Shepherd's Pie (aka Cottage Pie)

Gordon Ramsey told me that the recipe I'm about to share with you is technically not shepherd's pie. He was very adamant that this is actually called Cottage Pie. He went on to explain that a shepherd is one who watches over the sheep. So I went and googled this tidbit of info.  So without sheep aka lamb in your pie, it's simply a cottage pie. The derivation of this is that poor farm folk were able to afford the potato crop, and used whatever meat they had as leftovers. And the use of shepherd's pie is often used synonymously with lamb or beef. Except of course for Gordon, who was adamant about it. But whatever the deal is, as the brits say, it's delicious!

Ok so Gordon didn't technically tell me, he told some guy on the television. But don't you worry! I was listening!

Ingredients:
2 large potatoes
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup shredded cheese
salt and pepper
2 carrots
1/3 cup frozen peas
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp ginger
3 button mushrooms
1 pound ground beef
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 tsp worcestershire  sauce
3/4 cup beef broth
1/4 cup shredded cheese

This recipes requires mashed potato. I assume everyone knows how to make a mash that they like, but in case you're still using the boxed potato flakes, I have to insist that you stop immediately. Here's a few words to rid you of that habit. There are many variations on this. Some suggest you don't cut or peel the potato. So choose a method that's best for you.

Peel and chop potatoes.

Place potatoes in a sauce pan, add water to about 3 inches above the top of the potatoes. Salt the water, place on medium heat, and bring to a boil. Boil for about 10 minutes (depends on size of the pieces). Test firmness of potatoes with a fork. It should be tender, but not fall apart. Drain potato, add about 1 tblsp of butter, additional salt and pepper to taste. and give it a good mash. I use a potato ricer which I have to tell you is SO much fun.

I found this picture on the Internet, because I've taken all the pictures for this blog, and could not be bothered getting up to take a picture of the ricer.

Now, to the rest of the recipe!

Peel carrots and chop into small pieces.

Boil in shallow water for about 5-10 minutes, again depending on the size of the pieces. Towards the last 2 minutes you want to boil the carrots, add the peas and continue boiling. Drain and set aside.

At this point, you should preheat your oven to 380 degrees.

*Tip - I find that you need to get to know your oven. Introduce yourself, tell it what you intend to accomplish, ask if it will help you.  But seriously, when someone says 300 degrees or 375 degrees, it may not translate to the same number to your oven. It may a degree here or there different. If you want, you could invest in an oven thermometer. They don't cost too much, and it may give you a better understanding of the temperature in your oven. But I think if you learn how your oven cooks and say hello once in a while, you'll learn how to adjust time and or temperature.

Add your ground beef to a skillet, and begin cooking on medium low heat. make sure to keep stirring and sort of mash the beef so it doesn't fry into solid chunks of weird looking beef.

Depending on the leanness of the beef, you will need to drain the fat. I'm sure it would taste wonderful to keep it in, but I suggest you save off the fat after draining and take a look at it when it has cooled. You won't ever consider not draining it again.   After you've drained, leave the meat to the side.

Chop onions, garlic and ginger.

Add to the same pan you used for the meat.  Cook this on medium heat until everything looks a bit wilted.

Chop and add the mushrooms and add to pan.

Add meat back in

Add all purpose flour, ketchup and worcestershire sauce to the meat mixture and stir.

Add in the beef broth and let simmer until the water has most been absorbed and the mixture is just a bit saucy - about 5 minutes.

Use whatever shape pan you'd like - I used a loaf pan. Spread the beef on the bottom of the pan.

Next add the carrot and peas.

Then add the mashed potatoes. You can use a pastry bag, or you can spread it across the top with a spatula like icing. I went with the potato ricer and layered it that way on top.

Finally, add a layer of shredded cheese to the top. I used monterey jack, but you could go with any of the cheese.  I think most typical is cheddar.

Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes. The top should become a golden brown, and the entire dish should have heated through completely.
 

Finally, serve yourself a piece...

and nom nom nom, enjoy!