Shepherd’s pie and I have a long history together. As a baby that rejected my poor mothers milk I started on solids at a pretty early age. I can’t be sure that Shepherd’s pie was on my rotation of first solids but what I do know is that as a young and fussy eater if somebody told me it was Shepherd’s pie I’d be happy to dive in. Apparently I was also gullible. I say dive in but that was not before I had weeded out each and every last scrap of onion and piled them on the side of my plate. My childhood was haunted by onions. They popped up in everything and yet now on reflection I can tell you that it was not so much the onions themselves that were to blame but their half cooked slippery yet still crunchy state that I detested so much. I still hate large chunks of undercooked onions. Can you blame me?
Mum made her Shepherd’s pie less traditionally than most- for starters she used beef ( I know, I know, we should call this Cottage Pie but hey, we didn’t, so get over it already), onions, carrots, some flour to thicken, some beef stock (from a bullion cube) and I believe also a beer. She let it cook slowly so that the meat was tender then whisked boiled-until-tender potatoes with an electric whisk, milk and butter to top the meat with. In later years she adopted Delia’s method of adding a pinch of cinnamon- but this all came to an end a few years later when dad announced one day that he hated the new addition. I love the fact that he either hadn’t noticed or was just too polite to mention his dislike for cinnamon the first fifty odd times mum had made it.
However she makes it now, the most important part is making an extra one for my brother, Will, or there isn’t enough to feed a visiting mouse let alone the rest of the family. He can consume Shepherd’s pie at a rate similar to that of Joey Chestnut faced with an overloaded plate of hotdogs and an audience of cheering fans. It’s impressive and somewhat sickening all at the same time. Some mothers send their kids home with cakes or perhaps even a twenty dollar bill. Will goes home with Shepherd’s pie in his suitcase.
Shepherd’s pie is English comfort food but using ground beef it’s not exactly dinner party material. A kids party, maybe but not for adults. So, when I want something a little more luxurious I use a method I learned from Jamie Oliver years ago. A slow-cooked lamb shoulder that is shredded once tender. I cook off a big shoulder of lamb and it will last Don and I the whole week having lamb at every meal. I’m afraid I can’t make the same claims for my brother but I would hope the fact that he would actually have to chew the chunks of lamb would slow him down.
From one shoulder of lamb I make a couple of pies, freeze one or both and then use the rest of the lamb to eat fresh that day or toss through pasta with some of the remaining veggies and liquid that I simmer down to a thick jus. It’s as simple as making from ground meat….perhaps even slightly less labor intensive and even if I do find myself balking at the butchers price of lamb I take solace in knowing that the meat can be used in multiple ways. You could of course do the same method using beef, perhaps short ribs or a big piece of chuck and call it Cottage pie (or Shepherd’s pie, I don’t mind).
small bunch Rosemary
3 garlic cloves, peeled
1 Tbsp coarse sea salt (Maldon)
1 1/2 tsp coarsely cracked black pepper
Olive oil
5lb Shoulder of lamb, trimmed of large bits of fat and any sinew
2 onions, peeled and cut into wedges
2 celery, trimmed and cut into chunks
2 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
1 x 26 oz can San Marzano tomatoes, crushed in your hands
3/4 bottle red wine
500ml/2 cups beef stock
for the mash
1.3kg floury potatoes (like Yukon gold or Maris piper)
4 Tbsp butter
whole milk (about 1/ 2 cup)
salt and pepper to taste
• Heat the oven to 300F/ 150C/ Gas 3. Pick all the rosemary leaves and bash along with your peeled garlic cloves, coarse salt and freshly crack black peppercorns in a mortar and pestal adding a little olive oil as necessary until as smooth as possible.
• Rub the lamb all over with the mixture (ideally you want to let it sit like this for 24 hours but most of us don’t have this kind of time!) and place in a roasting tin on top of the vegetables, canned tomatoes, red wine and beef stock. Cover the pan really well in a double layer of heavy-duty foil and place in the oven for about 4 hours or until the meat is very tender.
• Once cool enough to handle (or you can chill over night) shred the meat using 2 forks and discard any large bits of fat and the bones. Place half of the meat in a large baking dish and reserve the rest for another use. Strain off the liquid from the veggies and return the liquid to the roasting pan. Place on the stove and bring up to a boil. Turn to a simmer and allow the liquid to gently reduce so that you have 2 cups of liquid left. Pour 1 cup of the liquid over your shredded meat in the pan. Chop half of the veggies (or you can purée in a food processor) and mix in with your meat and sauce.
• If you plan to eat immediately turn the oven up to 375F/190C/Gas 5. To make the mash, peel your potatoes and chop into 2 inch chunks place your peeled potatoes in a large pot of cold water and bring up to a boil. Turn down to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are very soft. Drain and push the potatoes through a ricer back into the hot pot and add the butter. Beat in and then gradually add the milk, beating as you go until you have a consistency that you like. Season to taste. If you are making the mash in advance you may need to add more liquid after the potatoes have chilled.
• Spoon over the top of your meat mixture, evenly and then use a fork to ruffle up the potatoes so that it has some texture (this will make lovely crisp brown bits). Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until golden and bubbly. You can always finish the potatoes under the broiler (grill) if they need more color.
• With the remaining meat I like to purée half of the vegetables with the leftover sauce and then toss along with the remaining shredded meat and cooked pasta.
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This looks amazing! Such a favourite of mine, for hearty and comforting British grub
Lovely blog, will be following x
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