[Pixie Queen]

I can cook wonderful food but I just can't make great Stovies like my wee mammy. My wee wee mammy isn't capable of telling me her secrets of stovies - she had a big stroke and as a result has vascular dementia. Bits of her memory part brain don't work very well now. I'm sure people with stovie memories will be be able to help with my STOVIES Quest.

[Shrike]

Sorry to hear about your mum.

Stovies are like hash - I expect every mammy has her own 'twist' on it, so it'll probably be a lifetime search! Does she have any contemporaries you can ask for tips?

I make hash using Nigel Slater's recipe in his "Real fast food book" - much like the one here for corn beef hash. Though I also add broccoli and omit eggs. I don't put it under the grill - just cook in the pan.

[petral_gal]

I make it worth corned beef - fry a chopped onion in beef dripping then add in about 6 chopped potatoes (I'm not sure exact quantities bit it fills a big soup pan) them boil until soft in water with 2 beef stock cubes. Drain then add in a tin of corned beef (chopped) then mash til as lumpy as you want it.

Then serve with red sauce. Yum.

[Pixie Queen]

Cheers Hinnys ...

My mammys' stovies were mostly spuds and onions with some sausage or mince or left over meat tossed in. I am on a quest to find the fabulous flavour thing she done.

My Mammy wasn't a good cook but the few dishes /meals she could cook she done very well. She was a superb almost master baker. Nobody can do pastry like my mammy.

[SeasideLady]

Here you go, these recipes might help http://britishfood.about.com/od/main...ies-Recipe.htm

[Gormagon]

I think you may find that it is the quality or the source of the beef dripping that may be the flavour element you are looking for. Perhaps if you can find out where your mother bought her dripping may help.

My grandmothers ( and subsequently my mothers ) stovies were always quite a basic recipe; sliced onion, sliced potato (not chopped), salt, pepper and dripping from a particular butcher. I've since added corned beef to my variation, but I have found that its the beef dripping that is the real make or break flavour element.

[marianna01]

Corned beef has never been used for stovies, not in Scotland anyway. The recipe I use has been adapted from my mother's version and she had never set foot out of Scotland.

Chop up a couple of onions, fry until lightly browned in oil (or dripping), mix in minced beef and brown until coloured, add half a dozen quartered potatoes, add a couple of oxo cubes (in the olden days it was some gravy browning) and add some water to cover, a handful of herbs, salt and pepper. Cover pot and cook until most of the water has evaporated and the potatoes are cooked - usually 50-60 mins. Cooking times can vary depending on the variety of potatoes.

I have used a sprinkle of Worcestershire sauce when almost ready to serve.

Serve with carrots, peas or whatever. I like carrots cooked in the pot from halfway through.

[rivercity_rules]

We have corned beef, tinned not sliced, in our stovies and I'm from Dundee, so definitely do have corned beef in them in parts of Scotland, any other meat would only be leftovers and already cooked so would follow same recipe.

onions fried with butter and a crushed beef oxo, then add pre-boiled potatoes and cubed corned beef/leftover mince and mash with a potatoe masher and keep hearing through.

Then add tomato sauce when dished up.

[SherbetLemon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by marianna01

Corned beef has never been used for stovies, not in Scotland anyway. The recipe I use has been adapted from my mother's version and she had never set foot out of Scotland.

Au contraire, corned beef is frequently used in stovies recipes here in Scotland. It's far tastier, IMO.

[Smokeychan1]

An ex-boyfriend's mother would thinly slice potatoes and make alternate layers with the potatoes and a small amount of browned mince in a large pan. She would then sprinkle on two beef Oxo cubes and put a whole block of butter on top and cover the thing with the grease-proof paper from the butter. It would then be cooked under a low light till it became a wonderful beefy mash, which was served with beetroot on the side.

I can't remember onions being involved, but that may be a faulty memory.

[missyalicia]

Mine is very basic and easy. Boil chopped onions potatoes and beef stock cube. Not too much water. When soft add corned beef then a wee knob of butter. My family love it. An alternative is use sausages or mince but i boil it just the same.

[junnja]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SherbetLemon

Au contraire, corned beef is frequently used in stovies recipes here in Scotland. It's far tastier, IMO.

I beg to differ. In Scotland that has always been referred to as corned beef hash. Stories have always been leftover roast or minced beef or sausages. Never corned beef.

[Scatty-Scot]

We had corned beef in our Stovies. Other times it was just sliced tatties and onions. I had a couple of friends from Glasgow area who made their Stovies with mince. There's as many Stovies recipes as there are families in Scotland!

[marianna01]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SherbetLemon

Au contraire, corned beef is frequently used in stovies recipes here in Scotland. It's far tastier, IMO.

OK I put my hands up and hang my head in shame at my ignorance!

I have never had to seek out a recipe for stovies having just copied my mother's and adapted it over the years. That's my defence anyhow.

[junnja]

Quote:

Originally Posted by marianna01

OK I put my hands up and hang my head in shame at my ignorance!

I have never had to seek out a recipe for stovies having just copied my mother's and adapted it over the years. That's my defence anyhow.

No apologies needed. I know there's lots of recipes for stovies out there. But I personally have always known hash to be the one containing corned beef. I would say I have corned beef in my hash, not in my stovies. Doesn't mean I'm right though. No worries. No one's died. 😁

[Pixie Queen]

Thank you everyone for taking time to help me with my quest for The Stovies.

All your replies show me that even a wee proud country like Scotland can have 2317 different ways to do Stovies within a 6 mile radius of any given Hoose!

Joking aside, I really appreciate everyone's time and memories.

Sliced tatties and onions, salt and loads of pepper(ground, milled and white), the bit meat, the bit butter, the water or stock..........and then ......... YES ... that's the bit I'm missing!

I'm sure the "bit I'm missing" will be different for about half a million people - these people will realise this when they try make The Stovies.

Thank you Everyone. x