Welcome to Southern Comfort Food!

Today’s recipe,  isn’t typically southern food, unless you go back to America’s English roots.

I’ve loved Shepherd’s Pie ever since I first had it in England, lo these many years ago as a student on a month-long college study-tour of England. The melding of the creamy mashed potatoes with the ground lamb and savory gravy makes my mouth water right now.

In recent years I’ve only made it when my younger daughter was away from home because she as an aversion to mashed potatoes. The other three of us, however, have been known to demolish the pan in one sitting. Occasionally, there will be one serving as leftover for us to fight for. 🙂 And I cannot make this dish without recalling (and often singing) the words to the song from the musical Sweeney Todd, A Little Priest (about a demonic barber and a pie maker who kill his customers and turn them into pies). The song recounts the flavors each of the customers would have, based on their occupation. The lyrics I sing are

TODD: What is that? [talking about the pie]
LOVETT:
It’s fop.
Finest in the shop.
And we have some shepherd’s pie peppered
With actual shepherd on top!

My daughter’s shepherd’s pie, with cheese on top.

The original calls for ground lamb, but as that is usually overly expensive in the States, I’ve successfully substituted ground beef. (Without actual shepherd, however!)

Shepherd’s Pie

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef, browned and crumbled

1 onion, finely chopped

1 carrot, finely chopped

1 can of petite peas, drained

2-3 lbs potatoes, well boiled and peeled

1/4 cup half and half

2 Tbs butter

1 can beef broth

2 Tbs corn starch

1/4 cup water

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Boil potatoes well, 20-25 minutes, or until they are falling apart tender. You can peel them before or after boiling (or you can leave the peelings on if you prefer). Drain. Mash with fork and add half and half and butter. Stir until slightly blended, then mix with electric hand mixer until potatoes are smooth and without lumps, adding extra half and half and butter until the potatoes are a creamy consistency. Salt and pepper to taste.

While potatoes are boiling, brown the ground beef, then add the chopped onion and carrot. Saute until onion is transparent. Add peas, heat thoroughly, then remove from heat. Spoon into the bottom of a greased 9X9 casserole dish. (If you want to make more, double recipe and use a 13 X 9 pan.)

To make the gravy, in a small saucepan, heat broth to boiling. Mix 1/4 cup water with cornstarch and add to boiling broth (you can add a beef bouillon cube to the mixture for extra flavor if you desire). Cook until thickened.

Pour beef gravy over the ground beef mixture and mix well. Top with the potatoes. Brush with a little melted butter. Bake for 30-40 minutes until potatoes begin to brown a little.

ENJOY!

My Shepherd’s Pie

Two shortcuts to this recipe:

You can use prepared instant potatoes, although these are not as satisfying as the regular kind. Also, you can used canned or jar gravy, or a package mix. I use the above recipe to make the dish gluten-free.

Come back next week for another recipe full of down-home southern comfort. 🙂