After a hard day surfing / biking / boarding / kayaking the first thing (after a pint) you want is some hale and hearty food, and the last thing you want is a lot of hassle in getting it. For this reason, I hereby present you with my recipe for easy, yet exhilirating, mince and tatties. For those readers unfamiliar with this delicacy, mince and tatties is a Scottish traditional dish. Mince, you might want to translate as "ground beef" or "loose meat" or some such. Tatties are, of course, potatoes.

Here follows what you need and what to do to make enough for 2 growin' loons. Enjoy!

• 1 225g pack of mince. Preferably steak mince, it's much nicer. Also, preferably from your local butcher, you'll feel much better and it'll be tastier.
• 1 large onion
• 5 or 6 decent sized tatties Not baking potato huge, but definitely not those baby ones.
• 1 beef stock cube - I know this is going to be controversial, but I'm suggesting not Bisto. Try Kallo Just Bouillon cubes, i think the result is worth it.
• a clove or two of garlic (or some garlic granules)
• salt (sea salt if ya have it) and pepper
• a little milk, like a few splashes
• a desert spoon of butter or margarine

And here's what to do, it is really simple and you can drink and carry on a conversation while you are at it:

1. Did you have that pint yet? Crack open a tin, or open a bottle of wine and pour a big glass.
2. Wash the tatties, don't bother peeling them. Fill a pan with cold water, add a little salt, and put the potatoes in - fire up a ring on the hob and get it going - the tatties take a while (like 30 or 40 minutes).
3. Brown the mince in about 5 mm of water in a small pan.
4. While it is browning (and you're stirring it to break it down and make sure it browns evenly), chop your onion into smallish pieces.
5. Once the mince is browned add the onion - stir often.
6. Add a little garlic now if you want to, don't bother chopping it up all small, just crush a clove or two and drop them in. If you're super lazy just sprinkle in some garlic granules...
7. Dissolve one stock cube in 400ml of boiling water, add this to the mince, onion and garlic concoction.
8. Simmer the mince now for 20 minutes or so. You want the stock to reduce by maybe 25% or so, don't boil it all away.
9. Check the potatoes once in a while to see if they are cooked - if they are then drain off the water, throw in some milk, butter, pepper and salt and set about mashing the potatoes. If you want you can grab the garlic clove from the mince now and mash it in with the tatties - otherwise just discard it. Once you've mushed them up, stir briskly with a wooden spoon to make them all lovely and smooth. Taste and season more if necessary.
10. Get two bowls, make a bed of mashed potato and then dunk the mince in the middle so the stock/gravy infiltrates the mash.
11. Sit down, eat.

Easy and simple, no? Of course there is lots of crap you can add and whatnot to fancy this up. Oatmeal, carrots, green vegetables etc. I prefer it nice and simple. Whatever you do, don't get silly and add tomatoes and oregano this is Scottish fare not bolognese ;)