Gordon Ramsay Cottage Pie

Gordon Ramsay cottage pie - a slice of meat and potatoes heaven, originally uploaded by Camemberu.

Found this in Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Heaven book. Cottage pie is his all-time favourite comfort food and he has it frequently with wife Tana when they dine out. Here's my variation of the recipe adapted from his. I added cheese to the equation - crispy baked cheese crust is always good, no? And I omitted red wine (since I didn't have any on hand) but you can add that if you like (about 200ml).

This recipe purportedly serves four but I think the end result could feed six or eight! Next time for my family, I would halve the meat portion but keep the potatoes (so delicious, and too little this time).

Crusty browned cheese topping, originally uploaded by Camemberu.

INGREDIENTS: feel free to scale it accordingly

900g minced lean beef
450g white onions
3 cloves garlic
2 tbsp tomato puree
2 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves picked and chopped (if available)
25g flour
75ml Worcestershire sauce
1 litre chicken stock (I used stock concentrate with less water to reduce cooking time)
1kg potatoes, peeled and halved (use waxy rather than floury types, e.g. red skin or Desiree - the trick is not to let the potatoes get too watery)
2 egg yolks
grated cheese (can be Parmesan, extra sharp cheddar, maybe about 50g, I didn't measure, you can use as much as you like and see how it goes)
oil for frying
salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees C or 400 degrees F


2. Heat a bit of oil in pan until smoking hot


3. Season the mince with salt and pepper


4. Fry the mince in batches (I did four for mine in large wok)


5. If you have any fat coming off the mince, drain it (cos you don't want greasy mince). I didn't have any to drain for mine though, I think the high heat seared all the juices in!


6. Fry onions, garlic and thyme until soft and golden


7. Add meat and tomato puree


8. Sprinkle the flour and cook a few minutes


9. Add Worcestershire sauce and cook until liquid is reduced by half


10. Add chicken stock and bring to the boil. Turn fire down and simmer until thick and glossy


11. Meantime, cook potatoes in salted boiling water


12. Mash the potatoes and beat in egg yolks, add half of grated cheese


13. Remove mince from heat, cool slightly and check flavour (adjust to taste)


14. Put mince in individual or large serving dish.


15. Pipe or fork mash on top of mince, and cover with rest of grated cheese


16. Bake 30-40 minutes until crust is golden brown

Comfort food that's easy to make!, originally uploaded by Camemberu.

That's it. Serve hot and enjoy! :)