Cottage pie

[chloemegjess]

Hello. I am making cottage pie tonight but I often find it doesn't taste as good if I make it from scratch. But I am trying to start always cooking from scratch everyday so want to get it right.

Just wondering if you could all share what you do? It needs to be suitable for an 11 month old but she eats most things anyway and loves cottage pie.

I also want to freeze some for her.

So please will you lovely mnetters share your wisdom?

I use gravy or the colemans pouches in mine, not sure if that'd be too much salt for her. Boots do stocks that are suitable from 6 months, could you add that instead?

I prefer shepherd's pie myself. My secret ingredient is Lea and Perrins.

Fry a chopped onion and carrot, add herbs and mince and fry off. Add 1 tbs flour, 1 tbs tom puree and a dsah of L&P, cook for a min or two, add about 400ml chicken stock and cook about 40 mins.

Mashed potato on top, Grated cheese then into the oven at about 200c for about 25-30 mins.

I'd do more or less the same for cottage pie with beef mince instead of lamb.

I make cottage pie with a small onion, a clove of garlic and half an Oxo cube crumbled into the mince.

Any ideas what I can use instead of stock or gravy? Might just make a seperate one for her because of the salt. Or make spag bol instead! Lol.

The whole salt thing drives me mad!

use marmite instead
thats what The Dinner Lady uses in her recipes

To consider for low salt:
Bisto Reduced Salt Gravy Granules.

The salt thing makes family meals near impossible, I found. Don't know what the current recommendation is for when you can introduce it: my DS (9 soon) practically lives on marmite, so whatever good was done to start with has been undone since I'm afraid. I always use Bovril (AND Lea and Perrins!) in CPie, and also a grated apple. I know this doesnt help much on the stock-substitute front - unless you go all Nigella-ish and make your own without salt. But I think it would still be pretty bland. What about Mushroom Sauce (can't remember if that's what it is actually called, but it comes in a bottle, like Anchovy sauce) - don't think it is high in salt and does add flavour.

I wouldn't have thought the tiny amount of salt you get in one stock cube in a whole batch of mince would amount to anything to worry about when served in a portion to a 11 month old - she is only going to have a little bit - so the total salt is going to be low (you probably get more from a slice of bread and butter).

Thing I might make spag bol instead! And then I will get some low salt stock cubes for next time and make it another day!

Now all I need is a recipe for spag bol!

spag bol is easy
mince
tin toms
squirt tom puree
chopped herbs
bit of gravy

simmer

of course you can add loads of veg too whatever takes your fancy - red pepper onion mushrooms celery etc

My top tip, probably won't help you today, but in future.... make the minced meat bit a day in advance. For some strange reason it really benefits from a day of cooling/sitting in the fridge. It's the same of stews and casseroles.

Another top tip, a splash of red wine (the alcohol burns off so it's still ok for children) and some chopped dried mushrooms for depth of flavour. Soak them in water for ten mins before finely chopping them and adding them to the meat mixture. Then add the water they were soaking in, and cook on a highish heat to reduce down a bit. The key to depth of flavour is reducing it down quite a lot, til there's almost no liquid.

Oh you've got to have garlic, a chopped stick of celery and a decent glug of red wine for spag bol... if you're being really authentic some pancetta/smoked bacon too. I also put dried mushrooms in my spag bol and ds loves it (he's 14 months)

I have garlic but nt celery at home. I do have red wine (I think) but we don't actually drink it so would prefer not to open it as the rest would get wasted probably. OR do you think it is worth it?

I'll come round and drink it for you shame to waste!

Or you can actually freeze (ice cube trays) for next cooking session.

I now swear by using my slow cooker (if you have one) the mince ends up being very tender.
I brown the mince, throw it into slow cooker with chopped onion, celery, low salt beef stock cube, tin of chopped tomatoes, lea and Perrins and mushrooms. Simmer on high for 5 hours or medium for 7 hours.
Obviously you have to do this in advance but ususally turns out really nice. BTW you will need to add 1 tablespoon of cornflour in a little water about 30 mins from end to thicken it.

Ooh that was for cottage pie not spag bol.

attilla - I use my slow cooker but mainly to cook meat joints etc. Would like to try the cottage pie in it though, maybe next week. What do you do when it comes to the mash? Do you add it in the slow cooker? OR stick in oven or what? I don't want to create loads of washing up (lazy)

I get round the salt issue by using a tin of tomatoes instead of stock (so it's basically spag bol with potato on top but the DCs seem to like it!)

I'm doing it in the slow cooker today!
I'm making the bolognese in there anyway...
I've put in 2 packs of mince, 2 tins of toms, carots, onions, mushrooms, kidney beans and courgettes (i stick in whatever i have suitable in the fridge lol)
Will make spag bol with it tonight and puthalf the bolognese in the fridge and then add gravy, mashed potato on top and put in oven tomorrow for cottage pie! (2 meals oyut of one lot of cooking!)

you can get low salt gravy and stock. i always use them for everything i cook and then the kids just eat whatever we've got

hmmm, sounds nice.

WHat I could do I guess is do something different today as a bit late to use slow cooker now and do bolagnaise tomorrow? And then use it as a cottage pie type thing as basementbear says. I need to use my potatoes! Could even do sausage and mash tonight and save some mash for the pie tomorrow?