Cottage Pie with Parsnips

Cottage pie is a very traditional meal that there are always fresh or frozen one sold in shops. I have eaten cottage pie on some parties. The taste varied a little. But, the essential of cottage pie is beef mince fried with some vegetable covered with mashed potato. Then, bake it. There are some beef mince, vegetable, and potato. Then, that it. My lunch is cottage pie. But, my potato is very small it will not be thick enough. I still have some parsnips so that I decide to use mashed potato and parsnips. It is cooking that there is no rules for here :D

Baking Temperature Setting: 220C/450F/Gas Mark 8

Baking Time: 20~30 minutes

Recipe: Serve 2~3 people

 

Steps of Cottage Pie

(1) Chop all potato and parsnips into small pieces. Prepare a saucepan. Place all potato and parsnips into the pan. Add 1 tea spoon of salt. Keep boiling them until it turns tender. It takes around 10~15 minutes

(2) When potato and parsnips are ready to be mashed, dry the potato and parsnips. Place them in a dish. Before mashing potato and parsnips, add butter, milk, and another 1 tea spoon of salt in. Mix them. Then, mash potato and parsnips. Set Aside.

(3) Prepare a fried pan, place onion into the pan. Stir a little

(4) Add chopped mushrooms into the pan. Stir a while. Cover the lid. Use medium heat to cook around 3 minutes

 (5) Then, add beef mince into the pan. Fried the mince until it turns golden. Then, add 1 tea spoon and 2.5~3 table spoon of soy sauce into the mince. Mix all of them. Simmer it until the gravy turns thick. Set aside

(6) Place the mince into an ovenproof dish (around 7 inch).

(7) Spoon the mashed potato and parsnips over the top of mince.

(8) Use a fork to decorate mashed potato and parsnips with lines. Send it into the pre-heat oven at 220C/450F/Gas Mark 8 until the topping is golden.

 

I like to eat cottage pie a lot. Because there is everything in one dish. Last year, I always prepared a lot for my exam season. If you don’t have lots of time to cook every day, try cook more and freeze it. When you want to eat it, just send it to the oven. Less than 40 minutes, you will have a tasty cottage pie. Enjoy it.

Potato Pancake

Actually, it was funny when preparing potato pancake. I was reading a recipe of potato scone then I though… WOW… it is very interesting… Normally, we see scone or cheese scone or scone with some dried fruit. Potato scone??? No… It totally triggers my interesting… I put it in my to-do listing. Then, I discussed with my friend, why not have a brunch. I can cook potato scone. Both of us though that it is a good idea. When we had our first bite, we LAUGH… It is potato pancake instead of potato scone. But, it is still very tasty. Eating with bacon, sausages, egg… Very perfect for the brunch.

Recipe: Around 8” Potato Pancake

 

Step

(1) Wash and peel all potato. Chop it into small pieces. Prepare a pan with boiling water. Place all chopped potato into the pan and add 2 tea spoon of salt in. Keep boiling around 12~15 minutes until potato is soft to be mashed.

(2) When potato is ready. Pour over all the water. Then, add butter and milk into the pan. Mix a while. Then, mash the chopped potato. Then, place mashed potato into a big bowl.

(3) Prepare beaten egg, flour, baking powder and another tea spoon of salt into the bowl. Mix all ingredients well

(Selena Kitchen Talk:
*This dough is very sticky because of mashed potato. Don’t worry about the sticky dough
**We ate with sausage and bacon which are salted food. So, I only add 1 tea spoon of salt in my potato dough. If you eat without anything, you can consider to increase the amount salt to 2 tea spoon.)

(4) Prepare a fried pan. Add some oil into the fried pan. Switch to the small-medium heat. When it is ready, place the dough into the fried pan. Fry one side until it turns golden. Turn another side. Again, fry it until it turns golden.

 I always like to try some new things for my cooking. So, I am not surprised when potato scone turned into potato pancake. It is the most amazing thing for cooking. You never know what it is if you try new things. Enjoy it.

Stuffed Potato – Bacon Flavor

 

Potato is always seen as the staple food in the UK, even though there are other choices. ME!! I have paradoxical feelings for potato. I love to eat it when it is cooked to be very crispy. When it is mashed, I might say NO to it. So, I love to eat chips (A LOT), but no jacket potato. But, I am in the UK. I should learn more ways to cook potato instead of only 2 ways I know.

Stuffed potato is another way to cook it. It is like a combination of baked potato and mashed potato. Okay… Let’s go and challenge it.

 

Recipe

Step

(1) Chop bacon, onion and mushrooms into small pieces, around 0.5cm by 0.5cm

(2) Prepared a fried pan. Heat the oil in the pan. Then, place onion and mushrooms into the pan. Cook it for at medium heat around 3~5 minutes.
(3) Add bacon into the pan. Cook it with onion and mushrooms another 3~5 minutes until it is well-cooked. Season it with 1/2 tea spoon salt. Then, switch off the heat. Set aside

(4) Peel the potatoes. Half the potatoes. Place these potatoes into a pan. Add boiling water in. Add 2 tea spoon salt. Boiling it for 5 minutes.

(5) Take them out of the pan. Cool it down with the running water around 1 minute to be handled.
(6) Spoon the flesh out. Leave around 0.5 cm shell. Place the shell on the baking plate covered with baking paper. Drizzle the shell with 1/4 tea spoon salt. Send them into the pre-heated oven at 200C/390F for 10 minutes. Than, move the flesh back to the boiling water. Keep boiling another 10 minutes.

(7)Then, turn over these potatoes. Add 1/2 tea spoon butter on top of potato. Send them bake to the oven at 200C/390F for 10 minutes.

(8) Place the removed flesh into a big bowl. Add 1 tea spoon butter and 2 tea spoon milk into the bowl. Mash potatoes.
(9) Put bacon mixture into the bowl. Mix them with mashed potato
(Selena’s Kitchen Talk: There are some juices in the pan. Don’t add these juices into the bowl.)

(10) Take potatoes out from the oven. It should turn the golden on the surface.

(11) Turn over these potatoes. Place bacon fillings on the top of each potato.
(12) Drizzle grated cheese over the top. Send it into the oven for another 3~5 minutes until the grated cheese is melted.

 

 

 

Again, I don’t like to eat mashed potato. This kind of cooking doesn’t have the texture of mashed potato in the mouth. It is more like the creamy texture in your mouth. The shell… It is good. It is crispy. I love it. It is a good way to cook potato if you are looking for a new way to eat potato. Try and enjoy it for this weekend. Enjoy it.