Head chef shares his mince and tatties recipe and tip for preventing waste

Sky News

14-02-2025

Every Thursday, our Money blog team interviews chefs from around the UK, hearing about their cheap food hacks and more. This week, we chat to Alex Henderson, head chef at Newhall Mains in the Highlands.
My go-to cheap eat at home is... classic mince and tatties. Here's the recipe:
500g (1lb) minced beef
1 large onion
2 carrots
2 tbsp butter
5 tbsp flour
350-450ml beef stock
Dice the onion and peel and chop the carrots;
Heat a saucepan or pot to a medium heat, melt the butter and add the onions, cooking them until they are soft with no colour;
Add the mince, using a wooden spoon to break it up so there are no big lumps;
Add the flour and stir thoroughly;
Add the carrots and stock. You should have enough to cover the meat. It will reduce through the cooking process but if it does so too quickly you can add a bit more;
Turn to a low heat and simmer until the meat and carrots are tender and it has all thickened up. This will be approximately an hour. You can also cover with a lid if the stock is reducing too quickly. I like to finish with a little HP sauce to taste;
Prepare your potatoes as desired. I like to serve it with some peas too.
One restaurant that's worth blowing out for is... Solstice by Kenny Atkinson in Newcastle. I had an incredible meal there at the start of January. The guys there do some amazing cooking with quality ingredients.
My chef hero is... Gordon Ramsay. What he has achieved over his career is incredible.
My one piece of advice for an aspiring chef is … to question everything, read plenty of chef cookbooks and dine out as much as possible.
A tip for a non-chef would be... not to compromise on quality. The better the quality of an ingredient, the better the end result will be.
A cheap place in my town is... a little cafe called Highland Farm Cafe. It's not far from my house, and they serve great quality breakfast and coffee. I normally have the full Scottish breakfast, or the eggs benedict with waffles. Yum!
My favourite cookbook has to be... The French Laundry Cookbook. It's a book that was so ahead of its time and I still use it for reference today.
My pet hate in a restaurant is... overly sweet desserts. I like a nice balanced dessert.
My favourite substitute is... a local cold pressed rapeseed oil called Cullisse. It has an amazing nutty flavour and I use it on a daily basis.
A chef tip for preventing waste would be... to pickle any raw leftovers. My pickle recipe is: 200g sugar, 200g white wine vinegar, 200g of water.