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Beef short rib and onion cottage pie

Tender beef short rib, caramelised onions and carrots are topped with mashed potato and baked with marrow bones and rosemary.

Adapted from Great British Chefs.

Beef short rib and onion cottage pie, plated
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Two phones, one plan. Tap a step on either phone and watch it tick on the other — that's the live sync, right here in your browser:

Beef short rib and ... 0/0 COOK 1COOK 2
1Prepare vegetables
Wash the leek
Roughly dice the leek and 6 of the carrots
Cut the head of garlic horizontally in half and pick...
2Cut the ribs
3Plate and serve
+ 33 more steps in the app
Beef short rib and ... 0/0 COOK 2COOK 1
1Prepare vegetables
2Cut the ribs
With a large knife, cut through the meat that lies...
3Plate and serve
+ 33 more steps in the app

Ingredients

The full plan

Split between two cooks — each step says who's on it.

1. Prepare vegetables COOK 2

  • Wash the leek
  • Roughly dice the leek and 6 of the carrots
  • Cut the head of garlic horizontally in half and pick the leaves from half the thyme, leaving the rest as whole sprigs

2. Cut the ribs COOK 1

  • With a large knife, cut through the meat that lies between each rib bone so that you have 8 pieces in total

3. Brown the ribs COOK 1

  • In a large ovenproof casserole dish, add a dash of vegetable oil and place over a medium to high heat until very hot, Lightly season the ribs with salt and pepper, place in the pan and colour lightly on all sides
  • Remove and set aside on a wire rack placed over a tray to catch any juices
  • Place the empty pan back on the heat and add the roughly chopped vegetables, the peppercorns, garlic halves and thyme sprigs
  • Cook for 5 minutes or until golden
🤝 Cook 2 hands over vegetables.

4. Slice the onions COOK 2

  • Thinly slice the onions

5. Caramelise onions COOK 2

  • In a saucepan, add a drizzle of vegetable oil over a medium heat
  • Add the onions and cook for up to 20 minutes until they are nicely caramelised
  • Remove from the heat

6. Boil potatoes COOK 2

  • For the mash, peel the potatoes and cut into large chunks
  • Place the chunks in a saucepan of cold salted water, cover and bring to the boil
  • Reduce the heat and gently boil for approximately 20 minutes until tender

7. Braise the ribs COOK 1

  • Pour the port and wine into the pan and allow to reduce by 3/4's
  • Return the ribs to the pan with any juices that have gathered in the resting tray, cover with the stock and bring to a simmer

8. Cook carrots COOK 1

  • Thinly slice the 6 remaining carrots, and place them into a separate saucepan over a high heat with a splash of vegetable oil
  • Season with salt, and add the star anise to the pan

9. Heat milk and butter COOK 2

  • In a separate saucepan, bring the milk and butter just to the boil
🤝 Cook 1 hands the saucepan to Cook 2.

10. Cook until tender COOK 1

  • Skim off any impurities that float to the top
  • Cover the surface of the liquid with a ‘lid’ of parchment paper and place the pan in the oven
  • Cook for just under 3 hours until the meat is tender and falling off the bones

11. Soften carrots COOK 1

  • Cook over the high heat for 2 minutes
  • Turn down to a medium heat and continue cooking for approximately 10 minutes, stirring regularly, until the carrots just start to soften

12. Make the mash COOK 2

  • Drain the potatoes in a colander, stand the colander over the saucepan for a few minutes so the potatoes steam in their own heat, Then, mash the potatoes with a masher, or put through a potato ricer or Mouli
  • Fold in the hot milk and butter and beat well
  • Season with salt and pepper to taste
🤝 Cook 1 hands the colander and potato masher to Cook 2.

13. Bag the mash COOK 2

  • Scoop the mash into a piping bag and set aside at room temperature until ready to use

14. Reduce cooking liquid COOK 2

  • Remove the pan from the oven and leave to cool
  • Take the meat out and set aside
  • Pass the cooking liquid through a fine sieve into a clean pan and reduce by half, skimming off any impurities during the process

15. Shred and combine COOK 1

  • Remove the meat from the bones, discarding any sinew, and shred the meat into long strips with your fingers
  • Combine the reduced cooking liquid with the shredded meat, caramelised onions, carrots without the star anise and thyme leaves
🤝 Cook 2 hands over onions.

16. Assemble the pies COOK 2

  • Divide the mixture equally between 4 individual cast iron or earthenware dishes and place a piece of bone marrow in the middle
  • Pipe the mash around the bones, or use a spoon if you don’t have a piping bag, and fill the bones with sprigs of rosemary
🤝 Cook 1 hands over the mixture.

17. Preheat the oven COOK 1

  • Preheat the oven to 220°C/gas mark 7

18. Plate and serve BOTH

  • Place the dishes in the oven and cook for 12 minutes or until the mash is golden
  • Serve hot, and set alight the rosemary

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