Cottage & Shepherd's Pies

Cottage pie and Shepherd's pie are really the same thing with one difference: The English prefer to make it with minced beef (that's "ground" beef to us Yanks), and the Irish like it with minced lamb. The English call theirs "Cottage Pie," and the Irish call theirs "Shepherd's Pie." I've found that the term "Shepherd's Pie" lends itself as sort of a generic name for both types, though. I have two ways of preparing this dish; the first is the traditional method, and the second is a one-step oven method that uses eggs instead of flour, cornstarch and tomato paste to hold the meat together more firmly than when the dish is made according to the traditional skillet method.

There's no need to decorate the crust with dainty fork swirls like some cooks do, but I did fancy up the whipped-potato topping on this lovely Shepherd's Pie with some tasty chopped chives. Yum!

Traditional Ingredients:

2 lbs. ground meat (beef for Cottage Pie, use ground sirloin or ground round; for Shepherd's Pie, use the same quantity of ground lamb)
¾ cup diced onion
2 Tbs. "beef tea" or any type of beef browning sauce, like "B-V Broth and Sauce concentrate," or your favourite steak sauce - see notes below!
1, 8.5-oz can peas & diced carrots (drained)
1 Tbs. catsup/ketchup ("sauce" as the Brits say)
1, 6-oz. can tomato paste
2 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbs. flour
1 Tbs. cornstarch (or "cornflower," as the Brits say)
4 cups (2 regular servings) mashed potatoes

Traditional Preparation:

Crumble the meat thoroughly in a large skillet, and brown with the onions (drain as much of the fat out as you can while browning). Mix all the wet ingredients, except the tomato paste and vegetables, with the cornstarch and flour (before they are heated in the pan) into a saucy paste, then stir it into the meat. Add the tomato paste and the peas & carrots, mix well and heat thoroughly; transfer the warmed mixture to a greased, 2-quart (or bigger) casserole baking dish. Warm up the mashed potatoes. Pack the meat mixture down fairly tightly into the casserole, making sure it's smooth and level, then cover the top evenly with the mashed potatoes. Bake at 375° F. 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the potato-topping is golden brown. Allow to cool for about five minutes before slicing and serving. Yields about 6, two-inch-thick slices.


Buckingham Palace

One-Step Ingredients:

2 lbs. ground meat (beef for Cottage Pie, use ground sirloin or ground round; for Shepherd's Pie, use the same quantity of ground lamb)
¾ cup diced onion
1 tsp. "beef tea" or any type of beef browning sauce, like "B-V Broth and Sauce concentrate," or your favourite steak sauce - see notes below!
1, 8.5-oz can peas and diced carrots (drained)
2 eggs, beaten
1 Tbs. catsup/ketchup ("sauce" as the Brits say)
2 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
4 cups (2 regular servings) mashed potatoes

One-Step Preparation:

Heat oven to 375° F. ; mix the meat and all ingredients (except the mashed potatoes), and spread/pack the mixture down evenly into a 2-quart (or bigger) casserole baking dish. Bake, uncovered, about 1 hour. Drain the liquid periodically out of the casserole dish while baking (you'll notice that the mixture will shrink and pull away slightly from the edges of the casserole dish as it bakes). Warm up the mashed potatoes, then cover the meat evenly with the mashed potatoes; brown under the oven broiler until the potatoes are as golden-brown as you like. Let stand to cool about 5 minutes before slicing and serving. Yields about 6, two-inch-thick slices.

* Notes:

If you can get your hands on a bottle of original-flavour HP Sauce, use an equal measure of that instead of any other beef/steak sauce!

In the one-step method, I use egg substitute, like Egg Beaters. I also find that spicing up the mashed potatoes with some garlic and herbs is quite nice (as in the photo above)! Ready-made mashed potatoes are usually available in most grocers' refrigerated sections.

King James II of England
(and VII of Scotland)
1633 - 1701

Having turned away from Henry VIII's Protestant "Church of England," he was the last Catholic monarch ever to rule Great Britain.

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