Sunday, 8 February 2009

Cottage Pie


A dish that I absolutely love. In fact, I love all types of pies and I have always made this for many occasions and today, it was one I made for my Chinese New Year gathering, held at home....


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Ingredients:-

- 750g to 900g of potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes (makes boiling them faster)
- 50g butter
- 1/4 cup of milk
- 2 tbsps oil
- 2 onions, finely chopped (medium sized)
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 500g to 700g of minced beef
- 1/4 cup of plain flour
- 1 1/2 cup of beef stock (I used chicken stock instead)
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 3 tsps Worcestershire sauce (you may get it from supermarkets; Maggi brand has it too)
- 1 tbsp of mustard (you may use Dijon mustard or any other commercial mustard sold in supermarkets)
- 2 tbsps of fresh chopped parsley (I used the bottled ones sold in supermarkets)
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1. Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius and at the same time grease a ovenproof dish.
2. Boil potatoes until soft and drain well.
3. Return potatoes into a pan or saucepan and just heat up till moisture of potatoes is dried.
4. Then, add butter and mash until smooth and free of lumps and then add milk to give a firm consistency.
5. Season mash potato with salt and pepper.
6. Heat up another pan with oil; and cook garlic and onions until soft.
7. Add beef and cook over high heat until meat is browned and most of the liquid has evaporated; break whatever lumps with a fork
8. Add flour to the mince beef until well combined
9. Slowly add stock and stir until it has thickened.
10. Remove from heat and add tomato paste, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and parsley.
11. Season with some salt, ground pepper and pour into the prepared greased dish.
12. Spread mash over the meat mixture and use fork to swirl and make patterns on the mash.
13. Bake for about 40 minutes or until potato turns golden.
14. After baking, leave the pie to rest for 5 minutes before serving.
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Ta da!!! Here's the cottage pie. For me, it tasted pretty good and hubby loved it; so did Caitlin. You may alternatively use mince chicken or mutton for some of you who may not take beef. I call this one of my success dish......Do let me know how yours turns out if you do try this recipe....
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Chicken Casserole with Mustard & Tarragon


Ingredients:-

- 1/4 cup (60ml) olive oil
- 1kg chicken fillets, halved then quartered
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 leek, sliced
- 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
- 350g button mushrooms, sliced
- 1/2 tsp dried tarragon
- 1 1/2 cups (375ml) chicken stock
- 3/4 cup (185ml) cream
- 2 tsps lemon juice
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
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1) Preheat oven to 180 degrees
2) Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a flameproof casserole dish over medium heat and cook the chicken in 2 batches until golden brown.
3) Remove chicken from dish.
4) Add remaining oil to casserole dish and cook the onion, leek and garlic over medium heat for 5 mins or until soft.
5) Add mushrooms can cook for another 5-7 mins.
6) Add tarragon, chicken stock, cream, lemon juice and mustard and bring to boil for 2 mins.
7) Return chicken pieces to the dish and season well. Cover.
8) Place casserole in the oven and cook for about 45 mins to an hour or until sauce has reduced and thickened.
9) Serve with butter rice and steamed brocolli.
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I have always cooked this at home and today, I made this for our Chinese New Year gathering and our friends liked it. It also tastes good with spaghetti.
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So, give it a shot and let me know how it turns out.............