There is not any arguing with a very good jacket potato. Baked proper, the within turns gentle and fluffy, and the pores and skin turns to a crispy “jacket” that provides a salty crunch to each forkful. And whereas the traditional baked potato accoutrements are nicely and good, the Brits have their very own tackle what belongs on a potato. On this recipe we can’t encourage you to observe British protocol and high your baked potato with beans, nevertheless. No, we have one thing a lot better: beef and gravy.

You may consider this beefy English jacket potato recipe, dropped at us by developer A.J. Overlook, like an inside-out cottage pie. As an alternative of hiding the meat, greens, and gravy beneath a layer of mash, right here we’re utilizing them to high a steaming jacket potato. It has all those self same heat, comforting flavors, with fewer steps required of you. As an added bonus, as a result of the potatoes aren’t mashed, you are reducing out all the additional butter and bitter cream or milk go into making mash.

It is not the quickest recipe round, as baking potatoes to perfection requires a little bit of time, however the time you really spend on the range is fairly brief. A lot of the cooking time you might be simply letting the potatoes do their factor, whereas the oven warms the home and also you get pleasure from a glass of wine or a pint of bitter beer.

For this recipe you will have russet potatoes, salt, floor beef, onion, rosemary, flour, darkish beer, beef broth, frozen peas and carrots, Worcestershire sauce, and bitter cream. After getting these elements collectively, you might be prepared to begin cooking.

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Wash the potatoes and slice a cross round ½-inch deep into the tops of the potatoes.

Rub the potatoes with salt and place them within the oven on a baking sheet. Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes, or till softened all through.

After round an hour has handed, carry a big pan to medium warmth and add the meat, cooking and breaking it aside for 4 minutes.

Add the diced onion and rosemary to the pan and cook dinner for an additional 5 minutes.

Combine the flour into the pan and permit it to cook dinner for two minutes, or till it begins to brown.

Stir within the beer and broth, scraping up and fond from the underside of the pan, and permit to cook dinner for five minutes.

Combine within the peas and carrots and cook dinner for five minutes extra.

Take away from warmth, stir within the Worcestershire sauce and bitter cream, and add salt to style.

Take away the potatoes from the oven, cut up them down the center, and ladle the meat and gravy into the middle of the potatoes. Serve instantly.

Because it seems, absolutely anything you cook dinner in gravy comes out tasting scrumptious. It is the key of a very good cottage pie recipe — which was, in fact, the inspiration for these beefy English jacket potatoes. Given the foolproof components, there’s loads of room to play with the protein and the greens, or simply throw in some additional toppings so as to add one other layer of pizzazz.

For the protein, be happy to take your inspiration from shepherd’s pie moderately than cottage pie, and substitute floor lamb for the meat. Or, for a lighter possibility, commerce the meat out for floor turkey.

Peas and carrots are very conventional English greens which can be additionally typical elements in a cottage pie, however there is no such thing as a cause that you might want to cease at simply these. Celery, corn, mushrooms, and inexperienced beans are all widespread additions that additionally match completely right here, if you wish to up the veggie content material on this recipe.

As for including some decadence, you’ll be able to by no means go incorrect with throwing some cheese on a jacket potato. You may merely sprinkle some grated English cheddar over the nice and cozy gravy, or go the additional mile and toss the entire thing below the broiler for a minute to get issues actually melty and scrumptious. Or add some chopped chives for a pop of coloration and allium aroma.

Worcestershire sauce is a type of elements that you just purchase a bottle of to cook dinner one specific recipe, in all probability utilizing only a few teaspoons — as on this recipe — after which it sits in your pantry for ages. Possibly you sometime toss it (Worcestershire does technically go unhealthy finally) and as quickly because it’s gone, you discover one other recipe that wants a touch. Within the worst case state of affairs, you might be certain that you just nonetheless have some hanging about, solely to get house with the remainder of the groceries and understand that the bottle was misplaced to a pantry purge. Fortuitously, whereas nothing fairly matches its distinctive taste, you needn’t run again to the shop, as there are many substitutes that can work in a pinch.

Recipes fluctuate considerably, however the foundation of Worcestershire sauce is fermented oily fish, comparable to anchovies and mackerel, together with vinegar, molasses, tamarind, and spices. The flavour is salty, tangy, candy, fragrant, and filled with umami. For an easier model that carries the identical fundamental flavors, attempt a combination of three elements soy sauce to at least one half balsamic vinegar. The soy offers you the salt and umami, whereas the balsamic gives a contact of sweetness and acidity. It lacks the complexity of Worcestershire, however it is going to get the job executed.

Alternatively, plain soy sauce will be swapped for Worcestershire with out dropping an excessive amount of. Different choices like tamari, fish sauce, and Maggi seasoning work as nicely, particularly in case you additionally add a contact of no matter vinegar you’ve available.