Thread: Mince and paddies, ultimate comfort food!

A Scottish friend of mine turned me on to this simple yet hearty dish that to me embodies all the goodness of being a kid with a Mom made dinner:

Part One:

Ground beef
Onions, chopped
Carrots, chopped
Can of navy beans (or whatever you have)
Pepper
Salt
A bit of flour

Part Two:
Mashed potatoes, made with sour cream (my addition to the recipe) and butter.
Save some potato water!

Brown the ground beef, onions and carrots together.
Push the meat/veggie mixture aside in the pan and brown a couple teaspoons of flour in the grease (yep, grease!!!).
Add about a cup of potato water and the beans and simmer until the sauce is thickened.

Plop a generous spoonful of the potatoes in a bowl, make a well, and dish up the meat and veggie mixture into it.

It is kind of heavy, and now that I know how to make it all kinds of ideas for making it healthier are percolating through my mind, mainly the subsitution of ground turkey for ground beef, nonfat premade gravy for the flour/grease, and of course nonfat milk and I Can't Believe It's Not Butter for the potatoes.

Then again, that defeats the whole meaning of comfort food, doesn't it?

What are your favorite comfort foods?
Economical meal ideas?

When I was growing up and still ate meat, my mother made mince in a similar fashion. She would brown beef mince in a frypan (no extra fat added, you don't need it!), then add worcester sauce AND tomato sauce. This gave it a rich brown colour and a much nicer flavour than *all other mince in the world ever*. We used to mix it up with our separately cooked carrots, peas and mashed potato. Yum, yum!

When I lived in England I used to eat Smash and baked beans mixed up with a bit of olive oil. Disgusting. So good.

I still like a mix of potatoes, kumera, maybe carrot, mashed up with olive oil for "healthy" comfort food. Also Fakey Filet O Fish, which is a poached fish fillet between two slices of Vogels toast and a bit of sweet chili sauce - My favourite unhealthy comfort foods are chips (ie fries, Americans), closely followed by fresh bread, olive oil/balsamic vinegar and salt.

This one is certainly cheap:
I grew up in PA where there are a lot of Germans, but I think this is an English food. I can't remember. Pasties, pronounced pass-tee, are esentially 4 ingredients. You take ground beef, cooked potatoe cubes, and chopped onion that you grilled with the hamburger and put a little into a rolled out piece of dough. Just on one half. Then you fold the dough over and pinch the ends, so you have a half circle. Bake it in the oven until it browns. For the dough, I just buy that boxed stuff. I think it's called Jiffy. Just add water and mix and roll out. I'm sure you could make your own dough though. I use salt, pepper, and ketchup on it after it's baked. My husband had never heard of such a thing and scarfs them up when I make them. They're cheap, easy, and very tasty :)

I think you can also make them with different stuffings- ham, cheese, brocoli or steak and potatoes, whatever.

Has anybody else ever had these? Here's a better description: Mr. Pastie - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Yes, those are called Cornish pasties here. In England there was a spicy version called Jamaican patties.

mmmm sounds yummy :)

Ooooooh....five forty five in the morning and the pasties are making my stomach growl!

*FOREHEADSMACK*

My Scottish friend just informed me that's 'TATTIES', not 'paddies.' Good thing he thought it was cute....

Favorite comfort food is Aunt Jemima or Bisquick pancake mix. Just add water to a box of something that costs around 3 dollars. I. Love. Pancakes.

On top of that, another comfort food that I just love is bacon. Hey man, I'm from the South.

I was recovering from a intenstinal gripe the other day and had pancakes topped with strawberries and maple syrup with a couple of pieces of bacon. It was like a hug from my mommy.