Our seapenguin was wondering about a definitive recipe for Betty's Hotpot. There are a few recipes around the internet for it but this is taken from a document that was sent to me a couple of years back. It was a Sunday Supplement featuring Coronation Street characters and "their" recipes. This, then, seems to be the official Betty's Hotpot recipe, although not on a pub-serving scale in quantity. Vegetarian? Click here for the veggie hot pot recipe
Bettys Hotpot
(To Serve 4)
Ingredients:
Three quarters of a kilogram each of neck of lamb and potatoes
A large onion
One and a half cups water
3 tablespoons of cooking oil
1 tablespoon of flour
1 bay leaf
Dash of Worcestershire Sauce
1. Brown the meat in a pan of very hot oil then set aside
2. Chop and fry the onion until it begins to brown
3. Sprinkle flour into the pan with the onions and stir to soak up the fat
4. Turn off the heat and add the water slowly while stirring vigorously to prevent lumps forming
5. Add a dash of Worcestershire Sauce, salt and pepper to taste
6. Mix the onion, meat and stock together and stir in a bay leaf
7. Alternate layers of meat and onion mix with thinly sliced potato in an ovenproof dish. The top layer should be potato.
8. Cover and bake at 325 F for 2 hours
9. Remove cover and continue to bake until the top layer of potato browns

7 comments:
To be honest, it sounds pretty horrible doesn't it? No wonder poor Betty is a vegetarian.
Such a shame.
I have seen an interview years back where the character claimed her secret was adding a pinch of thyme to the hotpot.
Thank you Tvor, for satisfying my curiosity - but oh dear - almost - no, I DO wish I hadn't asked now!!! (it's the neck of lamb bit - even though I KNOW neck is economical and "tasty" if cooked for long enough - ninety years maybe?? and "soaking up the fat" and "lumps forming" don't help!!) Where did I put my Rennies?
I'm sure you could use less oil in the pan and use beef or leg of lamb instead!
Yuk...was this recipe ever tested? It sounds pretty awful...the meat will dry out and there doesn't seem to be enough spices or condiments for a tough cut of meat placed for that long in the oven even if it is covered!
sorry, just my impression on the recipe
Right - I've got a spare "few hours" this weekend so I'm going to try this out - but bearing leccy bills in mind it'll be the "modified version" i.e. not "neck"!
I will try this out in the slo-cooker which doesn't dry out the meat but will be using lamp chops, not neck. Fatty dishes like this may have been ok years ago but are not seen as healthy today.
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