BETTY'S HOTPOT

I have been making meals for Pianoman and his mother as his mother has not been very well, yesterday I found Betty's Hotpot recipe on line-it was so easy to make and it looked brilliant(if I say so myself, when the reviews come in I will let you know how it tasted!

Corrie Hotpot

This hotpot's a favourite at The Rovers. Betty Turpin, who’s been behind the bar since the summer of 1969, makes a great one.

1½ lbs. lamb neck meat - cubed
1½ lbs. potatoes, leave skin on and slice thinly
1 large onion, chopped
1¼ cup stock or water
3 oz butter or cooking oil or bacon fat – or 1 ½ oz each butter and oil
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste

1. Pre-heat the oven to 325 F. Sear meat on all sides over high heat in butter, oil or butter/oil combination, reduce heat to medium and cook until evenly browned. When browned put meat in deep oven-proof casserole.
2. In same pan, sauté onions in pan juices, adding more butter, oil or fat if needed. When they begin to turn brown, sprinkle with flour.
3. Stir until roux begins to brown, stir in a little stock or water – stir quickly to avoid lumps.
4. Stirring constantly, add remaining liquid and bring to a simmer. Add Worcestershire and season to taste.
5. Pour onions and liquid over meat, mix well and add bay leaf.
6. Layer potatoes over meat, seasoning each layer with salt and pepper.
7. Cover and cook in oven for two hours, 1/2 hour uncovered.

Note - brush potatoes with butter or oil if they appear dry

ENJOY!

I have also been making ONE POT MEALS for the rest of us and it is so much easier than cooking the usual meals that we have.
Everyones favourite is Corned Beef Hash Pie but I have also made fish pie using Coley with a mashed potato topping, beef pie with pastry and a variety of vegetarian pies. I am busy searching the internet for other pies and I think that my next attempt will be some kind of cobbler.
My children think I am a brilliant cook but as I have told them many times, I am just good at multi-tasking-a microwave technician.The only person who appreciates what I say is SnoWhite's friend as he worked in a local restaurant and basically he was a microwave technician and we probably have the same amount of cooking ability!
Beauty however is so not interested in my cooking if it is not pizza or fish fingers or tomato sauce! Children can be such strange creatures.
I am not that interested in watching celebrity cooking shows (do not get me started on Nigella Lawson)but when I am occasionally sitting with Fiona and she is 'couch commander' we do sometimes get to watch a bit of a cooking show and I am just shocked at the poncy food that they shuffle out. I am on a diet and managing to lose weight but the amount of food they manage
to produce for a meal is not enough to fill even my hopefully shrinking stomach.
I look at the meals that they produce and invariably think - A PLATE OF CHIPS WITH THAT WOULD BE PERFECT!