Rich Beef Cottage Pie - food of the gods!

Now I'm sure that if you've been following my blog for longer than the last ten minutes, you will know that my very favourite thing is a Cottage Pie or a Shepherd's Pie.  Doesn't matter which - both are as good as one another.

When I was in my early twenties, living away from home but close enough to visit every Friday and have dinner at my parents' house, my Mum would often make a Cottage Pie for me to take home.  So there I'd be, in the very early days, riding home on my motorbike with a casserole dish full of deliciousness in my topbox.  In later years, I'd be driving home in the car, with two lurcher dogs guarding the casserole dish.

Convert this into a view made with mash & peas ...

Even earlier than that, I can remember eating Cottage Pie at the dining table, "en famille", and probably driving my parents crazy as I made landscapes out of my dinner.  The crispy topped mashed potato would be ploughed fields, the mince would be muddy fallow fields, the peas would be grass with occasional dots of white cauliflower for sheep and orange carrot tractors.  Very creative.

So began my love affair with mashed potato topped pies.  I'll never lose my love for them, as no matter how many disappear down my throat, there's always room for one more.

Now circumstances have dictated that hubby has become the Cottage Pie chef in our house - largely because of my penchant for using it as medicine.  So, whenever I'm under the weather, he'll make a Cottage or Shepherd's Pie and it seems to have the effect of injecting some life back into me.  However, I had a yearning to make a Cottage Pie in the style of those I used to make when son & heir was just a wee lad (instead of the hulking great lump of boy he is now) and hubby was a big-shot I.T. man (which he still is, except not so many people notice, these days).  A Cottage Pie with rich, deep, dark beefy flavours.  One with *sharp intake of breath* baked beans in the mix.  Oh don't look like that - it's just not a Cottage Pie without baked beans in there somewhere!

Just look at the colour of that gravy - rich!

There are about as many recipes for Cottage Pie as there are fleas on a hedgehog - in fact, I'd wager that there are probably more recipes than fleas - and that's saying something.  I think everyone has their own special way of concocting the mince mixture, but the mash is probably very similar everywhere (unless you're one of these adventurous types who put mashed parsnip, or sweet potato on top).  This recipe isn't the definitive recipe - this is just "my" recipe.

Liberally sprinkled with cheese and full of delicious promise!

I think what makes my recipe different from all the rest are the small touches - not all of which will be agreed with by the purists amongst us.  Do I care?  *pshaw!*  Do I heck as like (which means "no", for those who don't speak Jenny).

For me, to begin with, it is important to get that touch of caramelisation on the mince, as this is what helps the flavour along.  Drain the fat from the mince (or the mince from the fat, whichever works for you!) and reserve the meat.  The fat can either go in your dog's dinner (for which he will be forever grateful), into a container for roast potatoes at a later date (mmmmn!) or if your conscience demands - in the bin.  It's that touch of caramelisation that makes the difference between a flavourless steak and a steak with gorgeous rich beefy flavours.  It's the same with mince - just in smaller bits.

Oh and yes, I know it's bad form to be using cop-out gravy granules (this is where the purists begin to raise their eyebrows and mutter about reducing stock) but the Bisto Best Rich Roasted granules are so tasty that it is an easy way to get a little more flavour in, whilst thickening your gravy.  So shoot me.  If you're passionately opposed to them, use flour, or gravy browning - whatever you want by way of thickening.  You are looking for a quite thick, dry, consistency - one that won't allow lots of gravy to flood across the mash topping as it cooks - and gravy granules does that whilst adding another oodle of flavour.  We're not cooking for The Ivy here, people - this is for the family - and yes, I appreciate that gravy granules are processed and all things processed are baaaad.  *sigh*  But it's just one dessertspoonful!

These photographs are making my mouth water ..

All the finely chopped vegetables have their role to play in flavour development, too.  As the mixture cooks and the individual veggies melt into the gravy, so the flavour deepens.  The leftovers (which are mine, all mine - get your hands off!) are just fantastic the next day.  One day I'll be brave enough to make the pie a day before it will be required - but I'm too scared I might eat it in secret, sitting on the kitchen floor, in the dark, at 2 a.m., to have tried that approach yet!

My last recommendation is to use one of the Knorr "Rich Beef" Stock Pots.  (There go the purists again!).  They do two types of beef stock pot - so make sure you get the "Rich Beef" one, as it makes all the difference to the flavour.  I used to swear blind that nothing had beef flavour like Oxo cubes - until I tried one of these Rich Beef Stock Pots.  They have just swung my preference, for two reasons - they aren't so salty as Oxo cubes and also have a great richly roasted flavour.  So there you are, of course it won't matter if you use home made beef stock, or Mulligatawny soup (although that might be a bit odd) - if it works for you, I'm not going to complain!  

RICH BEEF COTTAGE PIE     (feeds 3-4)

Ingredients :


500g minced beef
1 onion, chopped finely
1 stick celery, de-stringed and chopped finely
1 carrot, diced finely
1 small garlic clove, crushed
2-3 chestnut mushrooms, chopped finely
200g tin of Heinz Baked Beans
a "Rich Beef" Knorr Stock Pot
200ml hot water
a tsp of Bovril
a dessertspoonful of tomato puree
a dessertspoonful of tomato ketchup
2 tsp of Worcestershire sauce
a dessertspoonful of Bisto Best Beef gravy granules (optional)
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
4-5 medium Maris Piper potatoes, peeled and each cut into 4 or 6 chunks
100ml warm milk
a heavy-handed knob of butter (as large as your conscience will allow)
a generous handful of grated mature cheddar cheese.

Method :

1.  Pre-heat the oven to 180degC/350degF/Gas4.

2.  Heat a deep frying pan on a high heat and add the mince.  Fry until all the water has evaporated, the fat is rendering out and the meat is beginning to caramelise.  This can take up to 10 minutes - so be patient!  Drain the the fat away and reserve the meat.

3.  Leaving a little of the fat in the pan, reduce the heat and add the onions, celery and carrots.  Fry until the onion is softened and a light golden colour and the vegetables have softened.  Add the mushrooms and garlic and continue to fry for 2 minutes or so.

4.  Add the meat back into the pan and mix well.

5.  Add in the baked beans, the contents of the stock pot, water, Bovril, tomato puree, tomato ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and stir well.  On a medium heat, allow the contents of the pan time in which to heat through and simmer for another 15 minutes or so, to enable all the flavours to amalgamate.

6.  Now this next bit is optional - but if your gravy is looking a little bit thin at this stage, I use a small amount of Bisto's Best Beef Gravy Granules to thicken it. 

7.  Taste for seasoning and add some sea salt & freshly ground black pepper, as required.

8.  Leave the meat mixture to simmer slowly on a low heat and boil a pan of salted water for your potatoes.

9.  Once the potatoes are tender (and fall off a knife easily), drain them and return them to the pan.  Add the warm milk, butter and seasoning and mash like crazy until you are sure all the lumps have disappeared.

10.  Decant the meat mixture into a deep casserole dish and add blobs of mashed potato on top.  Lightly, with a fork, blend the edges of each blob until you have a seamless mashed potato topping with a fluffed up surface.

11.  Scatter the grated cheese on top and place into the oven to bake for 45 minutes or until the top is golden brown and crunchy looking.

Serve.

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Purely for medicinal reasons

The “purely for medicinal reasons” excuse is often wheeled out in our house.  However, not in regard to the tot of whisky or a glass of wine – but with regard to food.

I’ve spoken in the past, about how Shepherd’s Pie and Cottage Pie are magical things that can resurrect the erstwhile flagging Jenny into pink-cheeked health.  There has been more than one occasion when that has happened.

It doesn’t take much examination before you turn up the long-held belief that chicken soup will heal almost as much as a cup of tea will.

After all, just think how many times you’ve reached for the kettle in times of stress.  Okay, maybe you’re a coffee person, but the premise is the same – a hot drink will provide comfort and soothe a troubled soul.

I remember when (on far too many occasions) I’ve come round from a spell of being unconscious in hospital (after anaesthesia or on one spectacular occasion when I went to sleep at home and woke up 24 hours later in hospital) and have heard those words “would you like a cup of tea?”  Would I ever, yes please!

So it ever has been, for the cup of tea.  How many cups have been supped by wartime refugees who have been bombed out of their homes and supplied with a cup of comfort by the WRVS?  Or between women, sat at their kitchen tables and chewing the cud over their inconsiderate men or troublesome teenagers.

But food.  When did we start associating food with situations?  I suppose since the first Jewish mama insisted that her chicken soup would cure all known ills – or even before.  Think about the “soul food” of the Southern United States that originated with the black Africans.  Food that reminded them of where they came from originally, that took them back home for those few moments as they savoured those flavours.  True comfort food.

Summer in the U.K. (when we get a summer, that is) means being able to spend few weeks eating fresh foods in salads.  Lighter bites that take care of hunger but leave you able to enjoy a mild evening spent taking a walk, or just enjoying the sunset, with strawberries or ice cream for dessert.  Rarely does a requirement for comfort food arise during these times – unless something unusual happens.  (Although I would argue that strawberries & cream is the ultimate summer comfort food!).

Take this terrible summer that we’re currently being blighted with.  We should be enjoying barbecues with accompanying salads – not chicken casseroles, warming meat pies and carbohydrate-heavy cheese and potato dishes!

For some weeks now, I’ve been hankering after a dish that I normally only make in the depths of winter – it’s a variation on a Cottage Pie, involving a savoury minced beef base with a potato top, where the potato is cubed and tossed in a combination of mayonnaise and tomato ketchup, then baked.  I know, it sounds disgusting, but it is one of my guilty pleasures.  However, not in summer, for goodness’ sake!

But there you have it – in a nutshell.  It’s comfort food.  Food that makes you feel warm and protected from the heaving rain that’s going on just the other side of that wall.

I suppose it should be no surprise that soup kitchens serve soup.  Yes, it’s cheap to produce and feeds a lot of people – but it is the epitome of comfort food.  It isn’t hard to guess how welcome a bowl of steaming, savoury soup would be, if you’re homeless and out on the street in the weather we’ve been having.

I learned, just recently, about the Sikh Community Kitchen, or Langar.  At these community kitchens, food is served daily to all comers no matter what background or status, for free.  Interestingly, they will only serve vegetarian dishes, so that there should be no difficulty over dietary restrictions and all diners can eat as equals.

I suppose that food is the one thing that connects us all – whoever we are and whatever strata of life we come from.   No matter who you are, we all have to eat.

We are creatures of habit.  We like to endow things around us, including the types of food and rituals surrounding food, with an aura of normalcy so as to feel secure in our world.  A comment from Hubby got me thinking along these lines just recently.  We were contemplating what to do about dinner when returning from a trip to visit my Dad in a hospital out of town.  (He’s back home now and is fine, by the way).  We decided to stop in at our local Chinese Takeaway on the way home and pick up some of their spectacularly good Chow Mein.  Hubby commented that he was concerned that he was starting to associate going to this particular takeaway with stress – largely because whenever we have a stressful day that results in no time to cook, this is our takeaway of choice.  For me, it was quite the opposite, as the truly sublime Chow Mein that we get from there means a) I don’t have to cook and b) the problem is sorted – and in the best way possible.  I found it interesting how we both approached the situation from completely different corners.

I was also touched to hear that my dear old Dad, who following his surgery, had requested some Rhubarb & Apple Crumble for his dessert – in honour of this food blog.  So even here, food reaches out and provides comfort not only in its literal form, but in its emotional connections too.

Is it any wonder, then, that dieting can be such a disturbing – and potentially difficult – thing for us to do?  Our whole lives are invisibly and intangibly intertwined around food and eating, whether we like it or not!

Still, it’s probably best that I don’t get into the whole can of worms that is dieting.  Not today, anyway – I’ve just eaten a humungous Chow Mein.

This post was previously published on my Bournemouth Echo blog "Jenny's Week".

From Cottage Pie to Chicken & Bacon Stew : a round-up of the last two weeks

Medicinal Cottage Pie - just what the doctor ordered!

As I had been struck down with a case of the nasties, my meal planning for the last two weeks has been a bit different to normal.

For the first week, I had to come up with meals that Hubby could make without too much difficulty, as it was quite apparent that I wouldn't be doing very much in the kitchen other than making toast!

So, on that Monday we had shop-bought chicken in spicy breadcrumbs, in a wrap with lettuce, salsa and guacamole.  Son & heir was very happy with this (well, apart from the guacamole, but hubby very wisely put his guacamole separately on the side of the plate as he'd anticipated problems there) and it was a doddle for Hubby to put together.

Son & heir was going on his first parent-free visit to the cinema on the Wednesday, so when we'd collected him and his friend, we wheeled them off to Macdonalds for a celebratory burger.  I had one of their sweet chilli chicken wraps, which was actually quite palatable.  We got home and I went back to bed.  LOL

I was paying for the outing the following day, so Hubby prepared a medicinal Cottage Pie, with carrots, broccoli and celeriac (for Shepherd's Pie, just use lamb mince instead of the beef mince used for Cottage Pie).  Unfortunately, the potatoes let him down in that they simply disintegrated in the pan, but the meat part of the pie was delicious as ever.  I felt much restored, thereafter.

Friday was good old Bacon & Leek Pasta.  It is one of the simplest recipes to cook and Hubby did a great job with it.

He'd got the bit well between his teeth come Saturday, and ventured into curry!  We had a really lovely chicken curry with rice and shop-bought puppodums.  There was intentionally nothing fancy, nothing special about the curry, but it was saucy, flavoursome and rich - a perfect everyday curry.

Is that not a very creditable looking roast dinner?  :-)

We've recently discovered that Hubby makes a great line in roast dinners, so for Sunday, he cooked roast chicken breasts with roast potatoes, parsnips and assorted vegetables.  He did the Marco Pierre White thing with the chicken breasts, in that he let down a stock cube with a little water and rubbed it into the meat, together with a little lemon juice.  It was really yummy!   He even found some yorkshire puddings hiding in the freezer, so they went into the oven too.  A cracking good dinner.

Monday is always a "rely on storecupboard goods" day, as either the veggies have all been used up, or it's too long (from shopping on Friday) to expect salad to keep nicely.  So we had good old sausage, mash, baked beans and peas - using Spring Fields lovely Cumberland sausages, of course.

So that was the first week, successfully completed.  I think Hubby deserves a medal, as he was carrying the entire household on his own two feet.

The second week, I was starting to feel a bit more human and anticipated being able to return to kitchen duties.  So, when I was planning the meals I went for ones I've done successfully before, that barring catastrophe, would be almost guaranteed to turn out how they should and be enjoyed by everyone.

Tuesday was cop-out day and we all had frozen supermarket pizza.  Well, it's easy!

See the purple basil?  Cute!

Wednesday was my first day back in the kitchen and although my legs really weren't ready for all this, I struggled on through and made a Sicilian Pork Ragu with Spirali pasta.  I had only made this once before, but it ranks right up there with my favourites.  Hubby did a lot of the getting stuff out and putting stuff away again, so I can't claim to have done it completely on my own - but it was a start.  I was a little concerned about how the Spirali pasta would behave with the Ragu, as the original recipe (care of "A Glug of Oil") uses Tagliatelle and knowing how Willie insists on using the right pasta for the right sauce, I was firmly crossing my fingers.  Happily, it behaved impeccably and everyone cleared their plates (well, all except for a few pieces of pasta - which the dogs soon took care of in their dinners!).

Thursday, I was back at work and Hubby was exploring further along the curry route.  This time, he made a chicken Biryani.  See how artistically he presented it?  I absolutely love boiled egg with curry (well, boiled egg with just about anything really!) and the tomato - which looks a teensy bit overpowering in the picture - in fact was a lovely juicy counterpoint to the rice mixture.  Hubby polished off the leftovers the following day for lunch, so that proves how nice it was!


Friday dawned and we had a guest for dinner that night, as Son & heir had a friend staying over for a sleepover.  I had booked in my Turkey meatballs in a tomato and fennel sauce for that night, which proved perfect as we just had to buy a little extra Turkey mince and the rest stretched.  I found the cooking a little easier to do, this time, too.

Mmmn - tenderstem broccoli!

So that brings us to last night, which was my lovely one-pot chicken & bacon stew, which I served with tenderstem broccoli.  I set off doing the prep. for the dish and suddenly it dawned on me - but not until I was pretty much half-way through - that I should be using half the quantities stated!  It was the 1 litre of chicken stock that alerted me - for 3-4 people, it would have been swimming!  So I had to back up a bit and do some adjusting of the quantities that I had prepared, but even so, I put too much onion, bacon, tomato puree and bay leaves in the mix.  Oddly enough, the result tasted absolutely gorgeous - and a marked improvement on the original (which was pretty darned good, as it stood!). In fact, I've just eaten the leftovers for breakfast, which might tell you how good it was!


Tonight, I'm planning a Pork and Caramelised Apples dish which will be started on the hob and wind up in the oven, just to ensure the pork is tender.  I'll be serving it with mashed potato, runner beans (hopefully some from our garden), carrots & broccoli.  I'll get some vitamins and minerals into those boys if it's the last thing I do!


Tomorrow, Monday, Hubby is back on the curry trail - this time he's planning a vegetable curry, in which he'll use up whatever is leftover in the vegetable drawer and has a secret weapon - a cauliflower!  Curried is the only denomination of cauliflower he enjoys, so a cauliflower was a must for a vegetable curry.  He's planning on serving it with rice and naan bread and I'm really looking forward to it.  There's quite a selection of bits and pieces of vegetables in the veggie drawer, so it should have plenty of variety!


Now, all that leaves me to do is to work out what the heck we're going to be eating this coming week!  Wish me luck!


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Cottage Pie - surely it's everyone's favourite?

I know it is one of my favourites!  In fact, Cottage Pie and Shepherd's Pie have taken on legendary status in this household, as they have been proven to be of medicinal benefit when taken in extremis.

Many times when I have been really quite poorly, a good dollop or two of a Shepherd's Pie has restored me back to health.  On occasion, it has made the difference between living and dying (or so it seems).

There are as many recipes for Cottage Pie as there are pebbles on the beach.  Everybody either has one, or knows someone who has one.  For me, apart from the minced beef and the mashed potato, there are two essential ingredients - baked beans and Worcestershire Sauce.  I also like my Cottage Pie to be a fairly dry mix to which we add gravy if necessary.  This goes down well with Son & heir, as he's not overly keen on gravy.  It sullies the perfection of each separate constituent on his plate, you see.

I have many lovely memories involving Cottage and Shepherd's pie, but one which I must recount to you - because I'm sure you'll find it amusing (fingers crossed) is from some 15 or so years ago when I still had my horses.

In the stable yard where I kept them, my best friend at the time was a lady called Marilyn.  We kept our horses in adjacent stables and would coincide as often as we could, mainly because we got on so well and just couldn't stop laughing at one another.  The weekends were always the best, as we'd often spend all day together, riding our horses and just frittering away the time with doing "horsey stuff" and having a good old laugh.

I would often go to buy the horse feed first thing on a Saturday morning, spending an hour or so chatting and giggling with the girls at the shop, then pick up fish & chips for Marilyn and her daughter Tara and myself.  I'd get back to the stables and we'd tuck in, before all going out for a ride.  

One weekend, Marilyn's horse couldn't be ridden for one reason or another so Tara and I were riding in the indoor school, so as not to leave Marilyn out.  It wasn't a horse feed weekend, so I hadn't bought supplies - but unknown to me, Marilyn had.  Lunchtime arrived and out came this wicker picnic basket.  Opening it with much ceremony, Marilyn took out three china plates, three sets of knives and forks - and the leftovers of a considerable Cottage Pie.  We sat there, in the yard and on the suitcases in which we kept our horses' gear, eating cold Cottage Pie off of china plates with posh knives and forks.  Brilliant.

26 July 2015 : I have made this Cottage Pie countless times in between writing the recipe and now, but I thought I would share a photograph of the latest incarnation with you.  Just gorgeous.

COTTAGE PIE  (serves 4)

Ingredients : 

1 tbsp olive or vegetable oil
500g low fat minced beef
1 large onion, chopped finely
2 sticks of celery, chopped finely
1 medium carrot, chopped finely
2 cloves garlic, chopped finely
5 mushrooms, two chopped finely, three sliced
200g of baked beans from a tin
1 tbsp tomato puree
2 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 Knorr rich beef stockpot (or 1 low salt beef stock cube)
1 tsp Bovril
1 tsp wholegrain mustard
a splash or two of Worcestershire Sauce
half a tsp dried thyme
half a tsp paprika
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped finely
1 tbsp Bisto Best beef gravy granules
water, as necessary.

For the mash :

4-5 potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters (Maris Piper are excellent)
a knob of butter
50ml milk
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
100g or so of grated mature cheddar.

Method :

1.  In a deep frying pan, heat the vegetable oil and add the minced beef.  Cook on a high heat until all the mince is browned and the water has evaporated.  Fry the beef until the bottom surface has caramelised three times and been turned each time.  Remove from the pan using a slotted spoon and reserve.  Keep as much of the leftover oil as is required to cook the vegetables - approximately 1 tablespoonful.

2.  Add the onion, garlic, celery, carrot and chopped mushroom to the pan and fry on a medium heat until the vegetables are softened and the onion is transparent.  Take care not to let the vegetables burn.

3.  Once everything is cooking nicely, add the sliced mushrooms, baked beans, tomato puree, tomato ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, Bovril, wholegrain mustard, stock pot (or Oxo cube), thyme and paprika plus 300ml of water and mix well. 

4.  Allow to cook on a low heat for as long as it takes you to peel and boil the potatoes.

5.  Once cooked, drain the potatoes and add the knob of butter, milk and season to taste.  Mash the potatoes until smooth.  Don't be tempted to make the mash too creamy, or it will disintegrate when it meets the gravy from the meat.

6.  Add the parsley to the meat mixture together with the gravy granules and stir through.  Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary. 

7.  Place the meat mix into the bottom of a deep casserole dish, then place blobs of mashed potato on top.  Using a fork, lightly join each blob until the meat is completely covered - but don't press it into the meat mixture - then sprinkle on the grated cheese.

8.  Place into a pre-heated oven at around 180degC/340degF/Gas4, for 30-45 minutes or until the top is golden and crispy.

Serve with vegetables of your choice and a little extra gravy.

Printable version

Quick! Here's the meal plan for this week.

I should really be watching "The Apprentice", but no - I'm here typing away just so that I won't be too late with the meal plan for this week.  Feel sorry for me, because not only am I missing "The Apprentice", but I also just bashed myself on the forehead with our griddle pan, whilst trying to sniff the centre of it because it smelled of char-grilled peppers.  *blush*  Oh, I can't help it - and yes, I should have known it was that heavy as I've spent all afternoon cooking with it.  But there you are.  *chuckle*

So, without further ado, here's the meal plan for this week :

Quick stroganoff & pasta

Tandoori chicken & Jun Tanaka's char-grilled vegetable couscous

Minced beef, mashed potatoes, peas and carrots

Ken Hom's Broccoli Chicken with rice

Anthony Worrall-Thompson's "Health in a Bowl" with char-grilled Ciabatta

Phil Vickery's Pepperpot Beef & Orange stew with rice & peas

Cornish pasties, oven chips and baked beans.

So, who is coming over for what dinner?  LOL

There's quite a lot of chef accreditation going on up there, isn't there?  Unusually so - but then I have been trawling the Good Food Channel's "Healthy Recipes" section, which is where the most of these have come from.

I'm afraid it's no good trying to book for the Quick stroganoff & pasta, because we had that yesterday and I have to say that it was truly disgusting.  However, in my own defence, I cooked it especially for Son & heir, as he's had to suffer some quite vegetable-heavy dishes just lately, and it was a little culinary thank you for doing his best with them.  It hit the spot with him in that he cleared his plate and declared it delicious - so job done.  (Even if it did make me feel very peculiar, later on in the evening!).

Jun Tanaka's version - mine was a lot chunkier!

We've just had the Tandoori chicken with Char-grilled vegetable couscous and, wonder of wonders, I won again on the couscous front.  Oh, well, apart from with Son & heir, who has decreed he doesn't like the char-grilled flavour on anything (well, except a Burger King burger, of course.  ~rolls eyes~).  As for the Tandoori chicken being even remotely Tandoori - it wasn't.  Yes, I know we don't have a Tandoor oven here, but the chicken was supposed to have been able to be cooked on a griddle pan (are you sensing a bit of a fixation here?) which I had thought might lend it the charred flavour that goes with Tandoori foods.  As it was, thankfully, I only tried the little mini-fillets on the griddle pan.  As they welded themselves to it, I put the breast fillets into the oven!  25 minutes at 200deg and they were really quite tasty, if entirely NOT Tandoori.

We didn't manage to catch a photograph of the dish (forgot!), but I have a little couscous left over which I'll try and take a decent photograph of, just so that I can pass the recipe on - as it was really extremely nice and worth doing again.

We're having a de-constructed Cottage Pie tomorrow.  Well, I'm at work so it's unlikely I'll want to make a Cottage Pie, but you never know!  I've actually been having dreams (like, every night!) about Shepherd's Pie, so perhaps I should, just to see what will happen.  Son & heir will be okay with this one, as he loves minced beef in all its guises.  Hopefully it will also mean I can use up the Maris Pipers I got for the Cheesy Champ Mash plus the Chantenay carrots I got for Son & heir's Sunday chicken dish.

Ken Hom's version - looks good!

Friday will be one of Ken Hom's lovely easy dishes.  This one, Broccoli Chicken, will help to make use of the Oyster Sauce I bought recently.  It's also not quite a stir-fry and is served with rice, so I'm hoping that Son & heir will be okay with it.  I'm sure hubby will, as he really likes all the oriental style dishes.

Somebody had better remind me, though, that on Friday evening I'm supposed to be putting some Lentils on to soak, ready for making Anthony Worrall-Thompson's Health in a Bowl on Saturday.

Health in a bowl - well, we'll see!

I am super-intrigued by this one.  It has got everything bar the kitchen sink in it - everything that's good for you, anyway!  Plus, it is based on some thick cut gammon ham - which is something we haven't had for ages.  I'm sure it would work perfectly with a smoked ham hock, too - but I'll be darned if I can source one of those around here at the moment!  Of course, owing to the fact that I haven't used the griddle pan for a few days, I've scheduled us to have griddled Ciabatta with a smudge of garlic and a drizzle of olive oil, along with it.  I'm feeling healthier just talking about it - goodness knows how I'll feel the day after making and eating it.  (Fingers crossed).

Sunday's dish is another interesting one.  Yes, I know I said I wasn't going to do any more heavy old stews because it was spring time, but this recipe says it isn't heavy - and as it's based on a Caribbean recipe, I guess it's got a 50:50 chance of being healthy.  Anyway, it's another (very good) excuse to use some lovely Brisket of beef.  The rice and peas I've put as accompanying it, I have yet to decide whether to do traditional rice and peas, or just make rice with some green peas in it.  Authenticity -v- colour.  Hmmmn, the jury's still out on that one.

Now as for Monday, let's just pretend that Monday isn't going to happen, shall we?  Although, I will just quickly say that I'll be having a jacket potato instead of chips, but that still doesn't mitigate the damage done by a shop-bought Cornish Pasty.  *sigh*  All I can do is try.  Well, you've got to serve some Man-food sometimes, just so that he knows you're listening to him, isn't that how it goes?

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