*From Stuart Shaw shared with us Sept 3, 2019 at Merritt Beach while Camping! It was so cold and it tasted sooooo good! His communication of the process was not so hot!! ( The regular text is from Stu, while the italicized text are notes from me, to explain what I did!)
Ingredients:
Potatoes, quite a lot! (I used red potatoes).
Carrots (5-6 large, cut in small chunks).
2 Tins of beans, use whatever kind you like (I made 1lb. dried northern beans, precooked in instapot with 6 cups of chicken broth, celery seed, 2 small bay leaves, garlic powder, onion powder, marjoram, and salt & pepper. Cook per instapot and add to other cooked ingredients with the cooking broth, but remove bay leaves).
4 sticks of celery (chopped into small chunks).
Onions, i like lots of onions (I used 2 large onions, diced).
Brown lentils (I used one 16 oz bag, cooked with the veggies, then veggie stock or chicken bone broth/stock and seasoning, cooked just enough to soften).
1 tin of peas or frozen if you prefer (I used one bag of frozen).
“You can add any other filling you wish.”
Worcester sauce, quite a few dashes of this
Tomato ketchup, maybe 2 tablespoons
liquid smoke, A couple of capfuls (or more).
a tablespoon of HP brown sauce (I used 3).
A veg stock concentrate (I used 2 Tablespoons).
salt and pepper,
Garlic, Again i like a lot of garlic, at least a couple of segments. (I used 4 cloves).
Dried thyme, tarragon, marjoram, rosemary, parsley, and bay leaves x 2.
Beef broth ~5-6 cups (I used veggie and chicken)
1/2 cup butter
Milk
1 cup cheddar cheese
Gravy mix
Stu: “Yeah it’s a complex dish the way i do it lol.”
First things first, get your potatoes on the boil and and also your lentils if you are using them. Lentils are best boiling in veg or (chicken) stock. Salt the potatoes of course but not the lentils. You need quite a lot of potatoes. Most times i never make enough and end up making more.
If you are using meat you would prepare in the normal fashion by saute onions, then add meat till brown and then other veg and ingredients and saute till beginning to soft then add some veg stock and cook until veg is done.
if you are using lentils you want to saute the onions first then add all the other veg and fresh garlic and let them all soften up together a bit in a large pot for a bit.
Then add all the other ingredients and let them cook together for a few minutes before you add small amount of veg stock to cover and to boil till veg cooked. Dont overcook as its all got to go in the oven.
once potatoes are ready you want to make your mash. Im sure you know this but let them steam off before you mash. Then add your butter and a splash of milk and mash mash mash. .
Once lentils are done you should not have hardly any liquid left in them as they should absorb it all. You want drain off rest and let them sit.
(Now i normally use Bisto, which again, i dont think you will get. So get a gravy mix of some kind and prepare that in separate pot. Keep it nice and thick though).
Once everything is all ready mix everything together well in a large pot or bowl including lentils and gravy. season to taste at this point.
You are now ready to transfer to a large pyrex dish. Add lentil Mix first then cover with the delicious mashed potato and top with cheese.
You can now keep like this for days if you wish before you pop in the oven at 400 for around 30 to 40 minutes or until the cheese is nice and crispy on top. Voila!