When I make baked beans from scratch, I stir in a spoonful or two of Colman’s dry mustard powder. It makes the tomato–molasses sauce more savory.
When I was living in Czechoslovakia, Friday nights were for having a dark beer, a hunk of fried cheese, and chips (thick French fries) covered in tartar sauce at a place called the Black Horse.
Ain’t that the truth! - now, more a snack than a meal: if I make, say, baba ganoush, you have to roast the eggplants and scrape all of the flesh out to make the dip. Throw the skins away - me? Nope, they get doused in soy as a special treat.
Schug works too.
j
Speaking of hummus (the chickpea hummus, not the jackfruit variety, but jackfruit hummus may work well in this application too) this isn’t that weird of a combo, but one time I had some hummus, but was fresh out of pita bread. So I tried scooping up the hummus with tortilla chips. Delicious! I turned Mrs. Solost on to hummus and tortilla chips, and it’s become kind of a regular snack with us. As I said, it’s really not that weird, since hummus is kind of similar both in flavor and texture to refried beans, which are no stranger to getting paired with tortilla chips. But it’s maybe not something you’d think of trying together.
Yep, I use soy sauce and fish sauce in non-Asian meals very often for the umami boost. I think soy sauce works even better than Worchestershire in many things, since that WS flavor is kind of overpowering if you’re not careful.
Another substitute I do with Shepard’s / Cottage pie (Shepard’s is lamb, and cottage is beef, right?)-- once I had a hankering for it, but didn’t have carrots or peas on hand, and I really don’t like peas anyway. So I diced up some green and red bell peppers in their place. Outstanding! I only use bell peppers when I make it at home now. Not sure what to call it, though. O’Brien’s Pie, after potatoes O’Brien?
DH and I frequently do that. Works well, we think.
Yes, Shepherd’s Pie is made with lamb, Cottage Pie is made with beef. I’m pretty sure, though, that you could make a vegetarian/vegan pie by substituting your favorite veg for the meat and tofu for dairy cheese if you’re so inclined.
I’ve had vegetarian lasagne while a guest at someone’s home, and it was delicious.
If you want to use peppers and meat, I can recommend making a Turkish-style casserole with either beef or lamb, eggplant, and lots of cumin. I had that over rice three times last week.
I regularly put fresh mint into my bolognese sauce. It’s great.
You’re not the only one. Mint is a traditional Mediterranean seasoning as is it’s cousin oregano. I think oregano is overused in many Italian dishes and mint should be used in it’s place or additionally more.
Ooh, tasty!
I used to be a big fan of bacon and peanutbutter. Then, I began keeping kosher. I was a big fan of sizzle lean (or other beef bacon substitute) and peanutbutter. Then, I became allergic to beef. I haven’t gotten around to trying turkey bacon and peanutbutter yet. I know Elvis among others was of a fan of salty fried meat and pb.
I always put mustard, ketchup and honey in my baked beans.
I tried mixing some honey in seltzer. Delicious!
A few years back I invented Swedish Fish salad. I started a thread on it.
I’m a fan of peanut butter and pancake syrup sandwiches.
And I cannot overemphasize exactly how good it tastes to take the noodles out of a bowl of (hot) soup, spoon them onto Munch-O’s, and chowing down.
That is the current taxonomic split for those two dishes, but it doesn’t seem to have always been.
I was researching this about a month ago (and I had done research on this a few years as well). In the 19th century cookbooks I’ve found recipes for shepherd’s pie and cottage pie (and it was also named “hunter’s pie” in one of the cookbooks), there was generally a call for any kind of meat. And it was exclusively cold meat. The dish seems to have evolved as a way of using up the last night’s leftovers. You would put in your leftover meat, whatever veggies you got, and top it with mashed potatoes.
For example, this is from Lessons In Cookery: Hand-book of the national training school for cookery (South Kensington, London), 1879:
Bolding mine.
Other cites: Mr’s Roundell’s Practical Cookery Book by Mrs. Roundell (Julia Anne Elizabeth) 1898, says “the pie can be made of any sort of cold cooked meat, or of several sorts.”
The Practice of Cookery and Pastry by Mrs. Williamson, 1849: “take cold dressed meat of any kind”
I’ve also found recipes for “cottage pie” in the 19th century that specifically call for “Australian Mutton.” There is even one that suggests chicken as the meat for cottage pie. (I would have to re-dig up those sources, though.)
I can’t find this one anymore, but years ago when I researched this, I seem to recall one source calling the difference between shepherd’s pie and cottage pie as shepherd’s pie is topped with mashed potato, and cottage pie is topped with “shingles” of sliced potatoes, to resemble a cottage, I guess. I have not found any other cookbook, though, in which cottage pie is topped with this style of potato.
But, yes, the modern distinction is shepherd=lamb; cottage=beef. But so many restaurants here in the US use beef for shepherd’s pie and call it that that I feel the need to defend them. And it’s usually UK folk that go “no! that isn’t shepherd’s pie you dumb American!” when, in actually, English cookbooks originally didn’t seem to care a whit what meat it was made of. I say it’s okay to call shepherd’s pie made with beef “shepherd’s pie” on this side of the pond.
Pretty much any condiment can go with French fries. I do use mustard from time to time. I really like a vinegary hot sauce like Tabasco. Mayo is fine, but it’s a bit too much fat for me. BBQ sauce, yes please. Curry sauce. Yes. Yeah, just pretty much anything. I’m not sure I’ve tried Worcetershire, but in my head that sounds pretty good, too. And, of course, I love malt vinegar.
Now that one is odd to me. I definitely don’t want mint in Italian dishes. I love it in Middle Eastern dishes, and I prefer it as a savory herb to a sweet one, but the idea of it on Italian food just sounds strange to me. I also rarely use oregano in Italian food (I’m more likely to use fresh basil; certainly my bolognese doesn’t have any oregano or even basil for that matter) but it is good used sparingly. I don’t remember Italian food in Italy being particularly heavy on oregano. I think that’s more an Italian-American thing from Southern Italy/Sicily (which I did not visit.) Marjoram is also quite nice in restrained amounts in certain Italian dishes.
As I indicated above, almost anything can go into a pie. If you have leftovers that need to be used up, so much the better.
In one of the Poldark novels, Graham talks about a “cold game pie,” which I’ve always pictured as venison, rabbit, pigeon, or some other blend of chopped meats in aspic, all inside a crust of baked dough.
There are also lots of variations of Coddle. One I’ve made (“Dublin Coddle”) had sliced potatoes, onions, bacon, and ham, all layered and baked in a covered pan.
A similar dish you’re likely to be served in a cheap Russian restaurant is a chunk of beef baked inside a pot with potatoes and sour cream. When I was a student, my classmates and I called it “Hunk o’ Meat.”
I guess I know what I’m making for next week’s suppers 
That sounds a bit like Hungarian rakott krumpli (layered potatoes), though it looks a bit different from pictures. Hungarian version is made fresh with layers of potato, sliced hardboiled eggs, smoked sausage, bacon, sour cream, butter. A belly-warming fall/winter casserole!
You could give it a try. I think it blends well with other spices, and mellows the acidity of tomatoes. I think it would bother me in a cream sauce. I can’t say much about authenticity, I’ve seen rare references in cookbooks, but otherwise have to go on the word of my in-laws.
I mean, I do like it in other meat stews with tomato, so I’m not a total stranger to it. I sometimes make this Georgian (as in the country) chicken stew called chakhokhbili, and I use mint, cilantro, tarragon, dill, parsley, and sometimes summer savory if I happen to be growing it, and it is a tomato-based liquid it stews in; and it goes great there. I guess I just don’t have it in my mind connected to Italian cuisine (though I would not be the least bit surprised if historically it was used or if there are patches of regional Italian cuisines that use it in this manner.)
Horseradish–creamy or not–is in my French fry rotation.
If you make this, don’t use standard American (streaky) bacon. It’s too fatty. Get some rashers of lean Irish or Scottish bacon. The only seasonings you’ll need are salt, pepper, and some chopped fresh parsley.
This should be eaten with hot Irish soda bread and washed down with Guinness. (You can also try baking the meat and veg in some of the stout. Yum!)
Damn, and I just had some the other day. By the way, I tried Gordon Ramsay’s frozen shepherd’s pie. Don’t bother. What a disappointment.