Shepard's Pie - Tips, Suggestions & Proselytizing

When I was growing up in Vancouver my mom and I rented our home from a Brit. He'd have us over for dinner now and again , and would make the best shepards pie. Maybe it's nostalgia, but I've never really been able to reproduce it.

Then this crazy post got going about Kleins and people started bashing on each others cuisine and the topic of Shepard's pie came up and I just had to start this thread.

Would people please share their favorite recipes here?

my recipe:

brown 1lb ground beef, remove fat.
add 1 chopped onion
and 1 diced carrot
and some pepper and salt cook it up a bit more

boil some potatoes to make mashed potatoes
mash them bad boys up with garlic, butter and some cream or milk.
set aside .

make some gravy
melt butter in pan
add 1/3 cup or so of flour
stir till getting a wee bit brown
add beef broth and stir until you have a nice thick gravy
add a wee bit of cream
stir and simmer until a good consistency.

stir gravy with meat/onion/carrot mixture
add in a bunch of peas (not from a can!!!)
pour into casserole pan
spread mashed potatoes on top
grate some cheddar cheese on top
pop in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes



Mmmmmmmmmmm

eat

Not your traditional shepards pie, but this is our new found favourite:

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3439/spiced-parsnip-shepherds-pies

Most essential thing when making shepards pie is to spike the potato tips and grill till you have a nice crispy golden brown crust, yum yum yum

The most essential thing with Shepherds Pie is to use Lamb. Otherwise it is merely a Cottage Pie!

^True^

I always considered shepherd's pie to be such that a shepherd might eat. Perhaps most similar to a game pie. Mostly shepherds would hunt whilst tending to their flocks, rather than eat what they were protecting.

Have to accept the common usage, but I don't think it makes a lot of sense.

Don't eat meat these days, but back in the day my mom used to use sliced rather than mashed potato, or even pastry and presented it as shepherd's pie, often containing other meat than mutton. Never lamb.

Oh well.

We use bisto chicken gravy in our cottage pie.

a bit of mint with the lamb, and leave a bit of skin on the spuds for the mash.

We always leave the skins on. My grampa was the world's leading expert on potatoes at one time, and ingrained the idea that discarding the skin was criminal. Then again, he took lots of LSD too.

Shepherds in the past here used to take rabbits, deer, geese and the like that were after the wabbits grass. That was what ended up in their pies.

Thanks for the info and tips

One more suggestion given off line was the addition of some Worcestershire sauce to give the filling some extra flavor.

I like the suggestion of putting some peaks on the potatoes to get them to brown better. In the past I've smoothed the potatoes out :shock: , but I won't be doing that again.

Cheers