[Blog] What have I been cooking?

[James]

Hey guys,

Introduction
So as some of you may or may not know, I adore cooking, preparing and presenting food. I'm nearly always cooking for my parents & they always love what I cook, so I thought I'd start this blog to show you guys what I've been cooking, how it's cooked and a bit of background behind each dish.

Why do I cook?
I'm not too sure what it is about cooking that I love, but I just know what it makes me really happy. All my life, I've always wanted to help my parents in the kitchen or cook something for them. It's also been a lifelong dream of mine, since I was about 5, to open my own restaurant and to have people enjoy my food. I don't strive to be the best chef, nor to I think any of my food is even fancy, but it's made with love and I put a lot of care and thought into it, which is what it's really all about.

How will this blog work?
To put it short, I don't know yet. I'm not sure whether I'll update it each day I make a new dish for my parents, or whether I'll update it weekly with everything I cooked that week. I'll let you know once I've got the ball rolling. But basically, I'll be posting a picture of the dish, along with a recipe and a method to cooking it. I'll be making it really plain and simple so if you wanted to try and make it yourself, then tell me what you think, I'd greatly appreciate feedback.

What sort of dishes will I be making?
Pretty much anything my parents fancy eating that day. It could be anything from pasta dishes, rice dishes, pies, cakes, treats, steaks, burgers, anything at all! If you have any suggestions on what you want to see me cook, please let me know and I'll see if my parents want it and whether or not they want me to make it. All dishes are my own recipes, unless I state who & what I took ideas from.

Thanks for reading this far and hope you stick around.

James

--

25th June 2015:

Cottage Pie - Serves 2-3
Prep time: 5-10 Minutes.
Cooking time: 45 minutes.



Ingredients:
Filling:
300g Minced Beef
1 Carrot
8-10 Baby Button Mushrooms
1/2 Large Onion, or 1 Small. (Brown or Red)
200g Chopped tomatoes (Half-sized tin)
Handful of Frozen peas
Salt & Olive Oil
Mashed Potato Topping:
400-500g Potatoes
Splash of Milk (Optional)
1 tsp Butter (Optional)

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 220'c (Gas mark 7). Peel & cut potatoes into small chunks. They don't have to be perfect, they're being mashed anyway.
2. Rinse them under cold water & add to your pan. Add just enough COLD water to cover & put onto high heat with a lid on. Once the water starts boiling, turn the heat down to the lowest setting and tilt the lid slightly, so there's a gap for steam to escape.
3. While that's coming up to a boil, peel and chop up your veggies. You'll want your Carrots & Onion in small chunks and your mushrooms halved.
4. Add a small drizzle of Olive oil to a large pan & put on a medium heat. Once that's hot, add the mince, onion and carrot.
5. Keep stirring it around the pan until the onions are translucent and the mince is nice and brown.
6. Once your mince is cooked through (no more pink), then it's time to add the chopped tomatoes. After you have put in the tomatoes, fill the tin about half way with water, swish it around and add that too.
7. Lower the heat to a low heat, but not the lowest. (Number 2 or 3 if you have numbers on your cooker)
8. Bring this up to a bubble. Once it has started bubbling, add in your mushrooms, frozen peas and salt to taste & stir well.
9. You want to keep that on a reasonably low heat, bubbling away for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
10. Once your potatoes are cooked (You can insert a knife into them, then pull it out without the potato trying to go with it), then it is time to drain them. Drain them well, then add them back into the same pan you cooked them in.
11. Add your butter and/or milk if applicable, then mash until smooth.
12. Once your filling has thickened up a bit, pour into a casserole dish & level it out.
13. Add the mashed potato on top and cover the filling. Use a fork to even it out & give it a funky bumpy pattern.
14. Place into your oven (uncovered) for about 20-25 minutes until the potato has gone nice and crispy & a golden brown colour.
15. Once it's done, remove from the oven and serve with a side of basic veg. I served mine with some boiled peas, broccoli, carrot, cauliflower and some onion gravy over the top.

If you give this recipe a go, please do send me pictures of it, and let me know how it turns out! I'd love to hear any feedback. My parents absolutely loved this pie, and lets say... there's none left! The only thing I did differently in this pie is that I added 2 carrots instead of one, but that's just because we had carrots that needed to be used up. And I didn't add peas because I served it with peas on the side, but by all means, do it your way!

[lemons]

thanks for the nice recipe

you should make cooking youtube channel to rival jamie oliver!

[James]

thanks for the nice recipe

you should make cooking youtube channel to rival jamie oliver!

I would if I had that much confidence Or the equipment :rolleyes:

[Evanora]

nice thanks for the recipe it was really delicious

[thms]

amazing we know who is preparing the buffet at the next habbox party

[James]

nice thanks for the recipe it was really delicious

Thanks, even though it's been about 5 minutes since I posted it

[Becca]

i was really hoping this is some thread about getting advice cause ye being bullied for pretending to be the rock

do u smell what the rock is cookin

[Kyle]

personally like to add marmite rather than salt in a cottage pie for a nice meaty kick x. do you not use stock or granules? tomatoes alone sounds like it would be a bit sickly.

[James]

personally like to add marmite rather than salt in a cottage pie for a nice meaty kick x. do you not use stock or granules? tomatoes alone sounds like it would be a bit sickly.

I don't often use stock, but I do sometimes add a bit of gravy in, which is similar i suppose. A mix of both (tomatoes and gravy) is nice, but my parents prefer it without the gravy in it so they can add their own on top without it swimming.
Their personal preference. By all means if you don't want to add gravy over the top, feel free to add it in, or stock if you prefer. Just add it just after the tomatoes and you're all good.

Never tried adding marmite though, dad would murder me. He HATES the stuff, but mum loves it. Might sneak it in next time and see if they like it, thanks!

[Oddy]

It looks so tasty, will have my mother make this for me, if i was to do it i would just burn down the kitchen