Thursday 4 February 2010

Betty's Hotpot recipe

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

20 comments:

  1. To be honest, it sounds pretty horrible doesn't it? No wonder poor Betty is a vegetarian.

    Such a shame.

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    Replies
    1. Excuse me!, I am from the North of England and I love hotpot hotpot.

      The character who played Betty from when Corrie 1st come on our screens gave the name 'Bettys Hotpot and he was not a Vegetarian!!

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    2. They were referring to the actress being vegetarian.

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  2. I have seen an interview years back where the character claimed her secret was adding a pinch of thyme to the hotpot.

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  3. 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?

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  4. I'm sure you could use less oil in the pan and use beef or leg of lamb instead!

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  5. 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

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    Replies
    1. I cook this and it's beautiful honestly.

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  6. 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"!

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  7. 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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  8. I have made this using grass fed stewing beef, dont knock it until you try it, recipe's are a guide not a command:)

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  9. I would use pieces of precooked chicken and chicken soup and maybe if necessary some chicken broth rather than water like a chicken pot pie and add some veggies. That recipe sounds tasteless. Who made it up and decided it was Betty's favourite pot pie-yuk.

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  10. I thought that it came out a few months after Betty's passing when the recipe was found that the secret ingredient was a splash of Guinness.
    This "official" recipe disappoint.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, I believe it was Sean who was left the recipe by Betty in her will. There was a storyline where he couldn't get the recipe to turn out right and then Betty's secret ingredient was revealed. She would pour Guiness in. I forget who knew the secret.

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    2. And ot was Tina that knew the secret was a bottle of guiness

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  11. Ooh-er! I had a whack at this tonight. Bloody nice it was as well! Ta, Betty.

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  12. This is the poor-mans recipe. People didn’t have access to the best cuts of meats back then. Cheapest way to feed a big family, the Hotpot way! RIP BETTY

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  13. Plain, hearty, filling and cheap and the ingredients were handy...that's exactly what it was intended to be...we aren't talking fine dining here.

    Someone once told me...Cooking is an art, baking is science. As with any good artist, it's always nice to "tweak" things.
    This reminds me of the "seven layer dinner" which is popular here on the east coast of Canada.

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  14. What planet are you (Dishwater Crab and a couple of Anonymouseseses) on? Hotpot's delicious!

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