To think you do not cook cottage pie like this?

[Louie92]

A freind was saying that she boils her mincemeat before putting in the oven.
I always fry mine.
How do you do your cottage/shepherds pie?

@Birdsgottafly thanks, I’ve never heard of it before and I’m always curious to try new things.

fry mince to brown, add chopped onions and carrots. Add sprinkle of parsley, couple of teaspoons of flour, then a teaspoon of CINNAMON (yes, really trust me on this!) add stock gradually whilst simmering .
place mixture in dish, top with mashed potato and finish in oven. Gorgeous.
It is the cinnamon that makes it!

Well known fact.... frying mince does not add anything except colour.

DH says boiled mince sounds revolting, I agree.

To add to Birds version of scouse, there is also a red lentil version and a bacon version.

My family has about basic 5 Scouse recipes and they are all very nice. I still make a beef and potato version, it makes a great stew with cobs of bread, a great pie filling and (though my DH finds this really weird) as a cold butty (sandwich).

The possible original version is lamb or beef lobscouse - a sailor's dish, if you want to find a simple, non partisan recipe

Ah, the old Can't you take a joke! response.

Oh so you actually didn't identify it as light-hearted when you read it.

Relax.

It depends what you like. I personally like the richness/depth of flavour that Oxo & Bisto adds to some beef dishes. I have a friend who makes cottage pie with just mince, veggies etc and it tastes nice (I like it) but it comes out more like a mince stew, quite pale brown, and the gravy (as such) is thin and pale. I like a richer beef flavour and a thicker texture for cottage pie so I use Oxo to add flavour and Bisto powder to thicken. Cornflour does the same job but it can make it look pale and taste powdery.

Unless you follow the kind of diet that has only raw or pure form food, you'll be eating something akin to the kind of ingredients that Oxo/Bisto has.
Don't know why that makes it rank. You don't eat it on its own. It's a cooking ingredient

Riding - I have to say that I can't see the lightheartedness in your posts myself, it did come across as judgemental/food snobbery. Which is fine as everyone likes different things, meh, I still will add Oxo and Bisto to my cottage pie but if you were joking then a {wink] or a might have given it away better...

I'm an exceptionally relaxed person, actually. You said People don't really still use Bisto and Oxo do they? Surely it's a 70s joke. and I and several other people took it at face value and thought it was a putdown. Now I see it was supposed to be funny. OK. We obviously have very different senses of humour.

gasp. Don't forget "It's not snobbery to dislike Bisto or Oxo as they're rank".

Nope... can't see the joke in that either... I MUST RELAX MORE!

Oh and FGS it is just a flippin pie!

They're only rank if you don't like them!

Can we have the detail here. If you cook mince in liquid, without frying it first, does it just go into the liquid in a pink rectangular block and then sit there? What if you are batch cooking, as I am right now, which is why I'm on here. You put three rectangular blocks in the big pan and pour liquid over it?

I use my Nana's recipe, which has never failed.

Mince in pan, cover with just enough very cold water to reach the top. Break down the mince into tiny bits, as small as you can in the cold water. Add onion, a small half teaspon of garlic, salt and pepper, then put to boil and if you want, a stock cube.

DON'T LET IT BOIL. As soon as it comes to the boil, turn off the heat and let it rest.

In the meantime, peel, chop small and cook a shedload of potatoes. About 700 gms. It is very important to use King Edward potatoes and nothing else. When the pots are done, mash them properly, with butter, milk (a Tablespoon) and cheese if you want.

Then layer, the meat, that has been rested, with enough juice to come up half the side of the dish you are using. Then, and this is the controversial thing, a layer of baked beans on top of the mince.

Then, the mash mix, that has to be smooth and creamy with the milk.

Bake in the oven until the stock at the bottom is bubbling.

Make gravy with the stock left after you took the mince out to avoid waste lol.

It results in a very nice, tender cottage pie with loads of flavour.

MrsJayy I recall a thread on that very topic which became very heated
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/1240924-MN-Jury-please-say-I-am-not-bu

two in fact ...

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/1314132-DH-wasnt-going-to-brown-the-mince-first

Fry the meat and onion, I add a teaspoon of marmite too. Good handful of frozen peas and gravy on top, then mash.

I've got a friend who sprinkles an Oxo cube over raw meat, onion carrot etc. tops it with mash then bangs it in the oven 😱😱😱

and I and several other people took it at face value and thought it was a putdown

Really? On a thread where posters are saying they use Oxo and Bisto I ask do people still really eat that stuff? It's not a serious question - of course they do - they've just said so. It was a piece of light hearted ribbing.

If I say I think they're rank it just a question of personal taste.

I wouldn't have thought it was possible to take offence over gravy.

Mince in large pot/pan with a little oil, browned with an oxo cube crumbled dry over top, a few shakes of worcester sauce, and a spoon of marmite (makes it really brown and rich).

Add a bowl of chopped onion and a can of baked beans (with all the juice).

Leave to simmer for ages.

Then layer in a baking dish - meat mixture on the bottom, layer of mixed vegetables (steamed or microwaved), then layer of mash.

Delicious! I use pyrex dishes (size of ready meals) to freeze half of them, and they can then go straight in the oven anytime someone wants a quick meal.

You shouldn’t cook it any way at all vile vile dish.

Other than jellyfish and caviar, shepherds/cottage pie is my most hated meal.

One of my friends boils and then drains, boils and drains to make sure there is no fat (or flavour) left. It's vile

How do you feel about corned beef hash Lemony?

Well I always fried until my mum (in her 70s) told me the other year I was doing it wrong, now I boil it and it's so much better!

Felicitylemon those threads people are passionate about the mince rinse

• Put mince in non-stick frying pan and cook, using a wooden spatula to separate it into small bits
• Add a beef stock cube while cooking
• when browned, add a diced onion and cook some more
• Add diced carrot and frozen peas, plus a tbsp of flour mixed with cold water. Stir together
• top up with water and cook until carrots are softish
• Season, including a dash of Worcester sauce
• Put in dish and cool slightly

-Top with mashed potato. Use fork to make patterns on the top so some potato goes crispy, some says fluffy. Put in the oven

• Sometime add a handful of grated cheese half way through cooking in the oven