Homemade Sort of Cottage Pie – delicious, tender beef
This beef recipe is a lovely twist on cottage pie, using stewing steak instead of mince, which gives a really nice texture and flavour. Make buttery mash with lots of cream, salt, and pepper, and pipe it on the top. Sprinkle a little bit of cheddar cheese on the top, and serve with a simple mix of green vegetables.
Ingredients
- 500g lean stewing steak
- 2 red onions
- 3 carrots
- 2 celery sticks
- Glass of red wine
- Equivalent to a glass beef stock
- 3 or4 garlic cloves
- 250g mushrooms
- 4 potatoes
- 35g butter
- Salt and peppers
- Mint
Method of Preparation:
- First, chop the onion, celery, garlic, and carrots very finely. Cook them in some olive oil, salt and pepper, for about ten minutes until completely soft.
- Add the stewing steak in, and cook until it is browned on the outside. Add the wine, and the stock. If needed, add some water to top it up.
- Simmer with the mint, and add the chopped mushrooms. Simmer for around 2 hours.
- Cut the potatoes into squares, add to cold salted water. Simmer for half an hour, or until fluffy. Pass through a potato ricer. Add milk, salt, and pepper- and lots of butter! Mix together until smooth.
- Spoon your stewed steak mix into four individual casserole bowls. Spoon the mash on top, cover with cheese, and bake for 30 minutes at 180C.
Serve: Serve with cabbage – chop an onion finely, and two rashes or bacon, and add to a pan. Cook gently. Chop the cabbage finely, and add to the bacon and onion. Wilt for about 3-4 minutes, and serve with a knob of butter on top.
You could always substitute the beef steak for beef mince for a more traditional taste – this also works beautifully with spring lamb. If you do this, marinade the meat in red wine and mint first. Preferably overnight, in the fridge, covered in cling film. This makes it lovely and juicy, and really brings out the flavour. You could also add thyme, and if you want to experiment further, add a finely chopped chilli, for a little bit of heat! This is a great twist, and so very simple.
A nice way to serve this is in a big dish at the table – get your guests to help themselves!
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