I mostly make Lancashire Hotpot, usually with lamb unless I've been to the butchers or the Pakistani supermarket which are the only places you can regularly get mutton or hogget these days. Onions and carrots are de rigeur but really you can put anything in, as long as it has a scallopped potato lid. I never cooked it with kidney like i see some recipes but offal is not really in vogue any more so we're less used to it. Personally i like liver and kidney in the right situation.
In Scotland it still happens with Stovies, not hotpot, Everyone makes it differently, some people make it with ground beef whilst others corned beef, some people eat it with buttered bread and others eat it with oatcakes!
I'm from down South where hotpot isn't really a thing but I would suggest you check out scouse from Liverpool which was based on the Baltic Sailors' dish of Lobscouse. Supposedly scouse and Lancashire hotpot are closely related so why not try all three dishes and see what you think. There is a reprint of the 1913 version of the Northern Counties Household Cookbook. If you can't get a copy over there in Canada I can mail one over to you...
Reminds me of a dish we grew up with called Slumgullion. Ground beef, then onions, then carrot slices, and sliced potatoes on top. The fattier the beef the better, and just salt and pepper for seasoning.
The greatest sense of appreciation I get from these old cookbook recipes is that we are truly blessed to live in the culinary times we do. Where we have restaurants and flavors from around the world, fruits and vegetables year-round and the internet and youtube to introduce us to culinary delights from just about anywhere. Kings of the past could hardly imagine the food options we have today.
Haven't had a hot pot in over 40+ years. My Mum, would oftern cook a Lancashire Hot Pot (Lamb chops, no kidney but sounds closer to the "west" version of this dish.) Although we were Southerners, Mum was taught the recipe by her Cornish Mum, it being a favourite of my Geordie (Newcastle) Grandfather. To my knowledge, the dish was traditionally from mining or factory mill towns. It was assembled by housewives and taken, in the mornings, to the local bakers who would place it in their cooling ovens, so the dish was slowly cooked (with all the benefits that'd give to flavour and texture.) After the wives had finished work (at the local mill?) they would collect the cooked dish and take it home (possibly warming it up, there) to serve for the evening meal when the men finished work. Don't know if this is true or merely apocryphal, but that was the lore I grew up learning! Any way, another great vid, thanks for sharing it with us!
I've heard this before too. It makes sense to me that is why the meat is not browned first. It took all of 5 minutes to assemble so for a working mom this would make sense.
@@wingingitsemiretiredlife2981 Absolutely - A simple, frugal, one pot dish, that was incredibly sustaining (especially if you add a door stop of bread from the aforementioned baker's!) I also suspect that the lack of kidney in my Mothers recipe was mostly personal - Us kids hated kidneys (unless they were chopped up in a Steak and Kidney Pudding) and my Father loved them: So why waste money on an ingredient that the kids would do their best to "eat around", while my Dad would merely lament not being able to eat them whole, fried and served on a slice of toast!
Bettys Hotpot (Coronation Street) (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 I remember when Betty died, we found she used alcohol (Newton and Ridley’s Best bitter) as the liquid
The infamous "youtube comment section" is a running joke but I'd like to congratulate your channel on cultivating a comment section that can actually be worth reading and is not instead a manifesto for misanthropy
My mother still makes Lancashire hot pot in a huge cast iron casserole dish - lamb chops, onions, sliced potatoes, carrots, salt, pepper, NEVER kidneys. It’s incredible and I must write her version down as she’s 80 now and it was her family recipe.
Glen: What you've made today and called hot pot is just a BSA meat, potatoes and onion tin foil dinner layered and cooked in a shallow cast iron pot. You've earned your tenderfoot merit badge. 👍😊 Respectfully, W.S.
My Grandpa would make this everyday for dinner. He would prep it right after lunch and just set the timer on the oven. After he worked all day outside, it was nice to have a hot dinner ready when he called it a day. He never called it a "hot pot", but he did enjoy "baking" it about as much as I did eating it. Now I'm hungry!
Granny Cash ran a boarding house in Dallas TX area before and after WW2. She grated her onions and squeezed out the water (squozen onions!), she used carrots, a small amount of beef bullion, and healthy amount of garlic and Worcestershire sauce. The meat could be beef or pork or mixture of leftovers. Years later mom would make this but she would drain the juice, thicken with corn starch, and add pack to the pot. Family legend is that Granny came from the middle of Britain (the Midlands?). I had forgotten this recipe and will be making it again, thanks much for reminding me of it! Our family also often made this in slow cooker/crock pot.
I would not be too concerned about how few spices there are cooked into the dish. As I understand it, all but the poorest of households at this time had either a salt cellar and pepper grinder or a small crock of "kitchen pepper." John Townsend did a delightful video on the different recipes for kitchen pepper that he had gleaned from his collection of recipe books from a similar period. His experience is based on the USA at that time, but many of these people came from the British Islands, so there might be a cultural connection. I am going to try it as presented because you both seemed to appreciate it. Thanks for the recipe.
Glen, I’m echoing a comment I’ve already seen on this video-I’d love a video tour of your cookbook collection! It would be so interesting to see how many you have, how far back they go, how you have them organized, if you have them logged in an excel spreadsheet (lol), etc. If you care to share, I’m sure you have a lot of interested viewers!
My maternal grandmother was English, spoke with a very thick "cockney" accent. I'm sure my mother learned this recipe from her. The meat was usually leftover pork from a roast, layered with potatoes and onions as you did in the video. No special seasonings other than salt and pepper. As a kid who didn't like potatoes, I loved the taste and texture of the potatoes in this. There wasn't much sauce or gravy, but it wasn't dry either. My grandmother wouldn't have called it " a hot pot" but rather "an 'ot pot! Thanks for a great channel.
Although I’m from Tyneside (I live at the coast 10 miles from Newcastle) I have never had hotpot made like this. My family has been on Tyneside since the at least 1900s and my Gran was a cook in service in Newcastle about 1912-1917 and passed many of her recipes down. We use neck end lamb/mutton chops (browned before going into the pot), use onions and carrots as veg in the dish and not just salt and pepper but also crumbled oxo cubes. Cubed potatoes mixed with the carrots on the bottom layer, then the chops, seasoning and then onions. Sliced potatoes put on the top in overlapping concentric circles covering all of the underneath layers. Add water or stock until it just touches the underside of the potato layer. Covered and cooked in a medium ovenfor 2 hours. Take out, remove lid, daub with small knobs of butter, back into the oven for 30 minutes for the potato layer to brown and crisp up. We like to serve the hot pot with either home pickled red cabbage, or mint sauce
Glen, please don't hold back.....what would you add??? When we go camping we have a cast iron pot with a lid. We load pot, put it on the coals of the fire, put some coals on the lid. Let cook, low and slow for about 2 hours. Then enjoy, it tastes soooo goood eating it while in the outdoors. God bless, love your show. You have taught me so much.
Seems much like the "hobo dinner" we had as kids -- same ingredients, except that everything was put on to aluminum foil that was made into a pouch which was then baked and served individually.
If you are looking for a recipe, that exact dish is usually called 'campfire stew'. I found it in Paula Deens kid's cookbook. My kids love it and I make it in the winter. I love dishes that you just assemble and walk away until it's done.
And, at camp, the foil packets were decorated with our name or picture using a ketchup squeeze bottle, and then put on the coals of the campfire. Oh, man, I can smell and taste it now!
i live in sunderland, about 14 miles from newc... (hard word to say, english civil war and all that) and it's fascinating to see that small book cover the miles it has. as a modern side note, its the west coast version (or as we call it, the lancashire hotpot made with lamb etc) that has become ubiquitous in the eatery's that offer it. it tends to have more 'gravy' in the pot, which is considered by many to be the real star of the show.
In Sweden we have a dish similar to this called Sjömansbiff, seaman's steak. The beef is cut into slices, like steak but pretty thin, and porter ale is added to make a it a stew/braise. It's flavored with the usual swedish spices of black and white pepper, bay leaf and allspice, some also add clove. In some recipes the potatoes are floured to thicken the sauce. The beef and the onions are usually browned before adding to the pan, though I doubt they did that when cooking it on the ships. This dish starts appearing in cookbooks around the end of the 19th century so pretty much the same time as the recipe you showed.
I come from the eastern side of the Pennines in England. I still make a version of this hotpot. The only difference in our family's recipe is that the water is replaced by beef stock (an OXO cube dissolved in hot water) and the potatoes are not put into the dish, they are saved until the very end of the cook. We cut the potatoes into rounds, fry them off, then place them on the top of the hot pot when it is uncovered and it all bakes together for another 10 minutes or so. As for going to the pub... that's may have been how it was in the 1960s/1970s, but now it's just a Weatherfield thing.
I make hotpots with forequarter lamb chops with chopped onion, carrots, celery stalks and add thyme leaves, salt and pepper. I always layer the potatoes on top. Cook on 150C for 2 hours. 15 minutes before end take the lid off increase oven temperature to 200C to brown the spuds.
Long time since I had a hotpot, I am from Lancashire and usually we used lamb, we would also have browned the meat and fried off the onions in the same pan as you had fried the meat, adding some flour at the end followed by water or stock, though more than you did so in combination with the flour would provide more of a gravy, season with salt and pepper and some Worcestershire sauce. The fried of meat would go in casserole dish, onions and gravy mix next then rounds of potatoes completely covering the meat and gravy. Season potatoes either salt and pepper and add a few knows of butter on top. Cook for a couple if hours in oven at about 325-350 F. Uncover then cook for further 20 min or so increasing oven temp to about 375.
This is like the Lancashire hotpot I remember from the 1950s - lamb - onion and the most important difference to the Video - each layer completely covers the one below and the potato layer is of full round slices, like American chips, overlapping so the top layer is the crunchy top - definitely NO lid
my family lives in West Yorkshire, and they put in sliced mushroom, and peas in the hot pot in addition to that ^ Though ours was done in beef stock / gravy..
I grew up with a dish very similar to this. I don't know what the official name is, but my mom found it in a cookbook where it was called "Nantucket Fireman's Supper" It used pork chops instead of the beef, and milk instead of water. Other than that, layered with potatoes and onions, cooked slow, salt and pepper to season, etc.
As always - love your videos! First - I learn stuff - recipes and cooking history. Second - I find them calming and relaxing - a rarity these days. Thank you for all the work that goes into them.
In the UK today hotpot is synonymous with Lancashire hotpot. Lancashire is on the west coast so I guess they won the battle of the hotpots. Lancashire is also only a few miles north of Manchester were Betty served her hotpot in the Rovers Return. And yes you can still pop into many pubs over here for a quick pint and a hotpot.
You had me at "comfort food." Since I am not an accomplished cook by any means, simple ideas that make my heart and stomach warm is always a good thing.
Liked the lamb stew recipe at the bottom of the page. My British husband, made neck of lamb stew on a regular basis, it was always very tasty, satisfying. His family often referred to it as "Dog" stew, no dogs were ever harmed in the process.
In Finland, our version is called "Karelian hot pot" or "Karelian stew" which is very very very traditional food here. I would call it almost most finnish food of all times... :)
Cool video!Reminded me of when I cooked at the Scarborough General Hospital in the 80s and we served in the Cafe a dish called Lancashire Hot Pot.At that time,all food was made in house..I was proud to be part of that crew.
Glen, I'm betting one of the reasons for doing, "The Old Cookbook Show", is getting to read comments like tam and Gary have written below. They both added much to the story.
I loved this. I am Scottish, my father was Liverpudlian (wow predictive text spelt that for me I don't think I have ever written that down -from Liverpool) I love hot pot. My father used to make a very similar dish. A layer of bacon, then potato, onion then carrots and keep going (in whatever order you like) just use water. I bring the water 2/3 of the way up. It is so comforting but it might be because I never really met him and chicken and this was the only dish he ever really made me. I think it is call scouse
My wife's family is of English heritage from the Carolinas. They do something like this, only replacing the chunks of meat with ground beef and putting a few squeezes of ketchup on top. They call it "Dinner in a Dish".
That looked a lot better at the end than I expected as you built it. I would make that with some additional seasoning, and possibly browning the meat in seasoned flour. My family, (MIdwestern American of Scots, Irish and English ancestry) had stew, and we had pot roast, but this is the first time I have ever even heard of a hot pot. (Aside from a loud voice announcing "Hot pot" followed by "coming thru.") I think as the family moved over the generations, from Virginia, to Tennessee and finally landing in Ohio two generations ago a lot of traditions morphed or were simply lost over the years. I don't think the giant commercialized recipe books of the mid 20th century did anything to help preserve family recipes.
My family has the same origin story as yours, except they settled in Indiana, and my grandmother never made anything like this. My mother and I do though. I have dozens of local cookbooks and they don't seem to feature anything similar. It has always intrigued me how culture is lost. My other grandmother is 💯 German and this woman didn't even know what a schnitzel was. She was only second or third generation American, too.
My husband was of Dutch lineage. One of the dishes he cooked was similar to this hot pot. He used a can of mushroom soup snd about half a can of milk. He used beef cubes, ground beef or pork chops for the meat layered with onion and potatoes.
I guess hot pots can be regional here in the uk, from where i am a hot pot is minced beef, diced carrots,peas and onions in a gravy, with layered sliced potatoes on top. Can also be done with minced lamb. This can then be changed to mashed potatoes on-top for a cottage/Shepherds pie🇬🇧
This sounds like a dish my mother made when I was growing up to grew up in North Georgia. Of course we are Scott Irish. She layered everything and put it in a Corning ware dish with a lid on it. A little thyme sometimes is sprinkled over it. I have also made it with chicken. I guess great grandma brought it with her!
I make this with 1/2 reg potatoes and 1/2 sweet potatoes, parsnips, carrots and mushrooms. Sometimes just white potatoes and also fresh green beans. I use beef broth instead of water, 1 minced garlic and salt and pepper. once and awhile I will cut up one tomato and add to it. My gramother called this depression stew where you could add from the garden and stretch the meat out to serve alot of people.
I don't think i've ever had Hot Pot, but my family does a thing called a Boiled Dinner, which is a one pot meal, like this one, but with roast beef or corned beef, cabbage, carrots, potatoes and celery. That recipe came from Somerset, Massachusettes by way of Somerset, England.
I come from a town in North West England and my family has always used lamb, Black pudding, carrots, onions and potato as a topping. We also usually would not put a lid on this so the potatoes go a bit crispy.
Lancashire hotpot was served regularly for school dinners when I was growing up. It was a bit wetter but pretty familiar with what you made. I love hotpot and agree I would add some stock and maybe carrot and another root vegetable.
Hotpot conatains whatever you can afford! I can remeber in the 70/80 it was Beef or lamb ( I was in somerset, UK) it difinately had carot and sometimes Turnip or Swede as well as potatoe an onion. The last layer always being potato ( Which is why it was a hotpot) . It never had water it was always oxo in hot water, and some extras like soy sauce, worcester sauce, tomato paste, erbs its soupyness depended on when dad got home! It was filled up with water, but dried up depending on when dad got home!
I have a very busy day ahead of me, and this sounds like the perfect dinner to test out! I love gravy, spices, and seasonings, but over the years I’ve also grown to appreciate the more simple flavors of old recipes.
My mother used to make something like this with beef, potatoes, onions and water in a cast iron pot. She put it on the table with salt, pepper, and butter. Simple and filling.
There is also a North, South divide for many recipes. The basic Idea seems to change again once you get to the home Counties, South of the Midlands. Yorkshire and Derbyshire still make Hot pot the same way (though Mom used to dredge the beef in seasoned flour)
West coast -Lancashire hotpot - the big difference to the Video is that the layers completely cover the one below the potato is cut in complete rounds, like thick American Chips, and the top layer is overlapping and crunchy like chips - definitely no lid - my memory 1950s , lamb, onions, potato - in a deep pot , oven cook
That's essentially what we use for Tinfoil Dinners. Beef (chunks or hamburger), thin sliced potatoes, onions, frozen corn, salt and pepper, and maybe some butter on top. Some add carrots if they like. Wrap it in two layers of foil and throw it in the campfire for 45 minutes or so. Delish!
Whenever I’ve made hotpot it’s always ben with lamb, it’s lawyered dish and has some of the normal casserole veg, like carrots and ,maybe parsnips (although parsnips do have a distinct flavour). There’s always stock (usually chicken as I’m not a fan of lamb stock), then the potatoes are slices of whole ones, not cut in half as you have and I normally par boil them and overlap on the top to create an equivalent of a pie crust, but from potatoes and you need to put some butter on top. For seasoning, I’l usually use thyme, salt and pepper. It’s very hearty and warming on a cold day and while it would go nicely with a pint, pub food fashion has moved on and you are more likely to find burgers or some form or pie than a hotpot.
Thanks Glen. Oh the temptation to add must have been great, but it is very interesting to see these old recipes being made true to form and how they actually taste. Sometimes less is more and more is more haha. Have a great weekend.
My grandma is from Edinburgh. In the winter we had a hot pot at least once a month. It was always lamb, onions, salt pepper, rosemary, tomatos and potatos and parsnips.
It reminds me of my Mom's Irish Stew, even though I doubt it was truly Irish. I grew up in continental Europe. My Mom would have added carrots, and white cabbage on top of the onions and potatoes. Actually, no Irish heritage in our family that we know of. Our ancestors from the 17th and early 18th century came from Brittany and settled in Western Germany. There was always much more veg than meat in the pot. Nonetheless, my memory is very favorable of this dish. Still, I love all dishes you can eat with a spoon. Yes, and it is an energy-saving dish, too. Bake something requiring a hot oven first, turn off the heat and place the dish in the oven. Justified by two hours of baking in a slowing oven, the meat will be tender, despite the cut. Excellent recipe, Glen, it brings up nice memories.
An English friend told me once that it's just tradition to cook food with very less salt & pepper and then, on the table, everybody spices it up to personal taste.
My mom was born during the Great Depression and grew up in Oklahoma with the dust bowl experience. She was the youngest on 9 children. Her mother died just 9 years later but Mom always spoke of their meals. Very simple food made to nourish this large family the best the could. When you talk of adding things for flavor, I think you do a little disservice to these humble meals made with whatever they could get their hands on. More spice and more veggies certainly will make it more modern and I agree that every cook adjusts recipes to their preferences. I’ve never had this dish you made today but I recognize the style of necessity.
I left a comment about a variation I have always made that turmed this into a soup. You said what I was thinking. You don't need to add nonsense! KISS, as they say. All of my most requested diahes are the simplest in flavors and they are always the ones where I don't have leftovers, no matter how much I make. This is a comfort food. Don't chef it up!
I made this last night and it was a hit. Granted I added a lot more seasoning (and added sage, rosemary, thyme), but I also included all the aging vegetables I found in the fridge: carrots, celery, cilantro, mushrooms in addition to the potatoes an onions. Changes I'll make next time is probably increasing the meat to at least a pound if not more, the 2/3 lb of flat iron steak I found in the freezer was a bit inadequate. I really liked how it was not soupy and was more like I had roasted it on a sheet pan but the meat cooked very nice like it had been stewed. I might try browning the meat in the pan prior to assembling to see if it adds some extra flavor.
Yep a typical North east England dish. Very simple ingredients reflective of the communities at the time but to be fair Im sure meat then was properly raised and hung after slaughter so would have has lots of flavour anyway
This dish is one I've never heard of before. Closest thing we made was stew. Browned meat, onions, carrots, and potatoes simmered on top of stove. Now done in crockpot. Or cut up stewing hen with same veggies and then dumplings on top.😊
Thank you, Glen, and all those who commented with context and history. It’s why I ♥️ your Sunday show. Interesting there was an East/West rivalry before Tupac and Biggie. 😁
Not gonna lie I did a little happy dance on seeing the thumbnail of this video as I'm from Lancashire originally. It wasn't something Mum ever cooked for us growing up and like you I only really associated hotpot with Corrie 😁, so the first time I ate one was in a Manchester pub on our last trip back to England. Found a great hotpot recipe last year that I've made a few times since which is made with lamb and has the addition of carrot as well onion, chicken stock is used instead of water and worcestershire sauce, a bay leaf and a sprinkle of thyme on the layer of potatoes provides extra flavour.
I love the old cookbook show and I especially love recipes that were intended for the working class or for times of want. And the two hot pot varieties is reminiscent of the Americans divide over clam chowder (Manhattan vs. New England). Two great recipes that have silly arguments about.
Reminds me very much of an Irish stew only lamb is used more often but same simplicity and cooking technique. I love its pure simple wholesome flavours
Really love your videos! I can’t try many of them because I can’t get the ingredients but I still enjoy watching you make interesting dishes. I especially love the old recipes and intend making the basic smothered chicken as it sounds delicious. I wish I could send you a South African recipe book but I doubt it would ever arrive! Since you enjoy Indian food, I think you would like some of the things we eat.
If by West Coast and East coast you mean Lancashire and Yorkshire then I think Betty's hot pot would be a West coast or Lancashire hot pot. Although, to be honest, I am London born and bred and have only ever heard of (and eaten) a Lancashire hot pot. It would definitely be richer and more flavourful than this recipe would seem to be going by the basics ingredients. I'm off to do some research now! Thanks Glen!
My mama was from Lancashire (west coast, literally in her case) and for her, hot pot was a sort of catch all for "what's in the fridge" dish. There were always beef, pork or lamb for protein with onions and potatoes for layers throughout but carrots, rutabagas, parsnips, turnips, sweet potatoes, cabbage, broccoli, green beans and/or garlic might also make one or more layers or be sprinkled between two of the layers. She often used a mild ale instead of water or broth or stock--very tasty! Not very much, just enough to keep it steamy and moist as it cooked.
I do something similar with cheddar cheese in the middle and a little on top when you let the top brown. We also do this exact thing but with sliced smoked sausage and or ham instead of beef.
Thanks for watching Everyone! So what do you put in your Hot Pot?
I mostly make Lancashire Hotpot, usually with lamb unless I've been to the butchers or the Pakistani supermarket which are the only places you can regularly get mutton or hogget these days. Onions and carrots are de rigeur but really you can put anything in, as long as it has a scallopped potato lid. I never cooked it with kidney like i see some recipes but offal is not really in vogue any more so we're less used to it. Personally i like liver and kidney in the right situation.
In Scotland it still happens with Stovies, not hotpot, Everyone makes it differently, some people make it with ground beef whilst others corned beef, some people eat it with buttered bread and others eat it with oatcakes!
I'm from down South where hotpot isn't really a thing but I would suggest you check out scouse from Liverpool which was based on the Baltic Sailors' dish of Lobscouse. Supposedly scouse and Lancashire hotpot are closely related so why not try all three dishes and see what you think.
There is a reprint of the 1913 version of the Northern Counties Household Cookbook. If you can't get a copy over there in Canada I can mail one over to you...
you weren't very confident with that dish huh? When the filming stopped, did you grab the salt shaker ? lol
Reminds me of a dish we grew up with called Slumgullion. Ground beef, then onions, then carrot slices, and sliced potatoes on top. The fattier the beef the better, and just salt and pepper for seasoning.
The greatest sense of appreciation I get from these old cookbook recipes is that we are truly blessed to live in the culinary times we do. Where we have restaurants and flavors from around the world, fruits and vegetables year-round and the internet and youtube to introduce us to culinary delights from just about anywhere. Kings of the past could hardly imagine the food options we have today.
Haven't had a hot pot in over 40+ years. My Mum, would oftern cook a Lancashire Hot Pot (Lamb chops, no kidney but sounds closer to the "west" version of this dish.) Although we were Southerners, Mum was taught the recipe by her Cornish Mum, it being a favourite of my Geordie (Newcastle) Grandfather. To my knowledge, the dish was traditionally from mining or factory mill towns. It was assembled by housewives and taken, in the mornings, to the local bakers who would place it in their cooling ovens, so the dish was slowly cooked (with all the benefits that'd give to flavour and texture.) After the wives had finished work (at the local mill?) they would collect the cooked dish and take it home (possibly warming it up, there) to serve for the evening meal when the men finished work. Don't know if this is true or merely apocryphal, but that was the lore I grew up learning! Any way, another great vid, thanks for sharing it with us!
I've heard this before too. It makes sense to me that is why the meat is not browned first. It took all of 5 minutes to assemble so for a working mom this would make sense.
@@wingingitsemiretiredlife2981 Absolutely - A simple, frugal, one pot dish, that was incredibly sustaining (especially if you add a door stop of bread from the aforementioned baker's!)
I also suspect that the lack of kidney in my Mothers recipe was mostly personal - Us kids hated kidneys (unless they were chopped up in a Steak and Kidney Pudding) and my Father loved them: So why waste money on an ingredient that the kids would do their best to "eat around", while my Dad would merely lament not being able to eat them whole, fried and served on a slice of toast!
That's so interesting, thanks for sharing your family history.
Bettys Hotpot (Coronation Street)
(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
I remember when Betty died, we found she used alcohol (Newton and Ridley’s Best bitter) as the liquid
The infamous "youtube comment section" is a running joke but I'd like to congratulate your channel on cultivating a comment section that can actually be worth reading and is not instead a manifesto for misanthropy
My mother still makes Lancashire hot pot in a huge cast iron casserole dish - lamb chops, onions, sliced potatoes, carrots, salt, pepper, NEVER kidneys. It’s incredible and I must write her version down as she’s 80 now and it was her family recipe.
Glen: What you've made today and called hot pot is just a BSA meat, potatoes and onion tin foil dinner layered and cooked in a shallow cast iron pot. You've earned your tenderfoot merit badge. 👍😊 Respectfully, W.S.
Is this then, how our Pot Roast came to be? Speaking of Pot Roast, Have you ever used to even bag to make a Pot Roast? Delish!
My Grandpa would make this everyday for dinner. He would prep it right after lunch and just set the timer on the oven. After he worked all day outside, it was nice to have a hot dinner ready when he called it a day. He never called it a "hot pot", but he did enjoy "baking" it about as much as I did eating it. Now I'm hungry!
Granny Cash ran a boarding house in Dallas TX area before and after WW2. She grated her onions and squeezed out the water (squozen onions!), she used carrots, a small amount of beef bullion, and healthy amount of garlic and Worcestershire sauce. The meat could be beef or pork or mixture of leftovers. Years later mom would make this but she would drain the juice, thicken with corn starch, and add pack to the pot. Family legend is that Granny came from the middle of Britain (the Midlands?). I had forgotten this recipe and will be making it again, thanks much for reminding me of it! Our family also often made this in slow cooker/crock pot.
I would not be too concerned about how few spices there are cooked into the dish. As I understand it, all but the poorest of households at this time had either a salt cellar and pepper grinder or a small crock of "kitchen pepper." John Townsend did a delightful video on the different recipes for kitchen pepper that he had gleaned from his collection of recipe books from a similar period. His experience is based on the USA at that time, but many of these people came from the British Islands, so there might be a cultural connection. I am going to try it as presented because you both seemed to appreciate it. Thanks for the recipe.
Glen, I’m echoing a comment I’ve already seen on this video-I’d love a video tour of your cookbook collection! It would be so interesting to see how many you have, how far back they go, how you have them organized, if you have them logged in an excel spreadsheet (lol), etc. If you care to share, I’m sure you have a lot of interested viewers!
My maternal grandmother was English, spoke with a very thick "cockney" accent. I'm sure my mother learned this recipe from her. The meat was usually leftover pork from a roast, layered with potatoes and onions as you did in the video. No special seasonings other than salt and pepper. As a kid who didn't like potatoes, I loved the taste and texture of the potatoes in this. There wasn't much sauce or gravy, but it wasn't dry either. My grandmother wouldn't have called it " a hot pot" but rather "an 'ot pot! Thanks for a great channel.
Although I’m from Tyneside (I live at the coast 10 miles from Newcastle) I have never had hotpot made like this. My family has been on Tyneside since the at least 1900s and my Gran was a cook in service in Newcastle about 1912-1917 and passed many of her recipes down. We use neck end lamb/mutton chops (browned before going into the pot), use onions and carrots as veg in the dish and not just salt and pepper but also crumbled oxo cubes. Cubed potatoes mixed with the carrots on the bottom layer, then the chops, seasoning and then onions. Sliced potatoes put on the top in overlapping concentric circles covering all of the underneath layers. Add water or stock until it just touches the underside of the potato layer.
Covered and cooked in a medium ovenfor 2 hours. Take out, remove lid, daub with small knobs of butter, back into the oven for 30 minutes for the potato layer to brown and crisp up.
We like to serve the hot pot with either home pickled red cabbage, or mint sauce
Glen, please don't hold back.....what would you add??? When we go camping we have a cast iron pot with a lid. We load pot, put it on the coals of the fire, put some coals on the lid. Let cook, low and slow for about 2 hours. Then enjoy, it tastes soooo goood eating it while in the outdoors. God bless, love your show. You have taught me so much.
Seems much like the "hobo dinner" we had as kids -- same ingredients, except that everything was put on to aluminum foil that was made into a pouch which was then baked and served individually.
If you are looking for a recipe, that exact dish is usually called 'campfire stew'. I found it in Paula Deens kid's cookbook. My kids love it and I make it in the winter. I love dishes that you just assemble and walk away until it's done.
And, at camp, the foil packets were decorated with our name or picture using a ketchup squeeze bottle, and then put on the coals of the campfire. Oh, man, I can smell and taste it now!
i live in sunderland, about 14 miles from newc... (hard word to say, english civil war and all that) and it's fascinating to see that small book cover the miles it has. as a modern side note, its the west coast version (or as we call it, the lancashire hotpot made with lamb etc) that has become ubiquitous in the eatery's that offer it. it tends to have more 'gravy' in the pot, which is considered by many to be the real star of the show.
Every Makem I’ve ever met spits on the ground when you mention Geordies, the Magpies, or having a pint of Broon.
In Sweden we have a dish similar to this called Sjömansbiff, seaman's steak. The beef is cut into slices, like steak but pretty thin, and porter ale is added to make a it a stew/braise. It's flavored with the usual swedish spices of black and white pepper, bay leaf and allspice, some also add clove. In some recipes the potatoes are floured to thicken the sauce. The beef and the onions are usually browned before adding to the pan, though I doubt they did that when cooking it on the ships. This dish starts appearing in cookbooks around the end of the 19th century so pretty much the same time as the recipe you showed.
Clove does bring out the flavor in beef! 💯
That sounds delicious! The porter, the clove and other spices, the flour to make a gravy -- yummmm!
I come from the eastern side of the Pennines in England. I still make a version of this hotpot. The only difference in our family's recipe is that the water is replaced by beef stock (an OXO cube dissolved in hot water) and the potatoes are not put into the dish, they are saved until the very end of the cook. We cut the potatoes into rounds, fry them off, then place them on the top of the hot pot when it is uncovered and it all bakes together for another 10 minutes or so.
As for going to the pub... that's may have been how it was in the 1960s/1970s, but now it's just a Weatherfield thing.
I make hotpots with forequarter lamb chops with chopped onion, carrots, celery stalks and add thyme leaves, salt and pepper. I always layer the potatoes on top. Cook on 150C for 2 hours. 15 minutes before end take the lid off increase oven temperature to 200C to brown the spuds.
Long time since I had a hotpot, I am from Lancashire and usually we used lamb, we would also have browned the meat and fried off the onions in the same pan as you had fried the meat, adding some flour at the end followed by water or stock, though more than you did so in combination with the flour would provide more of a gravy, season with salt and pepper and some Worcestershire sauce. The fried of meat would go in casserole dish, onions and gravy mix next then rounds of potatoes completely covering the meat and gravy. Season potatoes either salt and pepper and add a few knows of butter on top. Cook for a couple if hours in oven at about 325-350 F. Uncover then cook for further 20 min or so increasing oven temp to about 375.
Hotpot suppers used to be a thing, with a large Hotpot being made for a large group of people.
This is like the Lancashire hotpot I remember from the 1950s - lamb - onion and the most important difference to the Video - each layer completely covers the one below and the potato layer is of full round slices, like American chips, overlapping so the top layer is the crunchy top - definitely NO lid
my family lives in West Yorkshire, and they put in sliced mushroom, and peas in the hot pot in addition to that ^ Though ours was done in beef stock / gravy..
I grew up with a dish very similar to this. I don't know what the official name is, but my mom found it in a cookbook where it was called "Nantucket Fireman's Supper" It used pork chops instead of the beef, and milk instead of water. Other than that, layered with potatoes and onions, cooked slow, salt and pepper to season, etc.
As always - love your videos! First - I learn stuff - recipes and cooking history. Second - I find them calming and relaxing - a rarity these days.
Thank you for all the work that goes into them.
This has just opened up many ideas for things to cook. Adding carrots parsnips and more seasoning is a great idea
Same here ... I am thinking about adding some garlic to the spices
I coat the meat in flour and brown it first, then in the oven dish layer it with veges including mushrooms, and add a bay leaf and a bottle of beer.
That sounds like a very nice stew.
@@MrBenjigee it is, especially with a yummy crusty bread to mop it up with.
I love this series. Thank you for bringing these episodes to RUclips!
In the UK today hotpot is synonymous with Lancashire hotpot. Lancashire is on the west coast so I guess they won the battle of the hotpots. Lancashire is also only a few miles north of Manchester were Betty served her hotpot in the Rovers Return. And yes you can still pop into many pubs over here for a quick pint and a hotpot.
@@minuteman4199 I can see that being true
Jules always turns up when the food's just done cooking. RESPECT
You had me at "comfort food." Since I am not an accomplished cook by any means, simple ideas that make my heart and stomach warm is always a good thing.
Up here in Scotland we usually had to catch the wild Haggis first to stick in ours 😉
Liked the lamb stew recipe at the bottom of the page. My British husband, made neck of lamb stew on a regular basis, it was always very tasty, satisfying. His family often referred to it as "Dog" stew, no dogs were ever harmed in the process.
@Glen you just blew my mind with that thing about Phó being derived from pot-au-feu!
Yep. Remember that for a long time, Vietnam was a French possession. The Vietnamese took over pot-au-feu and made it their own.
Hey Glen. Thanks for remembering Betty's hot pot from The Rover's. That's exactly what I thought of when I saw the title of this episode. Mmmmm 🍲
It reminds me of a basic foil meal that we made in Guides on camping trips.
In Finland, our version is called "Karelian hot pot" or "Karelian stew" which is very very very traditional food here. I would call it almost most finnish food of all times... :)
Cool video!Reminded me of when I cooked at the Scarborough General Hospital in the 80s and we served in the Cafe a dish called Lancashire Hot Pot.At that time,all food was made in house..I was proud to be part of that crew.
Glen, I'm betting one of the reasons for doing, "The Old Cookbook Show", is getting to read comments like tam and Gary have written below. They both added much to the story.
Looks like you guys enjoyed it....Looks like some simple ingredients and a little salt is all that's needed for a comforting meal.
I loved this. I am Scottish, my father was Liverpudlian (wow predictive text spelt that for me I don't think I have ever written that down -from Liverpool) I love hot pot. My father used to make a very similar dish. A layer of bacon, then potato, onion then carrots and keep going (in whatever order you like) just use water. I bring the water 2/3 of the way up.
It is so comforting but it might be because I never really met him and chicken and this was the only dish he ever really made me.
I think it is call scouse
My wife's family is of English heritage from the Carolinas. They do something like this, only replacing the chunks of meat with ground beef and putting a few squeezes of ketchup on top. They call it "Dinner in a Dish".
interesting video. cant believe you know about coronation street
and bettys famous hotpot!!
could do with a big dash of lea & perrins .
delicious!!
That looked a lot better at the end than I expected as you built it. I would make that with some additional seasoning, and possibly browning the meat in seasoned flour. My family, (MIdwestern American of Scots, Irish and English ancestry) had stew, and we had pot roast, but this is the first time I have ever even heard of a hot pot. (Aside from a loud voice announcing "Hot pot" followed by "coming thru.") I think as the family moved over the generations, from Virginia, to Tennessee and finally landing in Ohio two generations ago a lot of traditions morphed or were simply lost over the years. I don't think the giant commercialized recipe books of the mid 20th century did anything to help preserve family recipes.
My family has the same origin story as yours, except they settled in Indiana, and my grandmother never made anything like this. My mother and I do though. I have dozens of local cookbooks and they don't seem to feature anything similar. It has always intrigued me how culture is lost. My other grandmother is 💯 German and this woman didn't even know what a schnitzel was. She was only second or third generation American, too.
My husband was of Dutch lineage. One of the dishes he cooked was similar to this hot pot. He used a can of mushroom soup snd about half a can of milk. He used beef cubes, ground beef or pork chops for the meat layered with onion and potatoes.
I guess hot pots can be regional here in the uk, from where i am a hot pot is minced beef, diced carrots,peas and onions in a gravy, with layered sliced potatoes on top. Can also be done with minced lamb. This can then be changed to mashed potatoes on-top for a cottage/Shepherds pie🇬🇧
My husband is from Yorkshire, and this is how he makes it
Never heard of this. I will look forward to seeing the West Coast hot pot in future videos!
This sounds like a dish my mother made when I was growing up to grew up in North Georgia. Of course we are Scott Irish. She layered everything and put it in a Corning ware dish with a lid on it. A little thyme sometimes is sprinkled over it. I have also made it with chicken. I guess great grandma brought it with her!
I make this with 1/2 reg potatoes and 1/2 sweet potatoes, parsnips, carrots and mushrooms. Sometimes just white potatoes and also fresh green beans. I use beef broth instead of water, 1 minced garlic and salt and pepper. once and awhile I will cut up one tomato and add to it.
My gramother called this depression stew where you could add from the garden and stretch the meat out to serve alot of people.
Sometimes, the simplest things are the hardest to make great.
This reminds me sort of like a deconstructed American pot roast dinner.
I don't think i've ever had Hot Pot, but my family does a thing called a Boiled Dinner, which is a one pot meal, like this one, but with roast beef or corned beef, cabbage, carrots, potatoes and celery. That recipe came from Somerset, Massachusettes by way of Somerset, England.
Newfoundlanders do something similar called Jiggs Dinner.
I come from a town in North West England and my family has always used lamb, Black pudding, carrots, onions and potato as a topping. We also usually would not put a lid on this so the potatoes go a bit crispy.
Lancashire hotpot was served regularly for school dinners when I was growing up. It was a bit wetter but pretty familiar with what you made. I love hotpot and agree I would add some stock and maybe carrot and another root vegetable.
This would be a Yorkshire Hotpot.
Hotpot conatains whatever you can afford! I can remeber in the 70/80 it was Beef or lamb ( I was in somerset, UK) it difinately had carot and sometimes Turnip or Swede as well as potatoe an onion. The last layer always being potato ( Which is why it was a hotpot) . It never had water it was always oxo in hot water, and some extras like soy sauce, worcester sauce, tomato paste, erbs its soupyness depended on when dad got home! It was filled up with water, but dried up depending on when dad got home!
I have a very busy day ahead of me, and this sounds like the perfect dinner to test out! I love gravy, spices, and seasonings, but over the years I’ve also grown to appreciate the more simple flavors of old recipes.
Can't wait for the West Coast version. Love all the history and comments from other views.
been doing this for many generation in the eastern townships quebec , some times we add beer to the mix , love watchin your show
I never had hot pot as a kid growing up but the look of it reminds me of what my grandfather put in his cornish pasties.
My mother used to make something like this with beef, potatoes, onions and water in a cast iron pot. She put it on the table with salt, pepper, and butter. Simple and filling.
I've never heard of Hot Pot but I grew up eating this dish. My Norwegian grandmother made it often. 💚🌞
I made this for dinner. Added carrots and mushrooms, garlic powder and used Better Than Bullion. Chef's kiss 💋.
There is also a North, South divide for many recipes. The basic Idea seems to change again once you get to the home Counties, South of the Midlands. Yorkshire and Derbyshire still make Hot pot the same way (though Mom used to dredge the beef in seasoned flour)
I made it for dinner tonight. Wonderfully comforting.
West coast -Lancashire hotpot - the big difference to the Video is that the layers completely cover the one below the potato is cut in complete rounds, like thick American Chips, and the top layer is overlapping and crunchy like chips - definitely no lid - my memory 1950s , lamb, onions, potato - in a deep pot , oven cook
That's essentially what we use for Tinfoil Dinners. Beef (chunks or hamburger), thin sliced potatoes, onions, frozen corn, salt and pepper, and maybe some butter on top. Some add carrots if they like. Wrap it in two layers of foil and throw it in the campfire for 45 minutes or so. Delish!
Whenever I’ve made hotpot it’s always ben with lamb, it’s lawyered dish and has some of the normal casserole veg, like carrots and ,maybe parsnips (although parsnips do have a distinct flavour). There’s always stock (usually chicken as I’m not a fan of lamb stock), then the potatoes are slices of whole ones, not cut in half as you have and I normally par boil them and overlap on the top to create an equivalent of a pie crust, but from potatoes and you need to put some butter on top. For seasoning, I’l usually use thyme, salt and pepper. It’s very hearty and warming on a cold day and while it would go nicely with a pint, pub food fashion has moved on and you are more likely to find burgers or some form or pie than a hotpot.
My grandmother would have made this with pork belly and browned the onions first, loved it. There was more liquid.
Thanks Glen. Oh the temptation to add must have been great, but it is very interesting to see these old recipes being made true to form and how they actually taste. Sometimes less is more and more is more haha. Have a great weekend.
I've never made hot pot. This is a very simple dish, but as Jules pointed out, it has the basics for comfort food, meat, potatoes, and onion.
My grandma is from Edinburgh. In the winter we had a hot pot at least once a month. It was always lamb, onions, salt pepper, rosemary, tomatos and potatos and parsnips.
It reminds me of my Mom's Irish Stew, even though I doubt it was truly Irish. I grew up in continental Europe. My Mom would have added carrots, and white cabbage on top of the onions and potatoes. Actually, no Irish heritage in our family that we know of. Our ancestors from the 17th and early 18th century came from Brittany and settled in Western Germany. There was always much more veg than meat in the pot. Nonetheless, my memory is very favorable of this dish. Still, I love all dishes you can eat with a spoon.
Yes, and it is an energy-saving dish, too. Bake something requiring a hot oven first, turn off the heat and place the dish in the oven. Justified by two hours of baking in a slowing oven, the meat will be tender, despite the cut.
Excellent recipe, Glen, it brings up nice memories.
An English friend told me once that it's just tradition to cook food with very less salt & pepper and then, on the table, everybody spices it up to personal taste.
Here in the Midwest, USA I would call this a casserole. Agree that more vegetables and seasonings would be welcome.
My mom was born during the Great Depression and grew up in Oklahoma with the dust bowl experience. She was the youngest on 9 children. Her mother died just 9 years later but Mom always spoke of their meals. Very simple food made to nourish this large family the best the could. When you talk of adding things for flavor, I think you do a little disservice to these humble meals made with whatever they could get their hands on. More spice and more veggies certainly will make it more modern and I agree that every cook adjusts recipes to their preferences. I’ve never had this dish you made today but I recognize the style of necessity.
I left a comment about a variation I have always made that turmed this into a soup. You said what I was thinking. You don't need to add nonsense! KISS, as they say. All of my most requested diahes are the simplest in flavors and they are always the ones where I don't have leftovers, no matter how much I make. This is a comfort food. Don't chef it up!
I made this last night and it was a hit. Granted I added a lot more seasoning (and added sage, rosemary, thyme), but I also included all the aging vegetables I found in the fridge: carrots, celery, cilantro, mushrooms in addition to the potatoes an onions. Changes I'll make next time is probably increasing the meat to at least a pound if not more, the 2/3 lb of flat iron steak I found in the freezer was a bit inadequate. I really liked how it was not soupy and was more like I had roasted it on a sheet pan but the meat cooked very nice like it had been stewed. I might try browning the meat in the pan prior to assembling to see if it adds some extra flavor.
It looks pretty basic but I had to smile watching Juls tuck into it.
Yep a typical North east England dish. Very simple ingredients reflective of the communities at the time but to be fair Im sure meat then was properly raised and hung after slaughter so would have has lots of flavour anyway
This dish is one I've never heard of before. Closest thing we made was stew. Browned meat, onions, carrots, and potatoes simmered on top of stove. Now done in crockpot. Or cut up stewing hen with same veggies and then dumplings on top.😊
omg Betty's hotpot Coronation Street, yup that's where I heard it from......that made me smile
❤️ people who ❤️ roots in the present! 👍
My recipe calls for a 12 pack of your favorite beer. Prepare the hot pot, then sit back and consume beer while waiting for hot pot to cook.
Thank you, Glen, and all those who commented with context and history. It’s why I ♥️ your Sunday show. Interesting there was an East/West rivalry before Tupac and Biggie. 😁
I've never had "hot pot." And this is my first time hearing of it too. But it looks easy to make, simple & tasty.
The top crispy potatoes are always the best bit
I make a vegetarian hot pot with mixed veg, onions, potatoes and baked beans. Sometimes with Cheddar cheese. Very comforting and filling.
Not gonna lie I did a little happy dance on seeing the thumbnail of this video as I'm from Lancashire originally. It wasn't something Mum ever cooked for us growing up and like you I only really associated hotpot with Corrie 😁, so the first time I ate one was in a Manchester pub on our last trip back to England. Found a great hotpot recipe last year that I've made a few times since which is made with lamb and has the addition of carrot as well onion, chicken stock is used instead of water and worcestershire sauce, a bay leaf and a sprinkle of thyme on the layer of potatoes provides extra flavour.
Never had hot pot, never heard of it before. But it does look very nourishing and comforting!
I have never heard of hot pot other than the Chinese version. Sounds good, I will try it.
The Dutch also have a hot pot, basically and catch all stew.
I love the old cookbook show and I especially love recipes that were intended for the working class or for times of want. And the two hot pot varieties is reminiscent of the Americans divide over clam chowder (Manhattan vs. New England). Two great recipes that have silly arguments about.
Reminds me very much of an Irish stew only lamb is used more often but same simplicity and cooking technique. I love its pure simple wholesome flavours
Nice
We have this to use left overs of a roast lamb….lamb, leeks, spuds, stock, thyme and Worcestershire sauce. Delicious!
Really love your videos! I can’t try many of them because I can’t get the ingredients but I still enjoy watching you make interesting dishes. I especially love the old recipes and intend making the basic smothered chicken as it sounds delicious. I wish I could send you a South African recipe book but I doubt it would ever arrive! Since you enjoy Indian food, I think you would like some of the things we eat.
If by West Coast and East coast you mean Lancashire and Yorkshire then I think Betty's hot pot would be a West coast or Lancashire hot pot. Although, to be honest, I am London born and bred and have only ever heard of (and eaten) a Lancashire hot pot. It would definitely be richer and more flavourful than this recipe would seem to be going by the basics ingredients. I'm off to do some research now! Thanks Glen!
My mama was from Lancashire (west coast, literally in her case) and for her, hot pot was a sort of catch all for "what's in the fridge" dish. There were always beef, pork or lamb for protein with onions and potatoes for layers throughout but carrots, rutabagas, parsnips, turnips, sweet potatoes, cabbage, broccoli, green beans and/or garlic might also make one or more layers or be sprinkled between two of the layers.
She often used a mild ale instead of water or broth or stock--very tasty! Not very much, just enough to keep it steamy and moist as it cooked.
Betty always added a bottle of stout to her hotpot & used lamb/mutton!
I had never heard of the dish before this video!
I have never heard of this dish till your video
I do something similar with cheddar cheese in the middle and a little on top when you let the top brown.
We also do this exact thing but with sliced smoked sausage and or ham instead of beef.