Years ago the standard
Sunday meal was a roast joint of meat of some variety. The brilliant
thing about a joint of meat is that a long cook on the Sunday meant
little cooking on Monday as the leftovers were used in a quick and
simple dish. Often in my house as child Monday was actually 'Cold
meat Monday'. This would involve slices of the cold roast meat from
the day before (never my favourite; warm it up, please), salad made
by my Nan sometime in the afternoon so by dinner time it was a soggy
mess, and boiled potatoes but not potatoes that should have been
peeled and boiled. If we were lucky there would be enough meat to
have on the Tuesday and this would be cooked treat and for beef my
Mother would cook 'Cheese topped beef pie'. Normally a pie means
pastry but in this case it's more like a crumble topping.
The original recipe was one
my Mother had kept from many years previously and was probably issued
by some promotional board such as the 'Beef farmers of Britain' or
the 'Automated Electrical Company of the UK'. I remember phoning my
Mother and asking her the recipe and scribbling it down so I could
share the delights of this dish with my family. Over the years I've
added and tweaked it to just how I like it but it's easy to adapt. If
you have some leftover vegetables such as carrots or something green
like peas, broccoli or beans, you could add them in too.
One of the reasons that
Sunday roasts are no longer the norm in many households these days is
that so many families don't sit down together for meals and a Sunday
dinner is seen as something that should be eaten out at a pub or
restaurant rather than at home. Another big factor is the price. Meat
is expensive, therefore squeezing as many thrifty meals out of a
roasting joint is essential. Where my Mother lives there are number
of supermarket – Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Waitrose, and they
all have more than one branch nearby. Amazingly, they all seem to
reduce short dated food by up to 90% on a regular basis and when I go
to visit my Mother she insists I take back a freezer bag full of
food. This is only way we were able to enjoy a top rump of beef for
Sunday dinner this week. The original price was £12.99 but was
reduced to £2.60. If you don't believe me here's the evidence!
How else could you make two
meals for a family of four for such value? I also make up extra gravy
to use in the recipe. Alternatively, just use some instant granules.
The cheese topping needs a small quantity of strong cheese, so root
around in the back of fridge for any that needs using up. The rest of
the ingredients should be hanging your kitchen. For this reason I am
entering this recipe into February's Credit Crunch Munch run by Helen
at Fuss
Free Flavours and hosted this month by Camilla at Fab
Food 4 All.
Cheese topped beef pie –
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 large onion
1 tablespoon (15ml) oil
(sunflower, vegetable – your choice)
1 tablespoon (15ml) plain
flour
¾
pint (450ml) beef/meat gravy
8oz (225g) cooked roast
beef, diced
black
pepper, pinch
nutmeg,
pinch (if you don't have any just leave out – no disaster)
Topping
2oz
(50g) plain flour
1oz
(25g) margarine, spread or butter
1½
oz (40g) strong cheese (mature cheddar or a blue cheese such as
Stilton works well)
Method
1.
Fry the onion until golden.
2.
Add the flour until it browns but doesn't burn.
3.
Add the gravy and bring to the boil.
4.
Mix in the beef and seasonings.
5.
Put the mixture into an oven-proof dish.
6.
Make a crumble topping with the flour and fat by rubbing together in
a bowl.
7.
Add the cheese.
8.
Put on top of the beef mixture.
9.
Cook at 190°C
/ gas mark 5 for 15 minutes.
I
served mine with reheated roast potatoes, Chantenay carrots (reduced
of course) and broccoli.
