Shepherd's (or Cottage) Pie

I've eaten Amy's brand frozen Shepherd's Pie before. It was okay, but never exciting enough to pursue. However, I've been trying to cook new things (or new versions of old things) lately, so I asked R. if there was any kind of casserole or hot dish that I didn't make that he'd like me to try. He suggested shepherd's pie. We had ground beef in the house, but not lamb, so some might argue this is actually Cottage Pie. Whatever. Obviously, no milk products. I also made a solid effort to keep the sodium down.

I later learned that distinct layers (meat, corn, potatoes) were an important element in the version he grew up with, which was known as something like China Pie, according to his father, who grew up in Berlin, NH and whose heritage is French-Canadian. B. makes this as well, in the New England/China Pie variation; like me, she substituted a variety of vegetables in for the corn. She, however, maintains the separation.

The dish is old, but not that old. It probably dates from the early nineteenth century. Through mid-century, it had potatoes on the bottom as well as the top, just like the double-crust pies which are considerably older. Another variant (Cumberland) adds a layer of breadcrumbs and/or cheese on top of the potatoes.

Boil: 2 lbs potatoes

The goal is mashed potatoes. You can do whatever your usual mashed potatoes recipe is. I peel after boiling, but most people peel before boiling. I added fresh ground black pepper, and some of the water from boiling. I did not salt the potatoes or the water. I later added some olive oil and some beef broth. I used gold potatoes.

Chop fine, then saute in a very large pan, using a little olive oil:

an onion
some mushrooms
a few cloves garlic

Add to the same pan and brown: 2 pounds ground beef (or ground lamb).

The ground beef I used is 85/15. I did not pour off any of the fat, but used it to create pan gravy, which is what the flour and broth is all about. I used just enough broth to stick it all together. The more broth you add, the more gravy/sauce will be present in the final dish; if you add a lot more, you will need more flour.

When the meat has been browned, sprinkle meat and onion mixture with a little white flour. Mix thoroughly, then add beef broth, between a half cup and a cup. Thoroughly combine. It should stick together pretty good.

Move the meat mixture to a large rectangular baking dish. Add 2+ Cups frozen vegetables, and sprinkle generously dried herbs. I used herbes provences, but just about anything green should be pretty good. Rosemary is a classic with lamb, as is thyme.

At this point, I mixed the veg and the meat together, but there's no reason you can't leave it separate, like a strata dish (which I have never made or eaten).

Spread: the mashed potatoes over the top.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes. If you rough up the top (scallops or fork scrapes) and put the dish close to the top, it might brown nicely, depending on what exactly you put in your mashed potatoes.

Most recipes for this dish include worcestershire sauce. I just forgot to put it in. I added no salt; the only sodium is what occurs naturally in the foods, plus the beef broth. The beef broth I used is Nature's Valley, and has 120 mg sodium per cup. I liked the results, altho I should have forked the potatoes to get them to brown better.

Created February 26, 2010
Updated February 28, 2010