In search of the best mince dishes

When the temperature drops my thoughts turn to  warming comfort

foods; pies,casseroles,roasts,soups and stews.

Tonight I made one of

our favourite mince dishes and it got me thinking; mince is such a

universal and versatile ingredient ( even for vegetarians)

and used by everyone from broke students to top chefs.

I thought it

would be nice to try and start a hunt for the best mince dishes,whether

they be something you cook at home or eat out, where are the best places

to get ingredients,etc.

Lets face it, for such a basic food it can vary incredibly in quality

and flavour.

So I am going to kick off by sharing this recipe and

hope others will follow with their recipes and best

eateries. Enjoy! 

Cottage hotpot

cobbler- makes enough for about five reasonable portions

Preheat oven

200c, 400f,gas mark 8

•     Rough

chop 1 large carrot, 1 med parsnip, 1

large onion, 1 large potato, 1 stick celery (optional)

•     500g

beef mince(or soya mince), 680g jar of passata or Ragu

•     2

cloves garlic, 2 bay leaves, 1 teaspoon

dried thyme , a half teaspoon cinnamon, a few basil leaves chopped or

half

teaspoon dried basil.

•    

250ml wine ( I use the single glass carton

from the supermarket) a little black pepper (the Ragu

usually makes it salty

enough).

Brown veg 

in large saucepan for about 10 mins in olive

oil and/ or butter, add the meat & brown it off, then add the wine

and let

it cook off  a little , add the rest of

the ingredients and let it simmer while you make the cobblers.

•     175g/6oz

self-raising flour

•     40g/

1 ½ oz butter or baking margarine

•     198/7oz

can sweetcorn

•     40g/

1 ½ oz cheddar

•     milk 

rub butter into

flour add half the corn and all the cheese, mix to firm dough with a

little

milk

 add

rest of corn to pot and if saucepan cannot

go in oven, transfer to oven dish, break dough into rough dumplings

and drop on

top. Place in centre of oven & cook until cobblers are risen and

browned

off. ( approx. 25 mins)

If you don’t want

to make a cobbler, leave the potato out of the main dish and slice

thinly &

arrange on top before baking.