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Are you this passionate about your shepherd's pie?

18 years ago

Incidentally, I have never heard of topping it with tomatoes.

Here is a link that might be useful: Row over shepherd's pie ends in court

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Comments (28)

teresa_nc7
18 years ago
My favorite recipe is from my Jane Garmey cookbook of Great British Cooking - a well kept secret. She is a well known British author, so I figured her recipe was as authentic as any and her recipe does not have a layer of tomatoes over the top, however, there is some tomato paste in the gravy.

Teresa
User
18 years ago
My DDMIL will be rolling over in her grave at the thought of a layer of tomato on Shepherd's pie! LOL
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I debated on whether to add this since it is long. It was submitted by Marys1000 back in Oct '08. Don't know which forum. But it was a lot of fun to read and you might enjoy it: Here is an article I found very informative in my search for info on pie crusts. She spent a lot of time actually baking with lard, oils, goose fat, and even suet. November 15, 2006 Heaven in a Pie Pan: The Perfect Crust By MELISSA CLARK A FEW years ago, I achieved perfection in a pie crust and it smelled like pig. Not in a muddy, barnyard way, but with a very subtly meaty, nutty aroma. Carefully confected with part butter and part freshly rendered lard, this pie pastry was everything baking-book authors and bloggers wax poetic about: a golden-brown-around-the-edges epiphany richly flavored and just salty enough to contrast with the sweet apple filling, the texture as flaky as a croissant but still crisp. It shattered when you bit it, then melted instantly on the tongue. 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This was the perfect crust for anyone not inclined to include meat products in a dessert. But overall, the favorites were the crusts using 70 percent butter and 30 percent animal fat. Any more animal fat pushed the meatiness factor too far onto the savory side of the pie spectrum, making these better for quiches than for fruit and custard fillings. Of the three animals, pig, cow and duck, the duck fat crust had the lightest flavor and, texturally, struck the best a balance between crisp and flaky. The pie crust revelation, however, was the suet pastry. As easy to work with as the shortening crust, it retained its shape perfectly in the oven, baking up crisp yet marvelously tender and flaky. It was nearly as delectable as the leaf-lard crust, tasting rich and slightly meaty, though not identifiably beefy. Suet is easy to find (most butchers can get it for you) and inexpensive. 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jessyf
18 years ago
Teresa - Shepherd's pie is a Passover staple for me...and I have leftover lamb shanks...

Click here for Teresa's recipe

GAWD I LOVE GOOGLE
teresa_nc7
18 years ago
Jessy,
That looks like a good recipe, but it is not the one from Jane Garmey's book. That web site is not affiliated with her book, just the name is similar.

Sorry, Google missed the mark this time.....;o)
jessyf
18 years ago
[gnashing teeth]

Oh well...second best option: my library has that book! Bwhahaaaa I put it on 'hold' and I'll get it tomorrow. Any other gems in there, Teresa?
shaun
18 years ago
Teresa are you going to post Jane Garmey's recipe? I'd love to see it.
seagrass_gw Cape Cod
18 years ago
I was wondering what the chances were of Teresa sharing her recipe with us, too!

seagrass
teresa_nc7
18 years ago
Yes, I'll post it later today!
sigh
18 years ago
I think that the key words in the article that netla linked are "after a night spent drinking".

And I've never seen shepherds pie topped with a layer of tomato, either.

Nina
User
18 years ago
I'm not sure I would say that I was passionate about Shepherds Pie, but I am picky. I don't want carrots or peas in mine. Or tomatoes.

This is how I make Shepherds Pie. Just a basic outline. It is all done to taste.

It is one of Matt's favourite meals and one that he makes for himself now.

Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table

=============

Lean ground beef
onion
garlic
celery
fresh thyme
salt
pepper
Worcestershire sauce
flour
Beef Broth

Saute meat until browned. Add the chopped onion, garlic and celery. Saute until vegetables are tender. Season with salt pepper, thyme. Sprinkle with flour. Cook for a minute or two and add beef broth and Worcestershire sauce. Simmer for 30 minutes or so. Pour into shallow casserole and top with mashed potatoes. Dot with butter and bake until golden.
rachelellen
18 years ago
I recently posted my first adventure into Shepherd's Pie in over twenty years...

Here is a link that might be useful: Garlic with Shepherd's Pie and Garlic-ala Rachel
teresa_nc7
18 years ago
Here is Jane Garmey's Shepherd's Pie from Great British Cooking: a Well Kept Secret:

Shepherd's Pie

3 TB oil
2 medium onions, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 1/2 lbs. ground lamb or ground beef
1 6 oz. can tomato paste
2 beef bouillon cubes
1 heaped TB flour
1 cup white wine
1/2 cup water
salt and fresh ground black pepper
!/2 t. tarragon
3 large potatoes, peeled
3 oz. butter
1 cup milk
1/2 c. cooked corn
2 TB Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350F.

Heat oil in large frying pan over low heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until soft. Turn up heat and add meat, stirring until it is well browned.

Drain off fat. Add tomato paste, cubes, and flour. Mix well and cook a minutes before adding the wine and water. Add in the s&p and tarragon, simmer for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook and mash the potatoes. Add the butter and milk, season with s&p.

Put the meat mixture in a large, greased souffle or baking dish. Spread corn over the meat and the mashed potatoes on top so that the meat and corn are completely covered. Sprinkle the cheese over the potatoes and bake uncovered for 35 minutes. Place under broiler for a few minutes to brown the top and serve.

Note from the author: the addition of corn is not strictly authentic, however, it looks decorative and adds a nice flavor.

Teresa says: I usually do not add the corn.
pkguy
18 years ago
Mine is very similar to AnnT's minus the Worcestershire, my secret ingredient and I'll have to kill you if you divulge it is......a dash or two of NUTMEG

Tomatoes? no way,
seagrass_gw Cape Cod
18 years ago
Teresa,

Thank you for posting your recipe - I have copied and saved it and will be making it soon (with the corn!)

seagrass
jimster
18 years ago
Am I passionate about my shepherd's pie?

Well, let me just put it this way. Don't let me catch you putting any tomatoes on it or in it. Tomatoes are wonderful but they have no business anywhere near shepherd's pie. Same goes for beef. Is that clear? Understood? Good.

Jim
shaun
18 years ago
AnnT and Teresa, thanks for posting those yummy sounding recipes.
steelmagnolia2007
18 years ago
I find regional food differences endlessly fascinating. Don't think I'd ever even heard of shepherd's pie until long after I was grown. I've never tasted it -- or even so much as seen it on a menu -- to this day. To many of you, this must seem unbelievably weird! (Not to mention 'deprived'. lol) It's like saying you're unfamiliar with pot roast or meatloaf or chicken pot pie, right? But, honestly, it just doesn't exist in my little corner of the world.

It's suddenly very warm here, and it definitely sounds like a cold-weather dish. But I'm stashing your wonderful recipes to try next fall. My friends and family will undoubtedly love this *exotic* new treat! :)

sm
colleenoz
18 years ago
Technically if you use beef, it's a cottage pie. Shepherd's pie is traditionally made with leftover lamb from a roast. No tomatoes on top (though I have seen this variant :-P). I put shredded carrots in mine as a way of sneaking veggies into my DD but not peas or corn. Also no tomato paste. Mine is similar to Ann T's except with shredded carrots instead of celery. It's yummy.
teresa_nc7
18 years ago
I agree with you, Steelmagnolia, and as a G.R.I.T. (girl raised in the South) I never knew about Shepherd/Cottage Pie. After I went to England and fell in love with the whole of the British Isles, I bought a few cookbooks to learn about and make recipes found in England, Scotland, and Wales.

A number of years ago I went through a Middle Eastern phase and studied the cuisine and tried out recipe after recipe to share with my boys. And after my trip to Malaysia in 1999, I came home to fix Nasi Goreng for breakfast and read up on peppercorns from Sarawak which I visited while on the island of Borneo.

You are right, Shepherd's Pie didn't exist in my little corner of the world when I was growing up, but I love expanding my world - and that includes expanding what I cook and eat. I think I'm in good company here.
jimster
18 years ago
Carrots would seem to be very compatible with sheperd's pie. Or turnip. Or a combination of the two. I guess someone named colleen would know.

Cottage pie, eh? That's a new one on me.

sm, lotsa luck finding an Irish pub in NOLA, to say nothing of shepherd's pie. More likely if you look in Boston or Toronto.

Jim
sands99
18 years ago
I love SP but I am a bad/good girl I use ground turkey. I love to use vidalias and burgundy, peas & carrots [and I am no veggie fan] and yukons with roasted garlic.

Nothin better on a chilly night.
teresa_nc7
18 years ago
Just the other day I was thinking about using ground turkey for the next Shepherd's Pie....maybe call it Flown the Coop Pie?
annie1992
18 years ago
Although my shepherd's pie often has beef (either ground beef or leftovers), it also has carrots, celery and onions, along with salt and pepper. Top it all with leftover mashed potatoes and a goodly sprinkle of cheddar cheese, Ashley loves it.

No tomato paste on mine either, please.

Annie
Gina_W
18 years ago
The British eat tomatoes? (darfc)
dixiedog_2007
18 years ago
"Although my shepherd's pie often has beef (either ground beef or leftovers), it also has carrots, celery and onions, along with salt and pepper. Top it all with leftover mashed potatoes and a goodly sprinkle of cheddar cheese, Ashley loves it. No tomato paste on mine either, please.Annie"

Me too Annie but I also like peas in mine. In my household this was normally made when we had leftover potatoes, meat and veges., not specifically made on purpose - but I do love the dish and wish I DID make it on purpose for dinner! HA, does that make sense?
annie1992
18 years ago
LOL, Dixie, that did make sense to me. I've been known to sneak in leftover peas or even green beans, maybe corn, whatever vegetable is leftover in the refrigerator!

In my house shepherd's pie has always been made from leftovers, as has chicken pot pie. I never even thought of making it from scratch, it was just another yummy way to use up leftovers.

Annie
Lars
18 years ago
I only had SP about two years ago at The Cat & Fiddle Pub on Sunset in Hollywood. I didn't like it, but then I've only had chicken pot pie for the first time about two years ago also. I don't blame the restaurant because other things I've had there were very good (but not the Cornish Pastry). I do like Beef Wellington, however, or at least I did the one time I had it.

I didn't grow up with English (or Anglo) food, and I never developed a taste for it, except for Fish 'n' Chips. It's hard to find English food in Texas or California, although there is an English pub in Santa Monica, where I go for fish on occasion. Of course I usually go to Japanese restaurants for fish, and they are a lot more common here. I'd rather just watch English cooking shows (like Floyd on Food) and be entertained. I'm going to be extra careful the next time I go into an English pub!

Lars
User
18 years ago
Talk about the power of suggestion. Since I first opened this thread I have been craving Shepherd's Pie. Haven't made it in years, maybe since Meredith went off to University. Thanks for reminding me how much we enjoy it.

Mine is based on my English grandmother's recipe. Similar to Ann's except I add carrot and use some of my home made demi glace to richen the gravy. Sorry, the picture is a bit blurry.

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