"Pourquoi tu ne nous ferais pas du hachis?" ("Why don't you cook us hachis?") my aunt asked me yesterday night as we were looking for an idea for saturday lunch. I thought that was a good idea. 

I love cooking hachis. It's one of those dishes that can be cooked either very quickly when you're in a hurry and don't know what to do with the leftovers of a beaf stew or very slowly when you have plenty of time on front of you. But whichever solution you pick, hachis always conveys the same feelings to me : a feeling of warmth and comfort. 

The second great advantage of hachis is that it is a family dish. Chances that kids don't like it are slim and grown ups often appreciate it. 

The third advantage of hachis when you live abroad is that it's quite simple to cook and yet, so french! It always makes quite an impression on your guests, even though you live in France. It's all a question of adding the right herbs and spices. 

So I cooked my hachis on Saturday morning and we ate it. All together. And we finished our meal with a cup of coffee or tea and a cherry flavoured cookie. 

Then we spent our afternoon doing our own business. As for me, it was mainly work, work and work since studying law means a great part of personal work. But I'm happy since I managed to cook and share my recipe with you. I hope you all enjoy it ;-)

You will need :

- 2 pounds beaf meat

- 6 carrots

- 2 tomatoes

- 3 tablespoons white wine

- 1 tablespoon mustard

- Parsil and Thyme according to your taste

- 3 coriander seeds

- 4 Table spoons tomatoe sauce

- A glass of water

- 1 big red oignon

- 2 pounds potatoes

- 40 cL milk

- A bit of butter

1. Peal and cut the potatoes in cubes. Put them in a stew full of cold water and cook them for about 30 minutes.

2. In the meantime, cut the oignon in tiny pieces and heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan. Sweat the oignon for about three minutes. Set aside. 

3. Peal and cut the carrots and the tomatoes in tiny dices and pour them in the frying pan. Add the meat, the wine, the herbs, the coriander, the mustard and the water and cook for half an hour. It's best to wait until the carrots are melting and the ingredients have absorbed all the liquid. 

4. Place this mixture in the bowl of a food processor, chop it and set aside. 

5. When the potatoes are cooked, puree them and add the milk, some salt and pepper until it matches your taste. 

6. Preheat the oven at 350°F. 

7. Butter a large dish (or individual ones) and add a layer of meat. Top with the mashed potatoes. Sprinkle with nutmeg and red peppercorns. Add a few pieces of butter on top and cook in the oven for 35 minutes before placing under the broil for 5 more minutes. Serve warm with a green salad.