More than just mash......

I was hoping to bring you all some jolly news about my July menu starter attempts last night but I forgot to pick up some Parma ham on the way home so those plans were scuppered.

But fear not for another success was born......

There's something very comforting and very nurturing about British food. When I think of traditional British dishes the first things that spring to mind are big family meals, one pot wonders that form the centrepiece to the dining table. I envisage Mum or Dad being responsible for portioning it out or perhaps everybody in turn getting a chance to tuck in for themselves.

British cuisine is very much maligned throughout the world but that is completely unjust because we have just as much regional variation in our traditional dishes as Spain, France or Italy. One of our hearty stews is a match for any variation of Estofados, Cassoulet or Osso Bucco (Does that count a stew?)

We may have only the Fat Duck still in the worlds top 10 restaurants but that matches the Italians and the French too have only Le Chateaubriand in Paris up there and had that not have jumped two places from last year those Gallic Gastronauts wouldn't be represented at all.


To me there is nothing more comforting than a portion of Shepherds or Cottage Pie and it's the latter that I whipped up last night. Just to clear any confusion a Shepherds Pie uses Lamb and a Cottage Pie uses Beef and as long as either is topped off with some mashed potato then the rest of the filling is up to you.

It was the topping yesterday that made my one so special. Instead of using the traditional boiled potato mash I made up a healthy portion of potato mousseline, well I say healthy but perhaps that should be "generous" as there really is nothing healthy about using nearly a full block of butter and around 200ml of double cream in anything......but this is comfort food.

Potato mouselline is really easy to make, the ingredients and quantities are also really simple to remember. The real difference from this type of mashed potato versus the standard is that instead of boiling the potatoes you bake them and then scoop out the insides once completed. This really gives a great potato flavour because rather than all that potatoey goodness dissipating in the boiling water it gets concentrated inside the skin giving it an almost nutty taste.

For 1kg of baking potato flesh (King Edwards or something else floury) you need 200g of unsalted butter, 200ml of slightly whipped double cream, 4 egg yolkes and some grated Nutmeg plus seasoning to taste.

Very simple numbers to remember and then divide or multiply dependent on how much you need.

Method is simple too........

1. Tip the potato flesh into a saucepan and give it a good mash (Larousse instructs you to pass it through a fine sieve first or you could use a potato ricer but I like the odd lump in mine)

2. Put the saucepan over a lowish heat and add in all of the butter giving it a stir until it all melted and fully combined with the potato.

3. Slowly add in the egg yolks stirring all the time so that they don't form big lumps of scrambled egg.

4. Remove from the heat and then fold in the cream again until it's fully combined.

5. Add the grated nutmeg and seasoning to your taste and then it's ready to pipe on top of your filling.

6. Heat the oven to around 190/210C and cook it until the top has a nice golden crust. Perhaps stick some grated cheese on top......

Potato mouselline can replace standard mashed potato in any dish, try it and think about how else it can be used...............

Toodlepip xx