Shepherd's Pie

Cottage pie or shepherd's pie is a meat pie with a crust of mashed potato.

The term cottage pie is known to have been in use in 1791, when the potato was being introduced as an edible crop affordable for the poor (cf. "cottage" meaning a modest dwelling for rural workers).

In early cookery books, the dish was a means of using leftover roasted meat of any kind, and the pie dish was lined with mashed potato as well as having a mashed potato crust on top.

The term "shepherd's pie" did not appear until 1877, and since then it has been used synonymously with "cottage pie", regardless of whether the principal ingredient was beef or mutton. More recently, the term "shepherd's pie" has been used when the meat is lamb the theory being that shepherds are concerned with sheep and not cattle.

This is by far one of my favorite winter dishes and over the years I have come to modify and update the traditional recipe a bit, but remain true to the original. Here is a copy of my most recent recipe and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Ingredients:

Meat Filling

• 1 lb of minced Lamb
• 1 pkg of white or crimini mushrooms
• 1 stalk of celery
• 1 small onion
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 1 cup chicken or vegetable stock
• 2 TBSP Flour
• 2 TBSP Butter
• 1 clove of garlic finely minced
• 1 TBSP fresh rosemary
• hot pepper flakes
• canola oil for sauteing

Vegetable Layer

• 1 large carrot minced and steamed in microwave until tender
• 1 can of peached and cream kernel corn
• 1 cup frozen peas

Mashed Potato Crust

• 1.5 kg Potatoes peeled.  Russet potatoes are best, but any white potato will do
• 2 egg yolks
• canola oil for sauteing
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp fresh thyme
• 1/4 cup of cream
• 4 TBSP of butter cubed
• 1/4 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
• Paprika
• Pepper

Meat Filling

Heat oil in a 12" saute pan on medium to medium high heat.  

Wash, dry and thinly slice mushrooms and add to oil, season with salt & pepper and cook until lightly browned,about 8-10 minutes (don't worry if they sweat,and set aside.)

Mince celery and onion and add to pan, add more oil if needed, season with salt and pepper and cook until 

soft, 8-10 minutes and add to mushrooms.

Crumble minced lamb into pan add garlic and rosemary and hot pepper flakes and cook until browned 6-8 minutes, add to above mixture.

Make a roux of 2 TBSP of flour and 2 TBSP of butter, add to pan and cook for about three minutes, it should be

a light golden brown, don't worry if it gets dark, it will give you a darker color gravy. Slowly add chicken stock while stirring with a whisk to prevent lumps, add wine and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes, while continually 

stirring.  Add meat and vegetable mixture stir and simmer on low for 15-20 minutes.  If your gravy becomes too thick add more chicken stock.

Mashed Potato Crust

Peel and rinse potatoes.  place in pot of cold water and cook on high heat until tender.  Drain water well and immediately return to pot. Mash potatoes with a potato masher or potato ricer ( I like to use a ricer it removes all chances of lumps. Add cream, butter, garlic powder, onion powder, thyme, pepper and parmesan cheese.DO NOT ADD SALT IF USING PARMESAN CHEESE. Mix gently until mixed.  Add the first egg yolk and mix, if mixture is to wet do not add second egg yolk.

Vegetable Layer

Dice carrot and steam in microwave until tender, about 3-5 minutes.  Mix all vegetable together and lightly season with salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 425F and adjust the rack to the lowest level.

Place Meat filling in casserole dish, and cover with the vegetable layer. I like to pipe the mashed potato layer on top using a pastry bag and a very large star tip.  To do this cover the vegetable mixture with rosettes, continue to cover the rosettes with more rosettes until all the potatoes have been used. If you do not have a pastry bag you can scoop the potatoes on top, just make sure you make peaks or grooves with a fork. Sprinkle with paprika.  To get a nice golden crust like above, I lightly spray cooking oil over the potatoes.  

Place casserole dish on a baking tray and cook in oven for 20-25 minutes, until potatoes are golden brown.  If you are making this ahead and cooking later, bake at 350F for 30 minutes or until gravy starts to bubble.  To brown the potatoes, turn oven to broil and broil until golden.

Enjoy