Beef Cobbler

BeeI used to make this when my children were small. It's yummy and you can get lots of veg smuggled into it. It is a really lovely winter warming supper.

Serves 4-6 depending on appetite

750g Minced lean beef steak

1 Large onion finely diced

1 Large carrot finely diced

2 large celery sticks finely diced

2 bay leaves

1 tblsn dark soy sauce

1 tblsn worcestershire sauce

2 tablsn mushroom ketchup

enough beef stock to cover

Black pepper

A little olive oil

A little cornflour to thicken

In a large saucepan, fry onion, carrot and celery until softened. Turn heat up slightly and brown beef. Break up beef so that there are no obviously large lumps. When beef is brown add everything else. Stir well and cover.

 Leave to bubble gently for about two and a half hours. If the mixture dries out in this time simply add a little water. Don't be tempted to add any more stock as it makes it too salty. Taste and season if necessary.

When the meat is nice and tender, thicken with a little cornflour mixed with cold water. Strain beef, but not so that it's dry,  and place mixture in a nice ovenproof dish and set aside. There will be quite a lot of gravy left over ready to serve with the finished dish.

For the scone topping

400g  Self raising flour

1 tspn mustard powder

1 tspn cayenne pepper ( optional )

Half a tspn salt

80g butter

120g strong cheddar ( save a little for decoration )

Splash milk

Sift dry ingredients into a mixing bowl, rub in cold butter until breadcrumby. Fold in cheese until mixed. Add enough cold milk to make ingredients come together. Don't put too much milk in as it will make your scones hard. Don't overwork the dough as again it will make the scones hard. Just bring the dough together on a floured surface and roll out to about 3cm. Cut into circles and place on top of the beef mixture. 

Sprinkle a little left over cheese and a shake of cayenne pepper over the scones and bake in a moderate oven for about 30 minutes or until scones are nice and brown and risen.

I served this with vichy carrots and savoy cabbage I don't think that it really needs buttery mashed potato but ( living in a house full of men ) I was wrong.

I filled in my sconny circles with scraps of left over scone mix, I guess that you could just as well treat the scone mixture like pastry and place a sheet completely over the top - I think that it would still look and taste good.

Debs
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