a half portion of the listed herbs with butter until fragrant. Add the cubed potatoes and salt and pepper to taste. Fry the potatoes until nicely browned. Cover and simmer on low heat for 2 minutes and remove from wok.
3) Stir fry the minced onion and ground beef along with the rest of the herbs. Add the fish granules, wine, worcestershire sauce and salt and pepper to taste. Drain excess oil and set aside.
4) Spread the ground beef filling evenly over the pie shell. Cover the filling with the sauteed cubed potatoes. Whisk 2 eggs until frothy and pour evenly over the fillings to seal them in.
5) Cut a few 1.5 in. thick strips of aluminum foil and wrap the exposed sides of the pie shell to prevent over-browning.
6) Bake for 10-15 minutes. Remove aluminum foil and continue baking for another 5-10 minutes OR until crust is golden brown.

Scotty's Shepperd's Pie Recipe

Ingredients :
25g/1oz dripping OR 80 ml olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 small tin chopped tomatoes
100 gm Carrots, diced ( optional )
100 gm assorted wild mushrooms, sliced(optional)
450 gm/1lb minced lamb-beef
125 ml chicken, beef or lamb stock
100 ml red wine
1 tsp anchovy essence ( optional )
10ml/2sp Worcester sauce
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs of thyme
1 tbsp plain flour
salt and pepper

Mash Potato Topping Recipe

Ingredients :
700 gm/1 ½ lb potatoes
55 ml/ 2 fl oz milk
75 gm/3oz butter
1 egg yolk

Method :

1) In a large non-stick casserole dish heat 1 oz of dripping or oil. Add the large onion and cook for 5 mins.
2) Meanwhile, in a large frying pan, heat a little olive oil and fry the mince up evenly and cook until browned. While the meat is frying, break up any lumps with the back of the spoon.
3) Add the carrots and continue to cook for another 4-5 minutes.
4) Meanwhile, in the casserole dish stir the onions and add the wild mushrooms, 1 tablespoon of plain flour (this helps to thicken the juices) and stir. Mix well and add 2 bay leaves, 2-3 sprigs of thyme and the anchovy essence and stir.
5) To the onion mix add the chopped tomatoes,red wine ,stock (keep a little aside, for putting into the mince pan to de-glaze the pan) and Worcester sauce.
6) Add the cooked mince and carrots to the onion mix and then pour the reserved stock into the empty mince pan, scraping off any bits of mince left in the pan. Pour the remaining stock into the pan containing the mince and onion mixture.
7) Bring the mixture to the boil, adding a pinch of pepper and let it simmer for about 45 minutes.
8) Boil the potatoes, sieve and put into a bowl. Add the butter and egg yolk, and mash together. Season with salt and black pepper.
9) Pour the meat into an ovenproof dish and spread the mash on top, smooth over and mark with a spatula. Sprinkle some parmasan over the top if you wish.
10) Put the dish into the oven-gas mark 6 until it is bubbling and golden.