Cooking Club Classics #2: Shepherd's Pie

IvyTheTerrible

"Classics" Introduction: Once a month, we will start a thread about a popular dish that has endless variations. We are asking you to post your recipe for how you make this dish, and/or to try other recipes for a change and report back.

Shepherd's Pie

Photo by Louise Lister

This is a real classic winter warmer. There are as many ways to make this as there are cooks! How do you make yours? Do you insist on lamb, or will you allow beef in your shepherd's pie? Are peas essential or sacrilege? Tell us all about it!

How to join in:

Post in this thread with your recipe.

Post your recipe, with pictures if you like. The pictures must be your own, though! Ideally, put your pictures after the complete ingredients list and method, for readability.

To maintain the spirit of the forum, please try someone else's recipe and give them feedback.

If you don't have a recipe to post, that's cool too! Feel free to try whichever recipes grab your fancy and don't forget to post with your feedback.

We will typically post a "Classic" challenge at the start of a month and leave it run until the end of the month. After the month has ended, new recipe submissions for that dish will be stopped, but you can continue to comment on previous submissions as much as you like.

If you have any questions about the general topic, don't hesitate to post on the thread!

Bon appetit!

Dizzyblonde

It will upset the purists, but I make my shepherd's pie with beef so it's more a cottage pie. My mother always made hers with beef, and when I tried it with lamb I didn't like it.

My recipe:
500g leanest minced beef
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, roughly grated (because I'm lazy and it's quicker than dicing it)
1 stick of celery, diced
1 small clove of garlic, crushed
A handful of frozen peas
1 tbsp flour
1 red Oxo cube mixed with a large mug of water (you can add extra water if you need to )
A dash of Worcestershire sauce
A squirt of tomato purée
A pinch of mixed herbs
Salt & black pepper
Olive oil

Heat some olive oil in a large pan and gently fry the onion, carrot and celery until it starts to soften. Add the garlic and minced beef, turn up the heat and fry until the meat is browned, breaking up the lumps as you go. Turn the heat down low and sprinkle on the flour, then stir well and let it cook for a minute. Add the stock and the rest of the ingredients, bring to a gentle simmer and let it cook for 30-40 minutes.
Throw in the handful of frozen peas and transfer it to a baking dish (if you oil the sides it makes it much easier to wash off the crusty potatoes). If you have time to let it cool, that makes it easier to spread the potato on top.

How much potato you use depends on how deep you want it to be on top. I use Roosters, cut into 1cm slices and steamed, then mashed with a good knob of butter and some milk. Whipping the mash with a fork makes it very light and fluffy.

Spread the mash on top of the meat and fluff it up with a fork, then bake it in a preheated oven at 180C for 30- 40 minutes.

Next time I make it I'll add a photo.

The Black Oil

The very first time I made this was in 6th class in primary school, over 20 years ago. I don't think I have that recipe any more...I'll take a look.

Faith

Thanks for the recipe, Dizzy!

I can't even count the number of people who said they'd love to contribute to "Classics" threads like this in multiple feedback threads, yet we've only had one recipe for this? Very disappointing turn out.

I'm just back from my honeymoon, and I've arrived right back into work silly season, but I'll try and get my recipe posted today.

Mrs Fox

Congratulations Faith! Hope you had wonderful time on your honeymoon


I have two shepherd's pie recipes that I cook - one that I adapted from Gordon Ramsay on some show he did years ago (F word, I think), and a spiced one topped with sweet potato mash.


SHEPHERD'S PIE a la GORDON RAMSAY
Serves 2 adults + 2 scallywags

some olive oil to sautee
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, diced
1 stalks celery, diced
2 fat cloves garlic, minced
1lb lamb mince
some rosemary, chopped
some thyme, chopped
a dash of Worcestershire sauce OR fish sauce
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 cup red wine
1/2 cup lamb/chicken stock
1 cup peas
salt + pepper


Mash:
2 lbs Maris Piper potatoes
Unspecified amount of butter
a splash of cream
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup grated parmesan
salt & pepper


Preheat oven to 180C.
Prepare the potatoes however you want - boil skin on, to peel later. Or peel and cut in quarters and steam.
On to the filling: In a casserole pot on medium, heat oil and sautee onion, carrot and celery for a couple of minutes. Add garlic, stir and cook away until everything softens.
Meanwhile, brown the lamb in a frying pan on high. Brown, not stewy grey. Capiche?
Add lamb to the pot, followed by herbs, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce and wine, let it reduce a bit then add stock and peas. Simmer for about 10-15 minutes on medium low. Season well.
Drain the potatoes and mash them well. In fact, use a ricer. It's the best invention since cutlery. Add butter, lots of it, as long as your cholesterol can take it; cream, egg yolk, half the parmesan, and whip it good. Season to taste.
Scoop the filling into a roasting dish (I usually use a 9"x9"), level with the back of a spoon. Pipe your mash on top if you're feeling fancy, or simply layer and fluff with a fork. Scatter the rest of parmesan and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

I'll have to dig for a photo.







With the spiced shepherd's pie, I pretty much repeat the same method as above, but omit the wine and herbs, add a tablespoon of curry powder. And make sweet potato mash by roasting them whole in a 180C oven for about 30-40 min depending on the size, peel the skin and mash them with a fork. You don't need a ricer for this. Add only butter and season well. Omit cream, egg yolk and parmesan.