Lancashire Hot Pot - Northern European Recipe

Lancashire Hot Pot

🌍 Northern European, British Difficulty: ●●○○○

🍳 Equipment: Fireproof baking dish

The definitive Lancashire hot pot from Mrs. Beeton — mutton cutlets layered with sliced potatoes, kidneys, and oysters, baked under a golden potato crust. Served in the dish it was cooked in.

Ingredients

• 2 lb of best end of neck of mutton
• 3 sheep's kidneys
• 12 sauce oysters
• 2 lb of potatoes
• 1 Spanish onion
• Salt and pepper
• ½ pint of gravy
• 1 oz of butter
• Stock

Method

1. Prepare cutlets — Divide the meat into neat cutlets. Trim off the skin and most of the fat.
2. Make gravy base — Put the short rib bones, lean trimmings, oyster beards, and a small onion into a stewpan. Cover with cold water and boil down for gravy.
3. Layer potatoes — Grease a fireproof baking dish. Put in a deep layer of sliced potato at the bottom.
4. Layer meat — Arrange the cutlets on top of the potatoes to slightly overlap each other. On each cutlet place 1 or 2 slices of kidney and an oyster. Season well with salt and pepper.
5. Top layer — Put in the remainder of the potatoes. Let the top layer consist of small potatoes cut in halves and uniformly arranged for a neat appearance.
6. Add liquid — Pour ½ pint of hot stock or seasoned hot water down the side of the dish. Brush the top layer of potatoes with warm butter.
7. Bake — Cover with buttered paper and bake in a moderate oven for 2 hours. Remove the paper during the latter part of cooking to allow the potatoes to become crisp and brown.
8. Finish and serve — Pour in a little gravy and send the rest to table in a tureen. The hot pot must be served in the dish in which it was baked.

Tags: mutton cutlets, potatoes, kidney, oysters, onion · Source: Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management (1861)