Shepherd's Pie
Sometimes I buy meat just because it's a good price and then I'll freeze it and forget about it. In this case, I bought a boneless half leg of lamb from Costco for a dinner party, only used half, and then stored the rest away. But now it's August, the household's kind of tight on money, like everyone, and we've been going through everything in the freezer. We took the lamb out and let it defrost in the fridge for a day or so, until I had any interest in it.
We have this old fashioned grinder. The OLD fashioned kind, that you assemble bit by bit. It's rough and silver colored and you clamp it to your counter. I can never figure out how to put it together correctly and the last time we used it, something went in backwards and it wouldn't grind. This time, I charged my mother's boyfriend with assembly and then I put both of them to work defatting, cutting, and grinding up the lamb we had left.
I am not traditionally a Shepherd's Pie fan. The very first time I ever tried to make it was out of a Renaissance cookbook and it was bland as all get out. Ever since then, I've been really picky about it. But then I saw this recipe and it claims the original was made with lamb. I can no longer remember if the Renaissance recipe called for lamb, but I definitely didn't use it; I was about 17 and lamb was still exotic to me if I had to cook it myself.
Anyway, I decided to try it and I'd just eat something else if I didn't like it. I knew everyone else was on good terms with the idea, so it was kind of a win-win.
Omg. It was good! Way better than I expected. Not bland, the mashed potatoes were beautiful and creamy, and between three of us, we ate all but two servings.
I'll remix it someday with different seasonings and more vegetables, see if it comes out even better. And if you don't like lamb, you can do it with lean ground beef, instead.
Shepherd's Pie
I N G R E D I E N T S
1 1/2 lbs. russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" pieces
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
1/2 c. whole milk, warmed
2 large egg yolks
1 1/2 lbs. ground lamb
1 med. onion, minced
2 med. carrots, peeled and cut crosswise 1/2" thick
2 med. garlic cloves, minced
1/4 c. all purpose flour
1 tbsp. tomato paste
2 c. low-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 tsp. minced fresh thyme
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 c. frozen peas
Salt and pepper to taste
Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 400 degrees. Cover potatoes with water in large pot and bring to a boil. Cook until potatoes are fork tender, about 15 minutes.
Drain well and return to pot. Mash the potatoes thoroughly with a masher, then fold in butter until melted, then stir in warm milk and egg yolks. The potatoes become this gorgeous buttery golden yellow color. Season with salt and pepper to taste, cover, and set aside.
Cook the lamb in a 12-inch ovenproof skillet over medium heat, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink and the fat has rendered, about 3 minutes. Reserve 1 tbsp. of the fat (or more, I ended up using some olive oil, as well) and drain the rest, set aside lamb.
Reheat the reserved fat in the skillet and add onion, carrots, and 1/2 tsp. of salt. Cook until vegetables are softened, about 7 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the flour and tomato paste, stirring constantly, until the flour is incorporated, about 1 minute.
Slowly stir in the broth, then add thyme and Worcestershire, scraping up any brown bits on the bottom of the skillet, and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook until sauce has thickened, about 3 - 5 minutes.
Off the heat, stir in the drained lamb and frozen peas, season with salt and pepper to taste, and smooth it into an even layer. Dot the top with medium dollops of the potatoes until it's all used up, then spread it into an even layer, covering all of the filling and anchoring the potatoes to the sides of the skillet. I didn't do so well on that last part and some of the liquid bubbled up on the sides, but none of it went over.
Bake the pie for 20 - 25 minutes until the potatoes get nice and golden. Let the pie cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Source: The Best Skillet Recipes (America's Test Kitchen/Cook's Illustrated).