In recovery from Christmas lunch, the leftovers of which still lurk in pots and tubs in the fridge.
It seemed time to move firmly towards some comfort food and away from a diet of turkey and chocolates (although that turkey could still see the light as a bit of a pie or a fricasse).
With 500g of acceptable minced beef cooked in the frying pan and then drained of fat, I threw in the remains of a sort of breakfast baked bean mix and some cooked mushrooms. Adding a tin of chopped tomatoes, a squidge* of basil, salt, pepper and a slug of black cherry balsamic vinegar, it cooked down into a nice gloopy mix.
Mash, from about 5 Desiree potatoes cooked in their skins and then pushed through a mouli, was then beaten with butter and well seasoned. The skin comes off in the mouli, brilliant for the indolent cook - no need to peel.
The mince went on the bottom of a nice deep ceramic dish with straight sides and was topped with the mash, the top evened out but roughed up and put into a moderate oven to cook until browned and the sauce had bubbled up in small crunchy bits down the edges.
Digging about in the vegetable drawer revealed a glut of carrots. So I caramelised them - bit of water in the bottom of a saucepan, sprinkle of sugar and dob of butter along with sliced carrots. Apply the heat and cook with the lid on until the carrots are half cooked, then take off the lid, season well and finish them off over the heat until the water/butter/sugar combo goes thick and caramelly.
Altogether, a very tooth-some supper.
*what do you mean, squidge of basil? Sometimes I've got fresh herbs in the fridge, but sometimes I've got either the slimy remains of some ancient herb purchase or none at all. But do I panic? I do not! I've got some tubes of herbs that I keep in the freezer. What a wizard wheeze these things are. Last for ages and are proximitous to the real thing.
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