Cottage pie by candlelight...

I wanted to blog about cooking my cottage pie and realised I have forgotten to buy new camera batteries for the photos...but I decided to take the pics with my trustworthy old cellphone. Why not? It's still a step by step version, so here goes:

Shopping for ingredients: I believe in quality, because it's more often the healthier choice, so you need:

Enough mashed potatoes - I mash with fat free milk, but I do use real butter (not too much!) for the creamy texture and flavour, as you need a fluffy, tasty mash
1 kg Extra lean beef mince (I only use free range)
Quality Curry powder, as my cottage pie is from Durban
All Gold tomato sauce
Mrs H S Ball's Chutney
Worcester Sauce
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Ina Paarman's Masala Spice
2 Medium chopped onions
Freshly crusged garlic and ginger
Finely chopped chillies

I am not lazy, just very busy. I buy a combo of freshly crushed garlic, ginger and chilli mix.

Yes to all the "real" chefs out there, do it yourself in your own kitchen, if you have the time to peel, chop or crush, which is really the best way. The bought version is for busy working people.

Before I start cooking, I light a candle for ambience.

The mashed potato is in the stainless steel saucepan behind the candle. I made it earlier on to save time.
Then I pour myself a glass of wine. Yes, having a glass of wine whilst cooking does make the me cook better!

                                                                                                                         

Fry the chopped onions, crushed garlic and ginger in a non-stick pan with just a lick of olive oil until brown and keep aside.

Then over medium to high heat, stir-fry (I don't add any oil) the extra lean beef mince in a heavy based non stick pan.  Flake with a fork continuously to keep it loose, you don't want hard blobs of mince sticking together.

When the mince is brown, add  the fried onions, garlic and ginger and work well into the meat.

Add about 3 table spoons of curry powder (use mild, medium or strong according to your taste)

and mix well. Add a dash of the Ina Paarman's Masala Spice, a dash of All Gold tomato sauce,

Mrs H S Ball's Chutney, worcester sauce and stir through until well mixed. If it's a bit dry, add a little bit of boiling water. Simmer until tender. Stir frequently while sipping your wine and listening to great music of choice.

While the mince is simmering, pre-heat oven to 200 degrees Celcius.

Spray a suitable size oven dish with non-stick Spray.

I decided to add Koo's Curried Butter Beans as a side dish, warmed in one of my vintage Corningware

dishes my late Mom gave me as part of my wedding gifts.

I also like to add finely chopped tomato, onions and chilli (sambals) as a side dish to compliment my curry flavoured cottage pie. 

As you can see, I'm not a conventional chef and cook, but I do my own thing with pinches of this and dashes of that.

I seldom make use of recipes unless I'm baking.

When the mince is well cooked and tender please have a good taste to see if anything needs to be added. I don't normally add extra salt, because the spices usually contain enough. Please add to taste if necessary. I do add some freshly ground pepper. When cooked  through, transfer mince evenly into the oven dish (sprayed with no stick spray) and flatten it a bit with your fork. Add the mash on top, garnish if you want  and place in the centre of the heated oven. I used rosa tomatoes and a little bit of  grated Mature Cheddar cheese and some chopped parsley. Bake for about 20 minutes.

Add sambals and enjoy!