This is my version of an old English recipe that I love. For once I have dialed down the (con)fusion elements and tried to make a version to my taste that still works entirely with ingredients used in traditional British cooking.
This recipe serves three to four diners depending on how piggy you are and what accompaniments you may choose to serve.
Shopping list
For the "casserole"
400g lean beef, cut into large cubes
2 large onions (not red)
4 or 5 big stalks of celery, finely sliced
3 to 4 medium carrots, peeled and chopped into slices of about 2 to 3cm
2 x beef stock cubes/jellies OR 175ml liquid beef stock
6 or 7 baby corn cut into 2 to 3cm pieces OR a quarter of a cauliflower, hand-broken into florets
250ml red wine OR 175ml (red) port
Approx. 200ml water
A generous knob of unsalted butter
For the "scone" topping
135g white flour (ideally of the "strong white" organic variety)
100g wholemeal flour
1 heaped teaspoon of baking powder
A generous handful of chives, finely chopped
A few sprigs of parsley, finely chopped
150g grated extra mature cheddar
175ml full fat milk
pinch of salt
An egg
Cooking method
The "casserole" base -(NB you can cook this up to a few days before if you wish)
Heat a large pan and chuck in the knob of butter, swishing about to coat the bottom fairly evenly
When the butter starts to bubble, throw in the chopped onions, intermittently stirring and covering so as to sweat the onions
When the onions become transparent but are not yet browned, throw in the sliced celery, stirring vigorously. Add a bit more butter if needed. Keep stirring, covering intermittently to sweat the contents but never allowing them to brown.
Once both the onions and the celery have a translucent quality, add a little more butter and add the cubed beef, stirring the contents of the pot so that everything is coated with the melted butter
Ensure that you get your stock ready. It needs to be hot, whether you heat liquid stock in a microwave or have mixed boiling water from the kettle into a cup containing your stock cubes/jellies
As the contents sizzle, first add a few splashes of the red wine/port, allowing the liquid to reduce rapidly, then pour in warm beef stock, a bit at a time, stirring on a high heat
Gradually add more of the wine/port and stock in turn until the ingredients are bubbling furiously in the pot
Add a dab more of the stock liquid and allow it to boil on a high heat for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring all the time to ensure that nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot
Throw in the carrots, the remaining stock liquid and wine/port. Allow it to boil for a further 5 to 10 mins, stirring regularly, ensuring that nothing sticks
Cover and reduce to a low heat, stirring intermittently. Allow to simmer for at least 30 mins
After 30 mins, add the baby corn or cauliflower and stir in. Add up to a cup of water - basically whatever is needed to roughly immerse all of the ingredients
Allow to simmer on a low heat for at least another 45mins, occasionally stirring, adding preferred seasoning; a little fresh black pepper, for example
If your "casserole" has not thickened enough but is otherwise cooked, slowly and cautiously add sifted plain flour OR sifted corn flour in small amounts at a time, simultaneously stirring. Stop adding once it shows signs of thickening. Alternatively, grate in a large square of bitter dark chocolate and undertake the same process of observation before adding more.
Once the sauce on your "casserole" is thickened, turn off the heat and allow to cool
If you make this the day or a couple of days before serving (actually recommended), decant to a seal dish once fully cooled and store in the fridge. FYI, you can also freeze it to produce the cobbler with the defrosted meat filling at a later date
The "scone" topping
Sift the flours, pinch of salt and baking powder into a mixing bowl
Add the grated cheese and roughly mix together
Crack the egg into a well in the mix and start to stir into the mixture. I will start to coagulate and "clot". Add some milk, bit by bit, simply to get it all to bind but, don't worry: this is not supposed to be a smooth mixture.
Add the chopped chives and parsley. By now it should have a rough texture of "sloppy" dough that can be mixed with clean fingers (if rather sticky)
Once dough-like enough you can either place on a board dusted with flour and pat it out until you can cut it into even shapes with a large cookie cutter OR (my preference) roughly shape into "cakes" roughly the same size as a scone
Cooking method - the final stretch
Preheat the oven to 200°C (circa gas mark 4). This part is pretty important: don't stick it in a cold oven that's just been turned on
Place the "casserole" filling into an oven-proof dish that ensures that it fills it to at least 3cm deep. Carefully place the "scones" on top of the meat filling, coating with a little whisked egg if preferred
Baked for approx 30mins at this temperature, turning it up to 220°C (circa gas mark 7) for another 5 to 10mins if the "scones" have not already risen and browned
Accompaniments
In keeping with the "winter warmer" nature of this dish, to date my favourite side dishes are:
braised red or white cabbage
steamed Savoy cabbage
cavolo nero sautéed with garlic and sliced leeks
roasted parsnips
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