Just a little note…. I have had so many lovely comments from part one of this post, just wanted to say a quick, BIG thankyou to everyone who took the time out to read and comment. It cheered me up no end.
And here, as promised in part one, is the recipe. I have lovingly named it , “Old Mother Hubbard’s Pie”. Due mostly to a slight lack of the usual ingredients, also I just love the rhyme!
Firstly I need to tell you the story about how it began. Are you sitting comfortably? ( tea in hand? earl gray or builder’s? I’m found of a builder’s cup myself, …. anyhow…..)
Then I’ll begin…..
It all started on a rainy Thursday afternoon, about ten past five to be precise.
I went to start a rather uninspiring tea. A normal bog standard cottage pie, that I have made a hundred times before.
I get out the mince, the potatoes, the onion…oh no, no onions! eek!!!
What shall I do?
A quick scan of the fridge bares fruit! in the shape of a unopened jar of pickled onions left over from Christmas.
Well they are “onions” after all.
And then a tweet to the lovely people of twitter ( my very own fountain of knowledge) ….
“Can you use picked onions as a substitute for the real thing ?” ….
Well I had a big response, some people were encouraging…some people did some virtual retching.
But I did it anyway and I have to tell you, it was NOM, infact it was double Nom with an extra Nom on top, so I beg you, don’t dry heave until you try it…..You’ll never look back . ;D
Oh, quick P.S, The potato top is more Dauphinause than mash, as this was easer to make using one hand, (the other was carrying Milly while I cooked) as you keep the skins on, so no need for pealing . I think it works really well.
450 g pack of beef mince
About 5 largish potatoes
4 pickled onions (thinly sliced & rinsed )
3 ripe tomatoes
1 good tablespoon of tomato puree
(or, as this is old mother Hubbard pie Tomato ketchup.
But if you use the ketchup omit the sugar)
250ml of good beef stock (I use knorr or Bollion)
1 teaspoon of dried parsley
1 teaspoon of dried thyme
pinch of paprika
Sea salt and black pepper
Small lump (about 100 g) of cheese
about 20g of butter
Teeny Tiny pinch of sugar
firstly put about a tablespoon of oil in a pan and gently fry of mince. When it starts to go from pink to brown add the garlic and thinly sliced pickled onions. Fry gently for about five mins and then add all the herbs, tomatoes, puree, stock and the little pinch of paprika.
Cook gently for around 25 to 30 mins.
While thats cooking slice the potatoes fairly thinly and shallow fry (about 1 potato at a time in the pan) in really hot oil until they go golden brown. then drain on kitchen paper.
Once they are all done set aside.
Once the mince is cooked and the sauce is nicely thickened (if its still not thick enough add a sprinkle or two of plain flour and stir well) place in a shallow dish and top with a layer of the potato slices, add a little grated cheeses and about 6 or seven small knobs of butter around the potatoes. Then repeat with the remaining spuds, cheese and butter.
Once this is done bung it in a hot oven (around220′oc) for around another 20 mins. You can do this bit in the grill if your in a hurry. The main abjective is to brown the cheese, melt the butter and generally make the whole thing one yummy lump of tastiness! 
Oooooh, that sounds delic – I will definitely be giving that one a try : )
thanku luvly! tell me how you get on, maybe it will rival the bacon pie ;D xxxxxxx
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Yummy Mummy, Helen White. Helen White said: New Blog Post : April, part 2, the Recipe! its really yummy & it has pickled onions in it people! ;D x >> http://bit.ly/9bFzTC [...]