Saturday 6 October 2012

Scottish Saturday.

I was inspired by my own childhood to do a Scottish Saturday theme for MoFo this year. Both of my parents are Scottish and although I mainly grew up in the South of England classics like mince & tatties, kedgeree and haggis would grace the dinner table regularly. Mince & tatties was definitely a favourite of mine, if you aren't down with the Scottish lingo tatties is slang for potatoes and in the case of mince and tatties they are usually served as mash.

I didn't think you could screw up something as simple as mash but I managed to chop up all of the potatoes and throw them into the pan before realising that I'd forgotten to peel them!


Whilst there is a place in this world for skin-on mashed potatoes this classic Scottish dish is not it! Peeling tiny pieces of potato is hard but highly amusing, of course it was all okay in the end and aside from a scraped knuckle I came out unscathed.

For the mince part I used Fry's Meat Free Mince with Vegan Gravy.


I love Fry's mock meat products, they're always reliably tasty and I had no qualms about using an as yet untried product in this recipe.

I also used this recipe from Rachel's blog Thistle & Yellow Rose as a flavour guide. Now I don't usually publish recipes on my blog so this is more of a guideline as I didn't really measure anything and the credit for the flavour profile definitely goes to Rachel. This serves about three people and I served a jug of packet gravy (Bisto!) alongside it to make the potatoes all gravy-tastic too, this is a little untraditional but I'm a gravy fiend!



Ingredients:

  • Enough mash for three people. Make it nice & creamy with lots of vegan margarine, this isn't the place for health mash!
  • 3 small carrots
  • 100g of peas
  • 1 box of Fry's Meat Free Mince & Vegan Gravy
  • 1 TBS of olive oil
  • 1/2 an onion, diced small
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 1/2 tsp vegan worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tsp mixed herbs
  • pepper to taste
  • salt to taste (I felt like this didn't need any extra salt but everyone has different tastes)


Method:

  • Put the potatoes on to cook, mash when ready.
  • Start steaming the carrots, you know how long that takes. Throw in the peas a couple of minutes before the end.
  • Fry the onion and the whole box of mince until the mince is browned, around 8 minutes. Throw the garlic in & fry until fragrant. Mix the gravy packet with the 200ml of water (as directed on the packet) and pour over the mince. Cook until thickened. Add the worcestershire sauce, herbs, pepper, and salt if desired. Throw in the carrots and peas, stir, serve alongside the mash & eat.

Me & Nick both loved this, the gravy that comes with the mince is excellent and I thought that the actual mince was the closest in taste & texture to the kind I used to eat in my pre-veggie days. This recipe turned out to be super simple and really delicious and we'll definitely be making it again.

12 comments:

  1. Aww, thanks for the mention, buddy! It's also a little bit hilarious considering I'm way further removed from my Scottish roots than you are.

    I've always thought the tatties were cooked in the mince (that's the only way I've eaten it, though in fairness I was only served it once before making my own). I might have to try it your way. How did the Fry's mince work out in the end? I keep seeing it and wondering if I should try it.

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    1. That's a very good question Rachel! I've updated my post because that's quite an important thing to have missed out! We loved it, it was ridiculously easy to cook with and it tasted damn good. Definitely pick up a box next time you see it.

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  2. We always made mash with skins in before I moved here, and one time a girl we knew actually stamped her foot and spun in a circle because she was so angry about it! Still makes me laugh. Also I need to try that new Fry's mince with gravy!

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  3. Oooh! That mash looks so good!

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  4. Best t-shirt! We don't have the Fry's mince here yet. I like the Redwood mince a lot but I have to go to a health food store across town to get it- hopefully we get the Fry's one and I can just get it from the supermarket soon.

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  5. Love your TMNT tee, Jojo!

    This looks likes the perfect meal for winter, anything with mash sounds good to me! And you poor thing having to peel those potato bits!

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  6. I love Frys stuff - I don't think I've tried a duff product from them. I've not tried the mince and gravy, but I think you've pretty much nailed the perfect thing to do with it.

    Thanks for the VeganMofo stuff again - cheers for tracking me down with Sweetbird!

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  7. comfort food to the max! yum!

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  8. Mince & tatties was always a regular in our house too! My mum used to make it for me when I was ill! hehe.

    I love making vegan versions too now and then. I will look out for the fry's mince.

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  9. That looks super good! I love reading about your Scottish roots :)

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