Tag: floury potatoes

Egg and potato pie

We have got a mouse.

I say that like this is a new thing. We’ve actually had a mouse for ages. And when I say mouse, I dearly hope I do mean mouse, singular, not mice, plural. It’s hard to tell, mice look similar. And if there are two mice living in this house, it’s highly likely they are related and therefore even more indistinguishable.

The reason I mention it only now is that up until a fortnight ago, only other people had ever seen this mouse and I, of course, dismissed the sightings as fanciful imaginings of hysterical people.

“Okay,” I would say, “if there’s a mouse, where’s the mouse poo?” But then one evening when my husband was watching football, I was sitting right here at the kitchen table, writing, and out from under the oven came a small, sleek mouse with a twitchy nose, beady eyes and very large ears.

It was indescribably cute.

Then it saw me and disappeared like lightning, leaving, in terror, a trail of poo behind it.

I didn’t say anything to my husband, because my husband thinks we should get Rentokil in and I do not want this. I do not want to set glue traps or lay down some sort of ghastly poison that causes the mice to die slowly from internal bleeding. Neither do I want to get a cat. I like cats, but there are too many cats already on our street already and they kill all the birds. I have never been ok with death. I don’t like it and I don’t want it around me. I certainly don’t want to be party to it.

I have purchased, online from somehere that calls itself “Tooled-Up” a humane mousetrap but when I catch and release this mouse on to Hampstead Heath I fully expect another one to replace it.

Anyway, aren’t mice inevitable? These old London houses with their mouse-sized gaps everywhere and rubbish aplenty – surely every building, except hermetically-sealed new builds, has got a mouse somewhere. Rather than issue a mouse holocaust, we should all just try to get along.

(Incidentally, my sister in law told me that she heard on the radio that there is an influx of mice at the moment because it has been so rainy – the mice flee the flooding sewers and take shelter under, for example, ovens in North London. She has the same attitude to mice as me: live and let live.)

Anyway I know why we have got a mouse. It’s because of Kitty. Or rather, it’s because of me. It’s because I allow her to roam freely round the ground floor carrying a variety of brittle foodstuffs, which rain little mouse-snack-sized crumbs hither and thither, which, later on, the mouse posts into its gob with both hands. I have seen it with my own eyes, while sitting on the sofa watching Breaking Bad and eating Green&Blacks.

The only thing to do is vacuum the entire ground floor every night before bed. I do not wish to starve the mouse, you understand – merely think that it might have better luck elsewhere until the sewers dry out and it can return to its natural habitat.

Speaking of natural habitats, mine is carbohydrate-based. I have been dieting like mad recently because I am still so traumatised by being fat while pregnant (yes, after 17 months. That’s how fat I was). But recently, I have fallen off the starvation waggon and have been scoffing like my little mouse friend. It’s partly because I am trying to have another baby and think maybe if I’ve got a bit more meat on my bones it might help.

Incidentally, I know what you’re thinking: you’re thinking – why are you trying to have another baby when all you do is complain on and on about how awful having children is? And my answer is this: Kitty needs a little buddy. If she didn’t need a little buddy I wouldn’t do it. No way. The thought of doing it all again makes me feel quite ill but at least I only have to do it once more. Then I can wash my hands of the whole sorry business and concentrate on dieting until I’m so thin a stiff breeze would blow me over.

But until then, here is a terrific recipe for egg and potato pie that my husband makes when we’re feeling skinny and virtuous enough to risk letting such things pass our lips.

Giles’s egg and potato pie
for 4

3 large floury potatoes
4 eggs
butter – about 100g
salt and pepper

1 Peel and boil the potatoes whole for 15 minutes but stop boiling if they look like they’re falling apart, as floury potatoes are so wont to do. Boil the eggs for 7 minutes, cool and peel.

2 Slice the potatoes and the eggs. This is a reasonably fiddly job – especially with the eggs. If you have a purpose-made egg slicer, this is the time to extract it from the back of that drawer, wipe the grease off and deploy it.

3 Butter the bottom of a baking dish, then cover with a layer of potatoes. Dot with butter and season. Then add a layer of sliced egg. Repeat this until you have used up all your egg and potato.

DO NOT fret if this all looks a bit of a mess, it is an imprecise dish and will taste terrific no matter how it looks.

4 Put in the oven for 45 mins at 180

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Gordon Ramsay’s Cottage Pie With Guinness Recipe To serve…

Gordon Ramsay’s Cottage Pie With Guinness Recipe

To serve 6 you will need:

a large pie dish
2 tbsp olive oil
900g good quality (low fat) minced beef
sea salt and black pepper
3 medium onions, peeled and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
a few thyme sprigs, leaves only
2 nice fat plum tomatoes, chopped
2 tablespoons of tomato purée
330ml bottle of Guinness
5 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
300ml chicken stock (I used fresh home made chicken stock) but you can use a Knorr stock cube
1 kg floury potatoes, such as Maris Piper or King Edward, peeled and roughly cubed
50g butter a handful of grated cheddar, plus extra for the top of the pie
1 large egg yolk
plus a good handful of cooked peas and carrots if you fancy

How to do it:

Put a large frying pan over a high heat and add a thin layer of olive oil. Season the mince with salt and pepper and fry, stirring, in two or three batches, until nicely browned.

Drain off any fat, although you shouldn’t really have worth worrying about if you used good quality mince.

Put the cooked mince into a bowl and set aside.

In the same pan you just used, put it over a medium-high heat and add a little olive oil. When it’s nice and hot, fry the onions, with the garlic for a few minutes until until soft and golden.

Now add the thyme and cook for another minute or so.

Add the browned mince, tomatoes and tomato puree. Stir constantly for 4-5 minutes.

Add the Guinness and Worcestershire sauce and boil until the liquid has reduced by half. Pour in the stock and return to the boil.

Turn the heat down and simmer for 20-25 minutes, by which time the mixture should be lovely and thick and glossy.

Continue to simmer for another 5-10 minutes if it doesn’t seem quite thick enough. Once done remove it from the heat.

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F or Gas 4

Meanwhile, add the potatoes to a pan of salted water, bring to the boil and cook until tender. Drain and return to the hot pan for 15 seconds or so, to dry out, then take off the heat.

Pass the potatoes through a potato ricer back into the pan or mash smoothly. Mix through the butter, cheese and egg yolk.

Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Put the cooked peas and carrots into the bottom of the dish if you are using them and then spoon the mince mixture on top.

Spoon the mashed potato on top and rough up the surface with a fork.

Grate over some extra cheese and bake in the oven for about 30 minutes until bubbling and golden brown.

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Mash potato

Goodtoknow TV

Free & easy recipe video: Watch new how-to recipe videos with goodtoknow and Woman’s Weekly see all videos >

The golden rule for making perfect mash is to choose the right variety of potatoes. Usually called floury potatoes they have a drier more starchy flesh which after boiling will produce a lovely fluffy mash. Some of the most popular floury potatoes are Desiree, Maris Piper and King Edwards. It’s also essential not to overcook the potatoes or they will become water logged – if this does happen return the drained potatoes to the pan and heat very gently, shaking the pan occasionally until the excess moisture has evaporated.

  • Serves: 4

  • Prep time: 10 mins

  • Cooking time: 15 mins

  • Total time: 25 mins

  • Skill level: Easy peasy

  • Costs: Cheap as chips

That’s goodtoknow

Flavour your basic mash with grated cheese, smooth or wholegrain mustard, horseradish sauce or soured cream, if you like.

Ingredients

  • 900g floury potatoes, peeled
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 50g butter
  • 2-4tbsp hot milk

Method

  1. Cut the peeled potatoes into even-sized chunks and cook in a large pan of salted boiling water for 10-15 mins until just tender. Drain the potatoes into a large colander and leave for 3-4 mins.
  2. Return the potatoes to the pan with the butter and 2 tbsp of the hot milk. Mash thoroughly until smooth, adding a little more hot milk for a softer mash. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

By Nichola Palmer

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Nutritional information

Guideline Daily Amount for 2,000 calories per day are: 70g fat, 20g saturated fat, 90g sugar, 6g salt.

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