What is cottage pie? Cottage pie is an old British recipe containing ground meat and vegetables usually cooked in a rich gravy and topped off with mashed potatoes. It seems to have got its name because of its humble roots among the ‘poorest’ of Britain who spent their days in cottages on the country’s countryside. The name, cottage pie, came about because of the lack of proper kitchen facilities in these rural homes, which forced the women to cook their meat and vegetable products in open fire-pits, which were also called cottage pots.
The base or foundation of any good cottage pie recipe is flour, which can be made by grinding together two cups of plain flour, one tablespoon of salt, five tablespoons of baking powder, three eggs, and one tablespoon of margarine. To make the meringue, mix the margarine, salt and flour until smooth and lumpy. Add your water and stir well. The dough should be ready when it is half-solved, which will take about fifteen minutes.
When your cottage pie recipe is ready, cook the mixture and check for doneness. Most baked recipes tell you to cook the meat and vegetables for approximately two hours or until they are almost done, but if your dish is very long, cook it for up to four hours or even overnight. When done, the dish should be cooked in layers so that the insides do not get overcooked. Remove the meat from the insides and put them on top of the potatoes, cover for an hour or two, and serve warm.
As an alternative to butter, some people use margarine, which gives the finished product a lighter, less oily flavor. You can use any type of butter you like: butterflied, shortening, regular, mayonnaise, etc. As an easy way to add additional flavor, mash your potatoes and add a little salt. Then, add a little cheese and blend. Make sure to taste the cheese and add any desired amounts of spices, such as paprika, thyme, or cinnamon.
If you are going to make a stew with the cottage baked potato and broth, you need to add a lot of water to the mixture to make sure that it is well-diluted. Also, you will want to reduce the amount of cream and milk in your recipe, since the cream adds thickness and body to the dish. If you are going to make a casserole with the meat and vegetables, you will want to add oil or butter to the mixture to prevent the ingredients from sticking together. You will also want to adjust the seasonings to your liking, and add any herbs or seasonings you would like. You could also bake your casserole in the oven or put it over the fire.
A traditional Cottage Pie recipe calls for a sauce made with cream, butter, red wine, onions, garlic, a little salt, and some chopped fresh bay leaves. It is usually optional but very tasty. For example, if you have a Cottage Pie recipe that calls for Red Wine, you may want to add at least a tablespoon of it to the sauce. The same is true if you have a recipe that calls for cream and milk; you could also add a milk-cream mixture to the sauce. However, the traditional Cottage Pie sauce was simply tomato paste, butter, cream, and red wine.