Source video by YouTube on YouTube. This recipe was adapted with strict source-fidelity rules and is marked for human review.
Adam Byatt's elevated cottage pie swaps minced beef for slow-braised short rib, finished with melted Lyonnaise onions, star-anise caramelised carrots and a piped duchesse potato lid topped with brined bone marrow and flaming rosemary. The original recipe braises the ribs in red wine, port and beef stock for two and a half hours in the oven at 160C. Adapted here for the slow cooker, the short ribs are browned, deglazed, then transferred to the slow cooker to braise low and slow until the meat falls from the bone. The reduced sauce, picked meat, onions and carrots are then assembled in an ovenproof dish and finished in the oven to colour the duchesse top.
Slow cooker notes: Original is an oven braise at 160C for 2.5 hours; adapted to slow cooker Low 8h or High 5h after browning the short ribs and mirepoix on the hob. Wine and port are still reduced on the hob before going into the slow cooker so the alcohol cooks off (slow cookers don't reduce liquid). Beef stock quantity may need reducing slightly versus the original because the slow cooker retains moisture; after braising, the cooking liquor is still strained, skimmed and reduced by half on the hob exactly as in the original. Final assembly with duchesse potato, bone marrow and rosemary is finished in a conventional oven at 200C for 20 minutes as the slow cooker cannot brown the top.
Ingredients
- 3 bonesbeef short ribs, bone-in
- salt
- black pepper
- oil for browning
- onions, cut into large pieces
- celery, peeled, cut into large pieces
- carrots, cut into large pieces
- 1 headgarlic, cut in half across the equator
- star anise
- bay leaves
- fresh thyme
- fresh rosemary
- red wine
- port
- beef or veal stock
- carrots, cut on the angle (add late)
- 2 podsstar anise (add late)
- onions, sliced (add late)
- butter (add late)
- salt (add late)
- mashed potatoes, made into a duchesse with egg yolk, parmesan, mustard, salt and pepper, piped from a bag with a nozzle (add late)
- egg yolk (add late)
- parmesan, grated (add late)
- mustard (add late)
- bone marrow, brined in salty water overnight (add late)
- 1 sprigfresh rosemary sprig (add late)
- black pepper (add late)
Method
Pat the short ribs dry and season generously with salt and pepper. Heat a heavy frying pan with a little oil and brown the ribs on all sides except the bone side. Push for deep colour, this is the foundation of flavour. Transfer to a plate.
~15 minWithout washing the pan, add the carrots cut on the angle (the garnish carrots, not the mirepoix). Cook in the rendered beef fat over a medium heat to pick up colour and soften, around a couple of minutes. Add 2 star anise. Cook until around 90 per cent done, then lift out onto a tray and set aside.
~8 minReturn the pan to the heat with a little more oil if needed. Add the mirepoix: large pieces of onion, peeled celery and carrot, the head of garlic cut side down, the remaining star anise, bay, thyme and rosemary. Brown well.
~10 minPour in the red wine and port. Bring to a simmer and reduce, but don't take it all the way dry, leave a little liquid in the pan.
~8 minAdd the beef or veal stock and bring to a simmer. Transfer everything (browned ribs, mirepoix and liquid) to the slow cooker. Arrange the ribs bone side up and packed tightly together. The liquid should come up around the meat but the bone should sit proud.
~5 minCover and cook on Low for 8 hours or High for 5 hours, until the meat is completely giving and a spoon passes straight through.
Lift the ribs out and rest. Pick all the meat off the bones in large flakes, discard the bones, and keep the meat warm. Strain the cooking liquor through a fine sieve into a pan, discarding the vegetables (but reserving the cooked garnish carrots from step 2 separately). Bring to the boil, skim off the fat, then reduce by half until glossy and sauce-like.
~20 minMeanwhile, make the Lyonnaise onions: melt butter in a pan, add the sliced onions and a pinch of salt, and sweat slowly until completely melted and soft.
~30 minMake the duchesse mash: enrich warm mashed potato with egg yolk, grated parmesan, mustard, salt and pepper. Transfer to a piping bag with a nozzle.
To assemble: combine the picked short rib meat with the Lyonnaise onions and enough of the reduced sauce to bind into a rich, glossy mixture. Spoon into an ovenproof dish.
~5 minScatter the reserved garnish carrots over the meat (remove and discard their star anise first). Place the brined bone marrow in the centre and make a small hole in it.
Pipe the duchesse potato around and over the meat, building up around the bone marrow. Crack over a little black pepper and push a sprig of rosemary into the hole in the bone marrow.
Bake in a conventional oven at 200C for 20 minutes until the potato is golden and the marrow has melted into the pie.
~20 min