English Cottage Pie

Let's go British for today. A quick and easy meal is Cottage Pie. The British use beef or kidney. I prefer ground beef.



                                   English Cottage Pie


1# lean ground beef
1 small white onion, diced
3 carrots, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
2 Tbl spoons A.P. Flour
2 Tbl spoons dried Italian herbs
1 tsp. cinnamon (Optional)
2 Tbl spoons fresh chopped parsley
1 1/2 cups beef broth
1 Tbl spoon tomato paste
S/P to taste

Sauté ground beef over medium heat for 2 minutes. Add onion, celery, carrots and for 5 more minutes, and then add herbs and flour. Mix thoroughly.

In a separate bowl, mix beef broth and tomato paste. Add the ground beef mixture. reduce heat to simmer and cook 15 minutes or until most of the moisture has been absorbed. Add salt and pepper to taste. Place mixture into a 9-inch pie pan.

Potato Crust

(Instant potatoes will suffice instead of hand-mashed, but hand-mashed are tastier.)
4 potatoes, peeled and diced 
1/4 cup butter or margarine.
3/4 cup milk
s/p to taste
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

In a large pot, boil potatoes for 15 minutes until soft. Drain, mash and add butter and milk, Salt and pepper to taste. Spread potatoes over meat pie mixture. Cover with shredded cheese. Bake in 400 degree oven for 25 minutes.