Shepherds pie, nothing to do with Cox stuff!!

My daughter makes Shepherds pie frequently and always shares it with me as I like it so. I live alone so she either brings it over or sends someone with it.

Probably no recipe, makes it from scratch from memory.

I think lamb works much better in Shepherds Pie, taste wise and also because shepherds usually herd sheep But that’s me.

My wife makes it like this, she is not a measurement person so you may have to play around.

When I have to provide nourishment for my dearWife , my GoTo place is either Alton Brown, or America Test Kitchen. Here’s a link to Alton Brown’s version. if you’ve never seen his show ya gotta look it up on You Tube as “Good Eats”.
https://altonbrown.com/shepherds-pie-recipe/

Here's a good variation. I guess you could use mutton or lamb, as this
is  a stylized take on the real thing. Fairly quick and easy.
https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/eat-drink/article_a8acb2ce-00c9-5d2f-a586-ad3204caafca.html
Not a fan of lamb or mutton. or mutton Bob

I am half British on my moms side she is full British. I have ate Shepherds pie growing up as
a kid thousands of times. Its really one of those meals where the core ingredient is mashed potatoes
on top meat and veggies bellow. The whole thing gets tossed in the oven to brown the mashed
potatoes. It can all be cooked separately assembled and browned.

The fun is what treats are under the mash, and of course brown gravy is a must once you
get your portion on the plate a good slathering goes a long way. Yorkshire puddings are
typically served with it as it works well with all the gravy that was made for the meal.

Meats:
Ground beef
Steak strips or chunks
Shredded beef
Roast beef
Chicken
Pork
Lamb
Rabbit
Deer
Duck
Sausage
Grandma's green limb that fell off in the hall way.
Whatever you want fish even just some sort of meat.

Veggies whatever your hearts desires.
My mom would use green peas and carrots almost always
as the main with onions, mushrooms.
Beer, red or white wine depending on the meat type.

Key is a good brown gravy unless you go with a breakfast theme
Eggs and precooked bacon under a layer of hash browns with
all things you put in omelets would work.
That requires white beef chip gravy or white sausage gravy etc as an example.
Breakfast biscuits works well with it milk, orange juice, coffee etc.  

My English grandmother would make it too from leftovers though out the week.
By Friday she would have a blend of many things below the mashed taters.

        

Sauteed onions on top can't hurt.
Potatoes and onions.  

Bob

We would call your Sheppards Pie a Meatloaf in North America, your recipe looks really good, you can never go wrong with that much bacon! Thanks for sharing!

Ron

Wow, what a great  response from all you great people!!!!! Momma already has a grocery shopping list put together based on your recipes, gonna experiment with different variations. Thank You Thank You Thank You!! Mark & Misses D.

You are very welcome guys, this was fun we should share recipes more often!

Mark Diedrichs wrote:Wow, what a great  response from all you great people!!!!! Momma already has a grocery shopping list put together based on your recipes, gonna experiment with different variations. Thank You Thank You Thank You!! Mark & Misses D.

I agree! That looks delicious, and damn, I just got hungry all of a sudden, Lol.
Mark & Misses D., y'all are a great looking couple. Hope your Pie turns out great.
Rusty

Since we have delved into meatloaf...  I have had to work around a dairy, beef, and egg allergy.  Heh, yea.  Hard to feed a kid who can't eat half the food there is.  This is an original recipe, as simple as it is.  


Phil's meatloaf
Equal parts Ground turkey and Ground pork  (ok, you can go 60/40 to 40/60 without worry.)
For every pound of mix
1/4 cup "Old Fashioned" rolled oats
1/4 t salt
1/4 t ground black pepper
1/2 t dried diced onions

Optional
1/4 t paprika
Bacon

Mix well.  Form a loaf on a suitable baking pan.  Bake at 350F to internal temperature of 165F via remote probe thermometer.  Cover with foil or a close fitting lid and rest before cutting.  For small loaves, under 1 pound, cover the lid with a towel to retain heat.

As there is no egg for added stiffness, it cannot be cut until it has rested, it will crumble.  I gauge resting by returning to the target 165F.  Temperature should elevate during resting to 170F, maybe higher because it is covered. Resting allows liquids to redistribute and binders to finish working.

There will be very little drainoff so an elevated rack in your baking pan is not necessary




FYI for allergy workarounds.  Eggs are unnecessary in most of these recipies as the meat is a protine binder, and the breadcrumbs,  or in my case oatmeal, is a starch binder.  The eggs do add umami flavor, and may improve texture.  Oatmeal has more umami than breadcrumbs.

Phil

For you metric people approximate conversions

1t is 5ml  small t is teaspoon
2.2 pounds is 1 kg
Unused in this recipe
1T is 15ml  big T is tablespoon
1 fluid ounce is 30 ml

I don't normally do temperature conversions so you are on your own.  Use typical oven temperature and low, poultry safe temperature.

Here is:

https://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-turkish-style-shepherds-pie-236490

Cribbs74 wrote:I think lamb works much better in Shepherds  Pie, taste wise and also because shepherds usually herd sheep

Yes, lamb meat is best.

balogh wrote:

pkrankow wrote:.......
I don't normally do temperature conversions so you are on your own.  Use typical oven temperature and low, poultry safe temperature.

Simplest approximation between Celsius and Fahrenheit:

C=(F-30)/2..accurate enough for cooking temperature conversions

This is what I use:



It’s an oven thermometer bought mainly for temp conversion purposes. All my old recipes had temps in deg C, and when my wife and I moved to the USA in 1998, the oven in the apartment obviously had Fahrenheit scale. Actually the first one had a gas oven with verbal scale ”mild - hot - scorching - surface of Sun” or something like that, so it was useful as a thermometer too. The other apartments had electric ovens with proper thermostats, they made life a lot easier.

When we moved back, we had a ton of cookbooks and grocery store recipe cards that had temps in F, but our oven has C so this thermometer still is very useful. Could use a cleaning though

Levent Suberk wrote:

Cribbs74 wrote:I think lamb works much better in Shepherds  Pie, taste wise and also because shepherds usually herd sheep

Yes, lamb meat is best.

Except that in one of the worlds biggest lamb producers, (Australia) so much is exported to the rest of the world, local prices are so high none of us can afford to buy it.  Just had a look at a local supermarket website, lamb rack roast is $46AUD/kg. (That's $15USD/lb).  A leg is around $20AUD/kg.
When I was a kid, lamb was the cheapest meat.  For those on a budget, lamb chops were just one step above sausages or minced meat.  We could have meat a couple of times a week at that.  Chicken or pork were a special treat, usually only had at special occasions like Christmas.  Now they're the cheapest alternative.  

We had my wife's version of shepher's pie last week, with minced beef   My mum used to make it with left-over roast lamb, which was beautiful.  Not much went to waste in our house.

Lamb hasn’t really taken off here in the US, not sure why. Perhaps it’s because of the lack of exposure and trying lamb for the first time as an adult is not the way to go. It has a different flavor than beef and that is off-putting to some.

It is becoming more prevalent these days due to the influx of people from other parts of the world. We pay around $7-10 for a pound of ground, about double the price of beef.

A lot of the lamb in the US comes from New Zealand of all places. That’s a long way to travel which probably supports the high prices.

Ron

I like lamb. Never found ground lamb, always ribs, some joint, or a leg. Target temperatures for doneness is a big part of why I use probe thermometers instead of timers.

Yes, I know how to convert temperatures. Recipies are not written for 177C, the recipe calls out a more round number and the time is adjusted. Switching back is an equal pain.

Phil

I love Lamb!

We raised only Goats, and Chickens, on our farm at the time, so Lamb was a delicacy.

My introduction to Lamb was a delightful experience, but not all Lamb is prepared or seasoned properly. I've found many restaurants that serve Lamb, but very few of them get a return visit. The proper spices, and condiments are very important, as well as the preparations.

On the other hand, I like only salt, and very little pepper on Beef stake.

Bill