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| SHEPHERDS PIE (BRITISH) | |
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Before we start, let us be clear and lets get it right. Shepherds pie is made with lamb, cottage pie is made with beef. Never in the history of the British isles has cheese ever come close to either. If you see cheese anywhere near a recipe for either, put it down to the USA's obsession to add cheese to anything that moves - it doesn't generally belong with meat unless you desire lead in your stomach, this said. 1 lb. lean lamb, minced 1 large onion, sliced 1 medium carrot, chopped 1 stick celery, chopped enough beef stock to cover salt and pepper 3 to 4 tsp. corn starch or 2 Bisto (if you know what it is) and 1 corn starch 2 lb. good mashing potatoes 4 oz. (1 stick) butter salt and pepper Let's get this right and the best way: Add minced lamb into a casserole dish, add onion, carrot, celery, beef stock, corn starch and/Bisto/corn starch, salt and pepper, to taste, and stir. Cook in a slow oven, say 275°F for 2 hours. You can do all this on stove top for about 20 minutes BUT the flavor is never the same. When complete, drain off gravy and reserve.
Add back enough gravy to the meat to make it moist. Gently add the potato to the top and build up. Spread with a fork, finally making fork marks both up and down and across to form a basket like pattern. Put oven temperature at 400°F, then bake until potato is crispy and golden on the peaks (about) 30 minutes. Serve with remaining gravy and steamed cabbage (preferably Savoy, if you can get it). NO CHEESE, PLEASE. Submitted by: Neil - a Brit | |
Boil and mash potatoes with milk, butter, salt and pepper, however DO NOT make it into a wet paste. It should be firm and almost chunky.| 967 reviews | Add review Share |
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recipe reviews #40621
Wesley (Missouri) says:
Chef Gordon Ramsay (a Scotsman) uses cheese on his shepards pie
#40646
Terry (United States) says:
For the best ever Shepherd's Pie.... See the recipe in "Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen" cookbook. (Cajun Shepherd's Pie) Not an easy recipe, very time consuming, but well worth it. Spicy and delicious. I won't post the recipe here, as there may be some copyright issues, but you may be able to find it online. I'm sure our Brit friend wouldn't approve.... No lamb involved, but a mixture of highly seasoned beef and pork loaf, covered with a layer of julienned carrots, yellow squash and zuchinni.... and then the mashed potatoes (no cheese). Check it out!!
#40758
Carole (Washington) says:
My Mom was from Salford and always put cheese on a shepherds pie. And I wouldn't make it any other way!
#40791
Lost My Appetite (California) says:
All this arguing over what's supposed to be in and and what's not, I lost my appetite and I'm afraid to make it because I might "do it wrong" :o(
Just kidding. I think I may put in some ground beef. hee hee. and EXTRA cheese.
Just kidding. I think I may put in some ground beef. hee hee. and EXTRA cheese.
#40988
Bryan (Washington) says:
Wow, i love sheperds pie. Any old way!
#41265
Judy (Iowa) says:
I add just a pinch of mild curry blend and a half cup red wine to the broth to make the flavor richer. Even Brits can learn...:)
#41308
NEgal (New Hampshire) says:
What a hoot these comments are! Someone should write a book. Guess what it was called in my house when I was growing up - Chinese pie! I guess because it's a mix of different stuff all thrown together in a casserole. I've tried many recipes with the name of Cottage or Shepard's pie, even our family's old stand-by Chinese pie. My favorite is one with ground beef, tomatoes, green beans, all sorts of spices & herbs & uses butternut squash combined with the potatoes for the topping. Happy cooking everyone!
#41388
Chris (United States) says:
Wow - people, its ground meat and some potatoes. Chill!
#41471
Krysta88 (New York) says:
I took this as a combination of British humor and probably true frustration with the way us Americans act as if the way we eat the food is the "right" way. Even though I watch alot of BBC and even have British friends I have never known the difference between Cottage Pie and Sheapards Pie. I will now refer to my Beef version as Cottage Pie. My husband and i fight about what veggies are appropriate he insist only corn and I always said carrots or a mixed veggie. Now i know neither of us is correct.
#41520
OneTimeOnly (Michigan) says:
I came to this site looking for a cauliflower-broccoli salad recipe. I enjoyed the banter! :)
#41570
Ryan (Missouri) says:
The problem I see with the comment about cheese never coming near Shepherds Pie is a couple of recipes from Ireland that call for shredded cheddar to top off the pie. Maybe it was meant English Shepherd's Pie does not include cheese. Although this is also confusing to me as Cheddar is an English county and TRADITIONALLY English cheese.
#41750
Jules (Texas) says:
Let them eat cake!
#41766
Jacki (Texas) says:
Well it's Americanise if you are somewhere in the British Isles, or other places where they add extra vowels to words - usually a U - but I digress.
However, if you are Americanizing and American and you are in America when you do it, it's Americanize.
If you are somewhere else, then Americanise is probably right. But you need to leave some of those U's for the rest of us. Really.
However, if you are Americanizing and American and you are in America when you do it, it's Americanize.
If you are somewhere else, then Americanise is probably right. But you need to leave some of those U's for the rest of us. Really.
#41791
Debbie (New Jersey) says:
This is very entertaining. Carry on!
#42165
Rasna (New York) says:
Neil made some very good points. Food is very emotional. It all depends on how you were brought up. There are however classical recipes and they should be maintained as classic. If you want to vary the recipe do so but change the name or put your own name on it. For example shepherd's pie your name so that others won't think that it the classic pie. Thank you as i'm a retired chef and have had that argument so many times. I'm for change and variation but change the name to avoid confusion or make the dish by the classical recipe.
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