about just tossing in some ground beef, green beans and mashers on top (you know who you are!) I took to the kitchen and made my dinner. I was very pleased with the results and would only know if I did something wrong if I had someone familiar with the dish to point things out to me. I started at the butcher this morning. I went in and asked for lamb and all they had were lamb chops (Yes - I heard Sheri Lewis' song in my head...kinda weird) and so I ordered up enough to come up with 1/2 lb ground. Remember, get to know your butcher. My butcher at home is so cool, that I was able to get sausage and corned beef sent to me. Love that Brackett's team! Anyway, I walked out of the store with my just over 1/2 pound of lamb ground up form and let it relax on the counter while I got everything together.This dinner was really easy and even with cutting everything in half, I got plenty of food to include enough for a lunch this week.
One thing to remember is that you are putting the mashers on top of the meat before it hits the heat in the oven, so get those going first. Peel and cut the potatoes up and into salted water to bring to a boil while you are preparing the meat and sauce.The meat goes into the pan first - with a little oil - and you will cook it through before adding the shredded carrot, onion and garlic. Let these cook in quite well. You want them to be very soft and kinda start to disappear into the meat. Then you add the herbs and the Worcestershire letting them go for a few minutes, stirring all the while. (You will notice the Worcestershire is not in the Mis en Plac picture. This is because I am a dork and forgot to pull it out for the photo. It is in the dish though.)You want to stir the whole time for a very important reason: you don't want the herbs (you DO have fresh, right???) to burn or the meat to stick to the pan. Notice that I am once again using a cast iron skillet. If I was making the whole recipe rather than half, I could leave the meat in this, put the potatoes on top and into the oven with the whole works. Handy stuff, this.
Then add the wine, letting it reduce to nearly gone and then the stock. That stock will add character and a little depth to the dish, so don't leave it out. If you don't know how to make stock, HERE is the recipe I use and it is VERY good. Makes great soup too. If you don't want to make stock, that's cool - just DON'T use broth. Stock and broth are different. Stock is simmered and reduced over time to extract collagen from bones and will be used as a base for soups and sauces. The bones may or may not have meat on them. Herbs and spices are involved as well as vegetables. Broth is made with viable portions of meat and usually is simmered with veggies and grains. Usually stock is an ingredient while broth is a finished product, so you can use stock to make broth. Get it? Ok - back to the Shepherd's Pie. Once you get the stock in and simmering down, you can turn your attention to the potatoes again.
By now, they should be ready for the ricer or the masher, whichever you have. Important: once you drain the water, put them back into the pan and let them dry out. It will make your dish less watery. Once dry, run them through the masher and then add the egg yolk, Parmesan and some additional salt if there was not enough in the water. - you DID salt the water right? Anyone know why you salt the water when cooking potatoes?After the mashers are made, the meat should be ready. If you halved the recipe like I did, then you can use a couple small oven dishes to make two single servings. If not, you will want a larger casserole or something like it to put the food into. Meat in the bottom
, potatoes spread nicely on top and then add some more of the Parmesan and fluff with a fork. Into the hot box for 20 minutes at 350. Once it is done, pull it out and let it rest about five minutes to settle. Trust me, the thing isn't gonna get cold.While the baking is happening, make some pan roasted carrots. They went very well with the shepherds pie and were not at all difficult either. Peel, cut and boil the carrots for three minutes in water
at a rolling boil to which you have already added some rosemary, thyme and garlic. The herbs work well with the carrots and compliment the main dish as well. After a swim of three minutes, they go into a hot fry pan with a little oil to get them just browned and then add a bit of butter and plate.
Serve with your Shepherd's pie and enjoy. If you want the recipe, let me know. I'll send it along.
Wow! Looks so tasty. I would have used ground round...instead of laaaaaammb. Can't wait to eat in your dining room!
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