My husband loves Guinness. When we go into the city he visits the Irish pub and in my fridge I can always find a bottle or two of Guinness. When we were still in college I once convinced a friend to bring me some glasses from the Guinness Brewery to surprise Michael with. I still go all mushy when I see him handling those pints with care.
He showed me the recipe for cottage pie with Guinness with great enthusiasm. He had found that in one of my cooking books, namely “Great British Pub Food by Gordon Ramsey”. I was not over the top with joy to prepare this dish. I kind of dislike the Irish Black Gold. But I am a huge fan of Mister Ramsey… so I was willing to give it a try. And thank God I did, cause this is just delicious! Although I added some veggies, cause the dish lacked a healthy portion of greens. But it was so good… so utterly amazing good… I made it twice in one week, does that say anything about its goodness?
INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons of olive oil
900 grams of minced meat (I used pork – veal minced meat)
1 onion, peeled and finally chopped
2 garlic gloves, peeled and finally chopped
3 carrots, diced
150 grams peas
some stacks of fresh thyme
2 tablespoons of tomato puree
330 ml Guinness
5 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
300 ml chickenstock
fresh mashed potatoes
some grated cheddar cheese
Place a big, high pan on a high fire and heat the olive oil in it. Fry the minced meat in it until it because nice brown with a little crust. Poor the meat into a sieve so that all the excess grease can poor out.
Add a little more olive oil to the pan and heat it up.
Now add the onions, the garlic, the carrots and the thyme and let it simmer for 10 minutes.
Now add the meat together with the tomato puree and let it bake for about 5 minutes, while constantly stirring.
Add the Guinness, the peas and the Worcestershire sauce and boil till the liquid has reduced by half. Then pour in the stock and bring it back to the boil.
Now turn the heat town and let simmer for 20 minutes.
By this time the mixture should be thick . If this is not the case you can easily add a tablespoon of brown sauce binder to it.
Now take a pie dish and spoon the meat mixture into the dish. Then spoon over the mashed potatoes and top it of with the cheddar cheese.
Pop this in a preheated oven of 180 degrees for about 20 minutes. The dish is ready to serve when the cheese is melted into a lovely golden brown oozing paste and you see the sauce bubbling into the cracks of the potatoes.
Silkes Cooking Corner 