All that's needed is to cut into portions and ping in a microwave - easy!
So the list of ingredients used is as follows:
To feed six - or four if you're starving!
750g of Minced Beef
2 Onions (chopped)
2 Cloves of Garlic (chopped finely) or Teaspoon of "Lazy Garlic"
2 Field Mushrooms
1 Beef Stock Cube
Sprinkling of Gravy Granules
Squirt of Tomato Puree
Big Knob of Butter
1 Large Saucepan of peeled and cut Potatoes
Grated Cheese - (as much as you want)!
First thing I do is get the potatoes, peeled, and chopped and in a pan, the smaller you cut them the quicker they cook, it doesn't matter that they go a bit mushy, after all you will be mashing them!
I used potatoes that were a little cheaper due to the recent flooding. However, I certainly did not feel that there was anything at all wrong with these potatoes despite the label telling me otherwise.
Are people really that fussy? I remember as a kid we used to buy potatoes by the sack full, and they were all shapes and sizes, complete with mud. These days they can go straight into a pan - how times have changed.
The cynical side of me says it's a way of paying the farmers less, making up an excuse that because they are all odd sizes or have a blemish they cannot sell them at normal market price?
Once the Onions were finely chopped they were cooked till soft along with the Garlic in the wok. I just use a splash of water to cook them, there's enough oil that comes out of the meat without adding to it!
When these are almost soft I add the mince and break it up and cook till it has gone a brown/grey sort of colour. At this stage I think mince looks rather unappetising which is probably why some folk dislike it.
Mushrooms in and simmer on a low heat till properly cooked through and some of the moisture has cooked off.
During this time I also add the stock cube and stir till it's dissolved with a generous squirt of tomato puree, finally adding a sprinkling of gravy granules. These combined brings the mince back to a dark brown and a better looking colour!
This mixture then goes into a pyrex dish and flattened down.
Potatoes, once they have cooked through, drained for a few minutes, then return to the saucepan, add a large knob of butter and mash!
Once mashed add to the top of the mince, and grate your cheese, I like a cheesy top so I go a bit over board, but add as much or as little as desired.
Once done, I pop into the over for 20-30 mins at 180 degrees or until the cheese has melted and browned off.
Remember it's all cooked all you are doing is heating it through and melting the cheese.
Once done, serve with a few veggies and gravy and Bob's Your Uncles Cousin!
If you look carefully at the last picture, one of the problems with cooking with oil and a lot of liquid in the mince is that it tends to rise up and discolour the potato, by making it a little dryer this does not happen.
Till later..............
No comments:
Post a Comment