To be honest, I don't cook often. I bake a lot, but cooking...it's kind of new to me. I'm used to cooking for myself but I would freak out if I had to cook for others. Luckily, the recipe seemed pretty straight forward and I pulled it off. My family loved them too, so much that they asked me to make them again, the following week (fist pumps in air).
I did change some things in the recipe though, especially the amount of minced beef. I'm not much of a meat eater and neither is my mom. Since I figured that most of the stuff I cook is only for myself and my mom, I cut down on a lot of meat and replaced it with more carrots, celery, and canned pinto beans. I also omitted the chicken stock because I figured the meat and the Guinness will be enough (and it's hard to find ready made stock). Honestly though, this recipe was really yummy. Maybe it's the Guinness, cause really, food tastes good with alcohol (heh).
One problem I had while making this, was the piping. Apparently, I didn't manage to mash my potatoes enough to the point that the mash would come out smoothly from the piping tip. Or maybe my piping tip was too small. Or maybe I'm not good at piping. Or maybe both. I'm not entirely sure but I had a really hard time trying to make the piping "pretty" haha. I know I could just spoon the mash on but I felt that the piping was so pretty! I wanted my food to look photogenic as well as yummy! And one other thing, since the baking time wasn't stated, I was actually waiting for the potato on top to turn a lovely golden brown. That didn't exactly happen. I waited 20 mins and still nothing. Out of impatience (and hunger), I just ate it the way it was. The next day, my mom accidentally left her pie in the oven for over 30 mins. It was browner on top but when she dug her spoon in, the bottom of the pie was a bit burnt. To our surprise, it tasted even better. The long cooking time actually kind of caramelized the contents of the pie. After that, I always opted to overcook my pie :p
Guinness Cottage Pie
-adapted from Rasberri Cupcakes
500g beef mince
1 can Guinness Stout
2-3 bay leaves
1 large onion, diced
2 large carrots, diced
1 celery bunch, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely diced
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 whole star anise
Approx 7-10 large potatoes
Milk & butter& heavy cream
Fresh ground pepper, sea salt, dried oregano for seasoning
Chop vegetables. Heat some olive oil in a large pan on medium heat and add onion, carrot, celery, bay leaves and a pinch of salt. Cook until all vegetables are starting to soften and add ingarlic. Toss until the vegetables are tender and starting to colour. Remove from pan and set aside. Steam potatos until tender and set aside to cool before peeling and mashing.
Turn heat up to high and add more oil if needed. Cook the minced meat by breaking them up while cooking and waiting till the meat is browned. Add tomato paste, star anise, Guinness and fresh pepper (to taste).
Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes. Mix in your softened vegetables, cover with a lid and simmer on low heat for at least 15 minutes. If your mixture is still watery, simmer with the lid off to thicken sauce. If you really need to you can add flour a tsp at a time to thicken the sauce but I didn't need to do this. When it is the desired consistency, spoon mixture into a large oven safe dish or smaller individual ramekins (try to fish out the bay leaves and star anise). Preheat oven to 220 degrees C,
Peel and mash the steamed potatoes. Add a knob of butter and a huge splash of milk and heavy cream. Continue to mix until potatos taste soft and creamy. Add some dried oregano leaves and salt and pepper to taste.
Pipe or spoon mash over your pie. Place in your hot oven until the top is golden brown.
Comfort food. How yummy they always are.
Love,
Natalie
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