Thursday 16 October 2008

Scottish Scran 7 - Mince and Tatties

Mince and tatties. Sounds plain enough, but it was always a source of excitement when we found out we were getting this for our tea! I even thought about calling my two cats after it - Minnie and Tattie for short! it has it's own 'World' championships, and has even been the topic of European parliamentary dispute.

I've been looking forward to this post since I came up with the idea for Scottish Scran. Mince and tatties is another comforting childhood favourite of mine. And just perfect for the colder weather.

There'll be no tough mince here. No watery gravy or onion bulk. The mince is real Scottish steak mince, hung and flavourful. Slow-cooked to a thick sauce, served over buttery mashed potatoes, served with a dash of the ubiquitous broon sauce. Then on the second day, made over with the addition of marrow fat peas (no petit pois, thank you), and potatoes infused with flavour from being slowly cooked in the pot.

Mince and Tatties... Day 1


  • 1 kilo of good beef steak mince
  • 1 large onion, finely chopped
  • 3 medium carrots, peeled and diced
  • 2 tbsp Worcester sauce
  • Beef stock to cover
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • Mashed potatoes to serve
In a large saucepan, brown the mince in batches, being careful not to overcrowd. This is important - crowd the pan and your mince will boil and lose a lot of flavour. Only drain excess fat if you must - you'll lose flavour and tenderness if you do.

In the same pan, fry off the onion for 3/4 minutes, before returning the mince to the pan. Add the worcester sauce, and beef stock to cover. Cover the pan and simmer gently for 45 minutes.

Adjust seasoning if required, then add the carrots. Now, continue to simmer for a further 30 minutes, leaving the pan uncovered as required to reduce the stock down to a thick sauce. Top up with more stock if required, though this shouldn't be necessary.

Serve atop a pile of mashed potatoes, and with a bottle of broon sauce on the side!



Mince and Tatties... Day 2


  • Leftover mince from yesterday
  • 1 tin marrow fat peas, drained. or soak your own if you must
  • Potatoes, cut into bite-size pieces
In a saucepan large enough to take all ingredients, heat the leftover mince. Add the potatoes, and top up with water if required. (Or stock if you have any left) Adjust seasoning - bear in mind that the tatties will absorb a lot of saltiness. Cover and cook gently until the potatoes are cooked through.

Add the peas and cook for a further minute or two.




Scottish Word of the Day!

mince - nonsense, rubbish

Yer no listenin' tae whit that heid-th-ba tells ye, ur ye? His heid's full a' mince!
Or, in response to some haivering blether, simply: Mince!

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26 comments:

Lo said...

Mince!
I'm actually loving what you did with those leftovers. Looks fabulous.

Sam said...

Looks fantastic, I do really like petit pois though. Sorry!

Jen said...

Hi Kittie-- I've read about mince and tatties in books but I've never known what it was before. I really like your Scottish Scran posts and now that the weather is finally getting a little cooler here hope to be able to make some of them

Peter M said...

This reminds me of a deconstructed shepherd's pie and that's A-OK with me.

Worcestershire is also a fine addition.

Michele said...

Mmmmm...mince and tatties. I am not ashamed to say that this is a childhood food that I've never stopped loving or eating. Your version 2 looks fantastic...and also a great way to use up a bag of marrow fat peas that have been in the pantry for ages. I'm so lazy that I dread soaking them. :-)

Anonymous said...

The mince and tatties looks great, esp now that autumn cold is starting to set in, oh comfort food....

Laura Paterson said...

Thank Lo! Mince is a great word ;)

That's ok Sam - they have they're place - just not in my mince!

Cheers for dropping by Jen, glad I was able to clear it up!

Almost Peter - shepherd's pie = lamb filling. This would be a deconstructed cottage pie! Either way works for me though :D

I'm rubbish at remembering to soak too Michele... Though if you have a pressure cooker you can do it in 20 minutes apparently?!

Thanks Kang - I'm loving the comfort food right now!

Anonymous said...

My mum used to cook me a very similar, simple dish when I was little, usually when I was poorly and even now I still long for a thin, mincey broth poured over creamy mash. Never tastes the same when I make it though.

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

My mom made mince when I was a kid. Thanks for reminding me of something from my childhood:D

Adam said...

Did you just look up comfort food in the dictionary and come up with this? I swear it looks perfect for that. And I'm not full of mince right now, promise :)

Dee said...

For a while there I thought it was another 2 day recipe that I would slavishly bookmark :)

Mmm. I grew up on mincemeat curry, peas and all, served with boiled rice. That's got to be the Yin to your Yang.

Núria said...

Mmmmm looks great Kittie! I love the use of the leftovers :D.
How interesting the meaning of the word Mince in Scottish :D

Laura Paterson said...

Hey Freya! It is such a childhood dish! Though I'm afraid my mince must always be thick and savoury... :D

Anytime Val!

Hi Adam! Look up 'comfort food' in the dictionary and there is a map of Scotland ;)

Ha ha dee - with all the bother of the last few weeks, if I get an hour in the kitchen I'm doing well! Mince meat curry - I think I'd like that :D

Hey Nuria - the Scottish language (especially slang!) is generally a very descriptive thing ;)

Mike of Mike's Table said...

Both days worth of food look delicious--best looking leftovers I've seen in some time!

glamah16 said...

What a great meal , and I love how you changed uo the leftovers. Economical, comforting and never boring because of all the adaptations.

Ivy said...

The mince sounds great. I think it would be great on pasta as well the next day.

Natalie Que said...

I love the sound of Mince and Tatties kind of makes me giggle for no apparent reason! They look heartwarming and comforting and just downright delcious.

I'm glad to see that someone is as behind as me! I feel like I'm sinking and I'll never catch up, so thanks for being a little behind! It helps me to not have to keep track of so much, I wish everyone were running on your time at the moment!

Laura Paterson said...

Hiya Mike! Leftovers looks better than in day 1 I reckon!

Thanks coco!

Good idea Ivy - I've never tried this with pasta!

Natalie, snap, I'm also glad it's not just me :)

Anonymous said...

For those of us 'across the pond' - is the 'mince' you use for this recipe the same as what we would call ground beef here in the states? Also, I have seen a few references to 'broon' sauce - I did a quick search and got some notes that this may be HP Sauce - is that correct?

Just Cook It said...

Just made something very similar to this and it is currently in the oven cooking down ready to be topped with a thick suet crust. mmmm, pie. Great post

Laura Paterson said...

Hi Erik! Yep - mince in this context is ground beef (you can also get pork mince, lamb mince etc!) And broon sauce is HP!

Hey Alex - sounds delicious, I've yet to cook with suet - though was going to make jam roly poly last week!!

Anonymous said...

Hey Kittie,

Im a Fifer who now lives in california, My family here loves mince and tatties at any time of the year because it doesnt get cold here like hame. I prefer to use Bisto for the stock as it can be controlled a lot better more Bisto thicker gravy.....The second day for leftovers I like to make stovies.....place all the leftovers in the mince pot and add 1/4 cup bisto gravy and heat for 10 minutes then serve. No need to add any salt or spices unless it's really cauld ootside and ye fancy a wee ruby effect where ye kin add some curry powder.

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Cialis said...

This looks so delicious!

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