I think aside from Fish and Chips, if you were to ask an American to name another classic British dish they would say Shepherd's Pie. This is a go to meal to make if you want to have a one dish meal. We have made this a many number of times for lunch at Allegany College of MD. Originally designed as the poor man’s dish in the late 18th century in Britain, the Shepherd’s Pie or Cottage Pie is one of the greatest dishes born in Britain. It was designed to incorporate potatoes into every meal. It was an option when food was scarce. This is my recipe made American style with peppers and cheese! You start out by making mashed potatoes. The recipe comes with a method for mashed potatoes, but you can make them any way you want. Just make sure you don't make them too liquidy. Once it bakes with the meat mixture it will thin out. You then make the meat filling. Brown your ground beef, and then saute your vegetables. You thicken it by adding flour. Then you add beef stock, cream or milk and your seasonings. Once thickened, you pour this mixture into a baking dish. You spread your mashed potatoes on top. Cover with foil and let it bake for 20-25 minutes. Then, you remove the foil and top with cheddar cheese and let it melt under the broiler for a minute. Normally the British don't put cheese on it, but when in America, where anything is better with melted cheese, I had to do it. You then can serve it plain as is, but I like to eat it with a nice drizzle of HP Brown Sauce. If you are in need of a simple dish, this is perfect for you. Bon Appetit!
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Aside from fish and chips, this is a classic pub dish. In my opinion this is British comfort food at its tastiest. It may sound simple but there are a few complex flavors. For example, the baked beans. I would not suggest some highly rich beans like "Bush's". I would suggest getting a neutral flavored brand of beans such as "Campbells" or "Heinz". Like I have said before, you can only get traditional Heinz Baked Beans through the internet or in a specialty food store, due that they are made and sold exclusively in England. If you wish to find them online, I would suggest the British Food Depot. Their link is below. These beans are in a simple tomato sauce. I like to doctor them up a bit myself. What I would add to them is some tomato ketchup. This enhances the flavor of the tomato. Then, add a little bit of salt and pepper. This simplicity of the beans may be boring to some but it is just delicious. Another reason, you don't want to strong of a flavor is because in the end you drizzle some good old HP Brown sauce over the whole lot. The HP Sauce you can also find online.
Then, you have the deal with the Bangers, or sausages which we Yanks call them. I cannot stress this enough...DO NOT BUY SWEET OR HOT ITALIAN SAUSAGES! They simply do not belong in any other dish that is not Italian in origin. Besides, I in general don't like Italian sausages in any rate. What you want to buy is some good beef or pork sausages. They can sometimes be found under the name English or Cumberland style sausages. Something with a nice flavor but again not too strong. Once you have the first two things taken care of, then you just have the Chips (french fries). I don't think I have to explain anything further. Except, just get good fries. By that I mean straight forward fries, no shapes or crinkle cut. Homemade are the best option. Just fry up the sausages and chips. Make the beans and doctor them up. Then, just plate up the chips and bangers and spoon the beans on or beside them. Serve with a bottle of HP Brown Sauce and a nice pint of beer or cider. For all of the products such as the Heinz Baked Beans, HP Sauce and even the Sausages, check out the British Food Depot below. Cheers! |
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