I swore I'd never eat again.

The weather last night was horrific; the wind howled, the rain rattled against my window and I swore I could feel the house move.  Bad weather always feels much worse at night when all I have to concentrate on is how loud everything sounds, how dark it still is at 7.00am and how warm it is under the duvet.  During the day everything takes on shades of grey or brown and driving along my pot hole ridden driveway is like white water rafting through a river of mud (I never bother to wash my car!)… and I always remember too late that it’s not a good idea to let the hens out in the morning wearing a pair of crocks.

Ah, January!  Later that afternoon I parked my car at the Bourton-on-the-Water bus stop in similarly dismal conditions.  I spent 5 minutes watching a traffic warden go about their ritual ticketing (she looks miserable and I'd never realised how many photographs they take before and after ticketing) then focused on resisting the smell of food from the local fish and chip shop with enough will-power to certainly impress Paul Mckenna. God, those chips smelt good, hot, savoury fried food with a salty, vinegar tang! 

It’s interesting that a few days previously I’d sworn I’d never want to eat again.  I craved a diet of green stuff and thought carbohydrates were a thing of the past.  But, after a 24 hour hammering of gnawingly cold weather certain dishes scream out at me.  Today is definitely a Cottage Pie day.  Warm and intensely savoury it’s a richly flavoured mix of meat and vegetables topped with my Desert Island comfort food of mashed potato and a final grating of cheese. I’d never really appreciated how perfect a meal it is.  On days like this the body cannot live on salad alone.  

As with so many of my dishes, Cottage Pie becomes a depositary for so many of my leftover bits and pieces and it can be forgiving of many unorthodox ingredients.  Mine is fairly traditional but I do like to spice it up a bit; I think it’s something to do with the cold conditions which abound whenever I make it.

 I’m not going out again tonight Cottage Pie

 500g Minced beef (serves four, or 800 to serve five with seconds!)

Two sticks of celery

Two large carrots

Onion

Beef stock cubes

Soy sauce

Brown sauce (or Worcester Sauce)
Tin of chopped tomatoes (optional)

Ground cumin
Couple of cloves of garlic, crushed.

Chilli flakes

Flour

1 kg Potatoes

Milk and a little butter for mashed potato*

Handful of grated cheese

Black pepper

Take a large frying pan and fry a finely chop the onion, celery and carrot in the oil until soft and starting to colour a little. Add crushed garlic as the mixture softens, you don't want it to burn.  In a separate pan, place the minced beef and dry fry. There’s no need for oil as the minced beef contains fat which will melt and help cook the meat.  When it is browned, use a slotted spoon or fish slice to move the mince into the pan of vegetables; a lot of the excess fat is then left behind so the pie will be less oily.  Add a heaped tablespoon of flour to the mixture to thicken the sauce and a teaspoon or more of ground cumin.

It’s now a case of adding liquid and more seasoning.  I usually add a couple of beef stock cubes, a generous splash of Soy Sauce, a good pinch of chilli flakes and a squirt of brown sauce which gives the same ‘tang’ as Worcester but provides a bit more richness for the sauce.  Add enough freshly boiled water to nearly cover the mixture and leave to gently cook until the liquid has thickened.  You can add a tin of chopped tomatoes (and tomato puree) instead of all the water; I don't as someone in my family has an aversion to cooked tomatoes (sigh...). It's a good idea to hold off adding salt until this stage; you may find the stock cubes and soy sauce have already provided enough of a salty flavour.

Peel, boil and mash the potatoes and add seasonings and ingredients of choice to give it a creamy, smooth texture.  Place meat mixture into an oven-proof dish and top with the mash.  An extra topping of grated cheddar cheese sets it all off perfectly. 

All the ingredients have been cooked so the pie doesn’t need a very hot oven (about gas 4, 180 degrees C) for about 20 minutes until the topping forms a lovely golden brown crust.

At the risk of gilding the lily I do serve a vegetable on the side but often it’s baked beans.  I did think this was pretty standard until I served it to an amazed guest. Is it strange?

I also love my vegetarian version of this pie.  The meat is exchanged for additional vegetables of choice (courgettes or aubergines are good if available and reasonably priced), a couple of cans of assorted beans (black eyed beans and haricot are favourites) and a can of chopped tomatoes or passata (for those of you who are not tomato challenged!)

* Apologies for this error it should read ‘a generous amount of butter and cream for the mashed potato’