Cottage Pie, Crunchy Coleslaw Salad and a Triple-Cream Cheese
Burford, Cotswolds
Cottage Pie
This is my new favourite. My new British food favourite. It won me over the minute I had it.
And quite bizarrely, I’ve only tried this dish as of recently, or of late, perhaps I should say.
Provided that, collectively, I’ve lived in London for more than 10 years, I only tried this humble Cottage Pie a few weeks ago. If you asked me, I would not be able to explain why it took me so long. In fact, I may have never tried it if it hadn’t been for Nick – the Dégustatur’s friend, his impromptu dinner invitation and his cooking skills.
But we are well acquainted now, the cottage pie and I. A fragrant symphony of softness. Granted.
Cottage Pie, a British comfort-food classic, that shamelessly I hadn’t given a try before.
It soothes and satisfies in equal measure. It’s economical, feeds many and reheats like a dream.
A proper home-made food that we all crave now and then.
I should introduce a small clarification for the novices on two very similar English pies: there is Shepherd’s Pie – minced lamb based, and there is Cottage Pie – which is beef based, both topped with mashed potato.
Lamb in England is very common (and also slightly cheeper than beef), which leeds me to believe that it’s the Shepherd’s Pie that is most often baked in homes, pubs, gastropubs and restaurants.
I didn’t grow up eating lamb. Mainly because my parents have never eaten it or cooked it at home, so it was a novelty to me in my teenage life. But our (close, a handful of km away) neighbours in Poland on the other hand, run a sheep farm, and from what I’m told, they also prepare it very well. Well, we all grew up in a different way, getting used to different flavours and to the traditional dishes cooked at home, mainly by our mothers, and each household has it’s own little secret. Flavours are so subjective – a wonderful invitation to a discussion about food.
For Nick and his wife are brilliant hosts with a great interest in history, culture and travels, they may have foreseen my dietary preferences – since it was the first time we’ve met. Going to their house was like a dive into my early years in London. It turns out we were neighbours. Shame we hadn’t met back then, because they are the kind of people that everyone would love to have around them.
Coleslaw Salad
Since I enjoyed Nick’s creation so much, inevitably, I decided to make it for us at home.
Just imagine: spoonful after spoonful of lusciously rich slowly cooked beef mince, mixed with an enriched with Parmesan buttery mash – soaking up the spiced beef sauce just perfectly.
I had done some research and I made sure that I had Worcestershire sauce to hand, tomato puree and red wine to cook with. I wanted to reproduce the big well defined flavours that I remembered having.
For the mash, I followed Gordon Ramsay’s delicious tip of adding egg yolks and lots of Parmesan to achieve a rich creamy potato mash, the top of which turns crispy golden in the oven.
I choose to serve our Cottage Pie, each and every time, with a coleslaw salad, for which I found my preferred dressing, making it light and fresh. Many coleslaw salads that I’ve come across are sadly overly laden with mayonnaise, sharp vinegar, sugar, sharp onion, and thickly sliced cabbage. I can assure you this is not the case on my table. I shred two to three kinds of cabbage using a mandoline, then toss the paper thin slices with the dressing and adjust for seasoning again if needed. The pie introduces some big rich flavours in its own right already, and a light crunchy coleslaw, slightly peppered with a good white wine vinegar or lemon juice (or a combination of both), balances the meal out perfectly.
Should “my Cottage Pie meal” take your fancy find the recipes right below.
Triple-Cream Cheese
Cottage Pie, ready for baking
The images of the lovely village of Burford, in the Cotswolds, were taken in January.
We don’t go there often, but when we are in the area or we can make a de-tour, like recently on our way back from Wales, we like to stop in the village for lunch and a little grocery shopping. It’s there, in one of the high street deli’s, that I had discovered an amazing cream cheese, the triple-cream cheese “Le Delice De Bourgogne” (cow’s milk). I lack words to describe how soft, creamy and indulgent that cheese is. It’s like cutting through the most beautiful cloud, but creamier, and tastier.
I can buy this kind of cheese in London too, not from the same producer, nonetheless something very similar. The Waitrose grocery store on King Roads sells it at their cheese counter, or, when I purchase it from Harrods’s Food Hall we know we are in for a real treat. In case you come across it, remember to eat it as soon as possible, as you would normally with every other fresh cheese. That particular triple-cream cheese, spread on a toasted sourdough bread is utter bliss, otherwise you could try it on a dry fruit studded bread, also, paired with a slice of membrillio (quince paste) it makes for a perfect way to round off any meal. Or is that too indulgent?
The Cotswolds is a region in South West England, Oxfordshire, famed for its charming honey-coloured stone buildings nestled in the midst of picturesquely manicured rolling hills. A great example of the English countryside’s allure. It’s a collection of quaint villages, but bare in mind, they are all very busy. In fact, the area is sometimes referred to as “little London”, with the Soho House – private member’s club, that sums things up.
Nonetheless, these pristine fairytale – like cottages are full of taste and cosiness, exactly like the Cottage Pie. My new best friend.
Aleksandra xx
1. Cottage Pie
Serves 6:
1 – 1.2 kg of minced beef
2 onions, chopped
3-4 coarsely grated carrots
3 clove of garlic, chopped
some fresh thyme and rosemary, leaves picked and chopped
1 small dry chilli pepper, chopped (or left whole, just remember to take it out before baking)
tomato puree 3-4 tablespoons
1 teaspoon of sugar (optional)
4 tablespoons of Worcester sauce, plus some more if needed
half a bottle of red wine
500 ml of chicken stock (or light beef stock)
4-5 tablespoons of olive oil for frying
salt
pepper
Gently heat the olive oil in a heavy-based saucepan or casserole dish.
Soften the onions and the grated carrots. Add the garlic and the chilli pepper. Fry for a further 5 minutes or so.
Add the beef and brown it, turning the heat up to high if needed. Once you are happy with the meat stir in the tomato puree. After a couple of minutes pour in the wine and wait until it has almost evaporated.
Now add the Worcester sauce, the chopped herbs, salt and pepper (as well as the sugar – optionally) and finally pour in the stock. Give everything a good stir, bring to the boil, reduce the heat, cover with the lid and let it bubble away for about one hour, or longer.
Whilst the beef mince is cooking, stir it occasionally and check for seasoning. Add more of the tomato puree and Worcester sauce if you wish.
If you find that the sauce is too watery, take the lid off and cook until you obtain a consistency of
a meat ragu.
2. In the meantime prepare the Potato Mash:
Ingredients:
1 kg of potatoes (preferably of equal size)
3 egg yolks
250 ml of milk or cream
70 g of butter (or more of you wish)
70 g of grated Parmesan cheese, plus some more to finish
salt
black pepper
Place the potatoes in a pot, cover with cold water and season wth some salt.
Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the potatoes are cooked through (for about 20-25 minutes, a small sharp knife should go through with ease).
Tip the potatoes into a colander, let the potatoes cool a little, then peel.
In a pot melt the butter until it starts to bubble, add the milk and keep warm.
Press the peeled potatoes through a potato ricer and add them to the pot, mixing everything well.
Season to taste. Switch the heat off, stir in the grated Parmesan and the egg yolks at the very end.
Preheat the oven to 180 C / 160 C Fan.
If not using the heavy based pan in which you’ve cooked the meat base, take an oven proof rectangular (or oval) dish and pile in the hot meat.
Top it with the mash, level out the surface and sprinkle with the extra Parmesan cheese – taking your own liberties here.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the top is crisp and golden, and the meat is bubbling fiercely below.
Serve with: coleslaw salad (see the recipe below), boiled green beans, broccoli or peas.
Coleslaw Salad
3. Coleslaw Salad:
For the dressing:
a scant teaspoon of a good white wine or apple vinegar, you could use lemon instead or a combination of both
1 1/2 of a tablespoon of mayonnaise (or more to taste)
2 generous tablespoons of butter milk
a few pinches of salt
a few pinches of freshly ground black pepper
a touch of honey or sugar (optional)
For the cabbage:
Using a mandoline shred two to three kinds of cabbage: white, red and a sweet heart cabbage, allow a very generous handful per person.
You could thinly grate in some carrots and add some thinly sliced onion as well. But I like to keep it very simple here.
Stir until all the ingredients for the dressing until well combined. Taste and season if needed to your liking.
Add the shredded cabbage and toss well.
