Your recipe for a good cottage pie

I love chilli on carne, roses, but I make it the lazy way I'm afraid, with minced beef and a Schwartz packet mix! My s-i-l makes a very elaborate one using two kilos of brisket and a whole load of elaborate ingredients. Lots of prep and takes ages to cook - life's too short (and it blows your head off!).

The M&S one is fine
Especially as we only eat it about once a year

Can recommend swede and carrot mash as a healthy topping.

Mmmm, yummy recipes. Thank you for sharing.
I have a tiny bugbear, if I may?
Over here in Ireland, I regularly see 'shepherds pie' on the menu in a cafe, pub etc but it's nearly always made with beef.
I still enjoy it don't get me wrong, but surely it's cottage pie if the main ingredient is beef and shepherds pie, if made with lamb?

However, I'm a bit of a contrary bugger in that I add a dollop of quality mint jelly or sauce to my shepherds or cottage pie mix before adding the mash.

I may be wrong (usually am) but I thought that if it had mashed potato on top it was shepherds pie and if it had sliced potatoes on the top, it was cottage pie. Yes? No? Maybe?

I agree with skullduggery - shepherd's pie is made with lamb, while cottage pie is the beef version.

My daughter suggested I look at ' Change 4 Life' recipes that are part of the healthy eating initiatives. They have a super recipe for cottage pie that has lots of vegetables in it. My family absolutely love it - even my DH, who usually would refrain from eating anything green!

I have always cooked shepherd's pie.... with minced beef, and was well a middle aged adult before I learned that minced beef made it a 'cottage pie'.

However, I am now inspired by this thread and tonight we, plus 2 dgc, will be having shepherd's cottage pie.

Or as the dgc children 8 and 5 call it.... cutie pie.

Yes, lamb for shepherds pie, beef for cottage pie.Sliced potatoes on top is Lancashire hot pot isn't it?

DiL's recipe for Chilli con carne. Fry 1lb mince, add tin of chopped tomatoes, tin of baked beans (I sometimes us Heinz Five Beans in tomato sauce) and a packet of Colmans Chilli con carne sauce. Then cook in oven or I use a slow cooker. DH doesn't like things too hot and its just right for him. I know it's not the usual red beans, but the bean sauce makes it nice and 'creamy' and if you use the five beans you get a few red ones in there.

All the usual ingredients plus a teaspoonful of mild curry powder - a tip from my Mum many moons ago. Incidentally, the Mary Berry recipe topped with dauphinois potatoes is really nice for a change.

I make a cottage pie similar to all the above, but my favorite is hairy bikers recipe in their slimming book, very tasty

I often add a tin of baked beans to a cottage pie filling, bulks it up, lots of fibre, and yummy with the cheese on top of the mash.

Corned Beef Hash:
Put cubed potato, cubed swede, sliced onion, sliced carrot, chopped celery, oxo cube in a saucepan with water to cover and boil gently until soft. Add cubed corned beef and a little more water if needed to cover. Heat through. Add processed peas and reheat but don't let peas boil into bits(!). Add seasoning and thicken as necessary. Serve in soup bowl. Usually with bread though it is very filling without the bread.

My husband who has taken over cooking since we retired (and no he is not for sale) makes the best cottage pies ever! He insists on caramelising the onions which gives a wonderful depth of flavour.

2 large onions finely chopped , Add 500gr of mince. When the meat is browned add a squirt of A AAtomato puree and 5 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce. Mix well Use a crosse and Blackwell cottage pie mix and empty into the saucepan. Puti
in a tin of peas and a tin of sliced carrots Stir well. Add bisto onion gravy granules until nice and thick. Empty into a large Pyrex oval dish. Peel 2lbs of potatoes. Boil
and when soft strain and add butter and mash. Empty onto the meat and use a fork to put thepotato ..onto the meat. When you are ready to cook the pie put it into an oven ( no need to pre-heat ) fan oven 200 for 45 minutes. Should serve about 6 . Delicious, (mix the cottage pie mix with water as stated on packet but just add the gravy granules unmixed).

Like cherrytree59 I put in either Worcester sauce or daddies sauce adds real twang to the flavour.

Thanks for sharing this mouth watering recipe.

I am very surprised, even shocked, to see so many packet mixes used in these recipes, and my question is, are they as good as from scratch? With my current mobility problem I need to cut down the time standing and simplify my menus. Also which are the best makes? I see Colman's mentioned several times.

Secondary question, can they just be added to meat, chicken etc and thrown in the slow cooker? Are jars good also?

roses Lancashire families have their own versions of hot-pot. But most of us like to finish it off with a crust of short crust pastry. It's not the same and quite disappointing without the crust. It must be served with either pickled cabbage or beetroot.

I have been shocked too Ann. I can see mobility can make cooking difficult but it does look as though lots of people resort to packets and jars with all additives they contain.

Says she, who uses bought mash.

Colemans and Shwartz shepherds pie mixes both contain pottasium chloride. Wonder why they put that in? (don't actually know what it is but sounds unpleasant)
Knorr Stockpots have it too. Perhaps it's harmless.

Bought mash can be gorgeous. But very high in butter! (And you add more kittylester! )

My mums corn beef hash
Mash potatoes a little butter no milk
Tin of corn beef
Tin of beans
Grated cheese.

Put beans in bottom of casserole dish mix the mash with the corn beef if you want chunks of beef don't mix as much spoon it on top of beans smooth and top with cheese pop into oven at 180 and cook for 30mins ish until golden brown serve with brown HP sauce.
This was mums go to dish at the end of the week before getting the housekeeping. I still make it now OH loves it he calls it no effort eating lol