Shepherd's Pie Recipe
A friend on Facebook sent me a note to ask me for my recipe for shepherd's pie, probably prompted by my Twitter/Status message. Recipe? I just throw stuff together and hope it tastes good! But I decided to write down what I'd done this most recent time, in "'Merkin recipe style". My British readers will probably find that it's written a little oddly, but then again if you're British, you should already be a shepherd's pie making expert by now! Normally, I throw in a bunch of miscellaneous dried herbs, but I left them out this time and it actually made it taste better. So here goes:
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I know I should use ground lamb, but that's so hard to come by in the US, so I use ground beef and just ignore the fact that it should be Cottage Pie instead!
1 lb Ground Beef
3-4 white-skinned potatoes
1 tbsp butter
1/4 cup of milk
Beef stock cube
1/4 cup of water
Dried onion
Garlic Power
Salt and Pepper
Wash the potatoes thoroughly and cut into one inch cubes. Boil for 15-20 minutes until softened. Meanwhile, brown the ground beef in a skillet until there is no pink showing.
Add the butter, milk and salt to taste to the potatoes, and mash until there are no solid lumps.
Drain the fat from the ground beef, and place in the bottom of a rectangular glass dish.
Place the stock cube in the water and heat for two minutes in the microwave until dissolved. Add the dried onion, garlic powder, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix and microwave for a further 30 seconds. Pour over the ground beef.
Spoon the mashed potatoes on the top, making sure the layer is even and extends all the way to the edge of the dish. Using a fork, create a woven pattern of lines in the surface, resembling a plowed field.
The leftovers
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Bake in the oven at 375 degrees C for 20-25 minutes.
Optionally, add grated cheese to the surface at this point.
Broil on HIGH for 5-10 minutes until the peaks of the potato furrows are nicely browned. Don't worry if the browning is uneven.
Serve with any green vegetable. The quantities above are enough for two adults with leftovers for a single lunch the next day.
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I know I should use ground lamb, but that's so hard to come by in the US, so I use ground beef and just ignore the fact that it should be Cottage Pie instead!
1 lb Ground Beef
3-4 white-skinned potatoes
1 tbsp butter
1/4 cup of milk
Beef stock cube
1/4 cup of water
Dried onion
Garlic Power
Salt and Pepper
Wash the potatoes thoroughly and cut into one inch cubes. Boil for 15-20 minutes until softened. Meanwhile, brown the ground beef in a skillet until there is no pink showing.
Add the butter, milk and salt to taste to the potatoes, and mash until there are no solid lumps.
Drain the fat from the ground beef, and place in the bottom of a rectangular glass dish.
Place the stock cube in the water and heat for two minutes in the microwave until dissolved. Add the dried onion, garlic powder, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix and microwave for a further 30 seconds. Pour over the ground beef.
Spoon the mashed potatoes on the top, making sure the layer is even and extends all the way to the edge of the dish. Using a fork, create a woven pattern of lines in the surface, resembling a plowed field.
The leftovers
||||||||||
=====
||||||||||
=====
||||||||||
Bake in the oven at 375 degrees C for 20-25 minutes.
Optionally, add grated cheese to the surface at this point.
Broil on HIGH for 5-10 minutes until the peaks of the potato furrows are nicely browned. Don't worry if the browning is uneven.
Serve with any green vegetable. The quantities above are enough for two adults with leftovers for a single lunch the next day.