'Apartment pie' (I wish I was in a cottage)

Apparently, cottage pie is made with beef and Shepherds pie is made with lamb. Makes sense really, shepherds herding sheep and all, therefore, this is a cottage pie made in a Downtown apartment. A lot of the other blogs I follow seem to be going the route of January = healthy eating, some of them never featuring meat even, I take a different approach. January = comfort food. Warm casseroles and meat on the bone, stuff to stick to your ribs, as the cliche goes. I make no apologies for this. I like meat, so does Neil and we both like food like this. I made two versions, hence the dinky little pots, one with mashed potato for those that carb and one with pureed cauliflower for those that don't. Both looked nice, but the mashed potato version did have a more solid layered effect, the cauliflower sort of melted into the meat below which I don't really like and is also the reason why I don't like Lasagna. It did taste good though. You'd like some adjectives? How about meaty, savoury, sweet (cauliflower) and cheesy?

  
Lots of vegetables to create a mirepoix (mix of flavourful aromatics)

Marmite. Many more uses than just with cheese on toast. Adds an element of salt and rich, deep meatiness. 

Even though Neil's looks much bigger (the green dish), mine used the same amount of meat sauce. Neil's topping of mash, however, utilised 4 potatoes. Remember what I said about sticking to your ribs...

As you can see when compared to the picture at the top of the post, the mash stays together much better, whereas the cauliflower is really only like a sauce.

Recipe: Cottage pie

1 large onion, chopped

1 celery rib, chopped

1 carrot, sliced

1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced

2 cloves garlic, chopped finely

1 bay leaf

1 cup strong beef stock or broth

¼ cup red wine

1 teaspoon marmite

2 sun dried tomatoes or 1 tsp tomato paste

6 mushrooms, chopped

1 – 2 tbsp chopped fresh mixed herbs (parsley, oregano, thyme, rosemary etc)

Salt, pepper

1 lb ground beef

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp steak seasoning

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp dried oregano

½ tsp cumin (optional)

Potato version

4 – 6 large potatoes

1 tsp butter

¼ cup milk

1 large handful of cheddar cheese or Gruyere

Cauliflower version

3/4 small cauliflower

2 tbsp Philadelphia cream cheese

2 tbsp milk

1 tsp butter

1 large handful of cheddar cheese or Gruyere

Heat 1 tbsp oil and ½ tbsp butter in a heavy duty pan over medium heat until hot and add the onion, celery, carrot, pepper and garlic.

Stir well, reduce the heat, add the bay leaf and gently sauté the vegetables until soft (about 20 mins).

Meanwhile, brown the beef.

In a large frying pan, add 1 tbsp oil and spread the beef into the pan so that it covers the base.

Add the other seasoning ingredients and cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes.

Using a spoon, start stirring the meat, turning it well so that the raw side touches the base of the pan.

Cook the meat until all the juices have evaporated and the meat starts to brown and crisp.

Let the meat sit undisturbed for a few minutes before turning again to get lots of little brown, crispy crusty bits.

When the meat is really brown, crispy and dry, add to the pan with the vegetables and add the stock, red wine, marmite, tomatoes, mushrooms, herbs and salt and pepper to taste. Cook on medium heat stirring for about 30 – 40 minutes until the liquid has almost evaporated and you have a dry, thick sauce.

For potato topping:

Boil and mash the potatoes, adding the butter, milk, salt to taste and half the cheese.

Place the meat sauce in a baking dish and spread the potatoes over the top.

Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and bake for about 25 minutes at 350oF until the top is golden brown.

For cauliflower topping:

Boil the cauliflower until soft, drain, put back into the pan and cover with a lid for a few minutes to dry. 

Using a food processor, blend the cauliflower with the other ingredients, adding salt and pepper to taste and then continue as for potato topping.

There are many variations to this recipe to take it travelling to different countries, e.g. Mexican cottage pie with oregano, chili powder, cumin etc. (Sort of like a chili con carne pie). Indian with curry spices and turmeric or saffron coloured potatoes, (or how about rice on top, sort of like a Biryani). Or how about the Greek version with lamb and eggplant known as Moussaka? I also researched and found a Chiean version, which you can see here.  I was planning on making this as a celebration when the Chilean miners were freed, but haven't got around to it yet.