Lancashire Hot Pot

We used to watch Coronation Street when I was growing up. If you watched it too then I’m sure you’ll remember Betty’s hotpot, the only dish they ever seemed to serve in the Rover’s Return. It was always very grey looking and not at all appetising which might have something to do with why I’ve never eaten it, or cooked it.

Stuck for something to cook for dinner tonight, I browsed through a few old magazines and saw it mentioned several times. For want of a better suggestion, I decided to put Betty’s dish out of my mind and started doing some research.

Most recipes I found were similar but I eventually went with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s version since he included Worcestershire sauce, anchovies and herbs. While I appreciate this probably isn’t the way the dish was originally prepared, it was more appealing than just lamb, onions and potatoes.

I didn’t use anchovies in the end since I didn’t have any but I did use the Worcestershire sauce and some thyme. I also used stock which some recipes didn’t include, favouring just water.

It was a good, simple dish but, in my opinion, it really needed those extra ingredients. The meat itself had a decent amount of flavour and the kidneys helped provide depth but I can’t imagine it would have been anywhere near as tasty without the stock, Worcestershire sauce and herbs.

Lancashire Hot Pot
Serves Two

Olive oil, for frying
1 large onion, sliced
Lamb neck fillet, bone-in (I’m not sure what weight we used but there were six pieces roughly two inches thick)
2 lambs kidneys
Flour, for dusting
Salt and pepper
375g potatoes, sliced
Bay leaf
2 sprigs thyme
Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
250ml lamb stock

Start by frying the onion in some olive oil until translucent. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Coat the lamb and the kidneys in the seasoned flour and start by browning the lamb. Remove from the pan and set aside while you cook the kidneys.

Arrange half of the potatoes, the cooked onions and the bay leaf on the bottom of a casserole dish and season with salt and pepper. Put the lamb and the kidneys on top, add the thyme and the Worcestershire sauce and season again. Arrange the rest of the potatoes on top of the lamb and pour over the stock. Put the lid on the casserole dish and place in the oven at 200 degrees.

After 20 minutes, turn the oven down to 140 degrees. If there is an excess of liquid at this point, remove it and reserve. Cook for one hour.

Remove the lid, turn the oven up to 200 degrees and cook for a further 30 minutes.