British Isles Recipes

You know now of my passion for travel.  But I have another passion too and it’s cooking!   To be quite frank, I have many passions, but these are the only two for which I write a blog. 

Since we’re going on a trip to the British Isles later this  year, I thought I’d include some “British Isles” recipes. Some of them are already on  my cooking blog.  Others will be added once I make them, and still others are recipes that I’ve either found online or in cookbooks.

Here's a yummy sounding recipe for a Hot Cross Bun Butter Pudding recipe that I found on Pinterest.   Click  here to go to the recipe on my cooking blog. 

The recipe and photo for the Hot Cross Bun Butter Pudding is from the blog Regula Ysewjin.  

 Iron Skillet British Cottage Pie

The holiday celebrations are over and it's back to relatively normal life...except for the fact that hubby is feeling a bit "under the weather".   So it's time for one of his favorite comfort dinners:  choices are shepherd's pie, cottage pie, or meatloaf and mashed potatoes.  Since I haven't made a cottage pie in quite a while, that won the draw!  This one brought me back to England and the British Isles and the wonderfully delicious cottage pies that I enjoyed in pubs and restaurants.  I love cooking with cast iron skillets so I made an easy one-pot dinner of this one by using my cast iron skillet and by using frozen mashed potatoes.  Result?  Yummy!

INGREDIENTS:
1 pound ground sirloin

1 onion, chopped

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 16-ounce package frozen peas and carrots

2 Tablespoons flour

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 Tablespoons Italian seasoning

1 ½ cups beef broth

2 Tablespoons ketchup

1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 package Ore Ida frozen steam & mash potatoes

Salt and pepper to taste
 Paprika for sprinkling on top

DIRECTIONS:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
• Saute onion in olive oil in 10-inch cast iron skillet over medium heat.
• Add ground beef and cook until meat is browned and crumbly.
• Stir in flour, cinnamon, and Italian seasoning and continue to cook over medium heat.
• Add beef broth ½ cup at a time and continue to stir.
• Add ketchup and Worcestershire sauce.
• Reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring often until desired consistency.
• Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Make mashed potatoes according to package instructions (or you can make your own, using about 4 baking potatoes).
• Spread the mashed potatoes over the beef and vegetable mixture.
• Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes until heated through.