Food Monday ~ Shepherd’s Pie

Now that the festivities are over it is time for some simple plain cooking.

Shepherd’s Pie
Preheat oven to180°C

1 lb Minced Beef
1 large Onion chopped
2 sticks Celery chopped
2 Carrots chopped
1 Parsnip chopped
4ozs mixed Peppers chopped
1 lb canned Plum Tomatoes
Few mushrooms sliced
1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
Salt &Black Pepper
2ozs frozen Peas
2ozs frozen Corn
1 teaspoon Soy Sauce
1 oz Sunflower Oil
1½ lbs Potatoes *
Crushed potato Crisps

Peel cook and mash potatoes and set aside.Heat the oil in large pan fry onion until soft.Add the celery, carrots, parsnip & peppers and cook for 5 minutes. Add the beef and brown slowly, then add Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, black pepper and tomatoes and stir well.Add the mushrooms, peas and corn.Bring to the boil and simmer for five minutes.Pour mixture into an ovenproof dish even out and spread the mashed potato on top.Sprinkle with crushed crisps and bake for 25 minutes.

Serves 6

* I sometimes use half potatoes and half Swede cooked together and mashed.

24 thoughts on “Food Monday ~ Shepherd’s Pie

  1. Magpie11

    Veery interesting idea those crisps…

    try half potato and half celeriac!…thinking about it half spud and half parsnip might work!

    My mother, ever the pedant, used to say that beef made cottage pie and lamb or mutton made shepherds’ pie!

    Reply
  2. Grannymar Post author

    @Joe – Enjoy!

    @Steph – Looks like I am not the only one. 😉

    @Magpie – Thanks for the extra tips.
    I know about the beef/lamb debate, but I actually prefer the former.

    I have heard of someone who minces the tailend of cooked roasts, be it chicken, beef, ham, lamb or pork; then freezes them for later use. So on a lazy day she pulls out all the bits and mixes what ever she has, to make a cottage type pie! Each mouthful would have a different flavour…

    Reply
  3. Magpie11

    We rarely have left overs from roasts because they are great cold or in sandwiches… The exceptions being lamb and Mutton as the fat is not very nice when cold..that’s then frozen for curries or Shepherds’ Pie 😉

    Having said that we sometimes have a mixed meat and game pie…chicken, pheasant , pork, Turkey…even guinea fowl…..the pheasant and Guinea fowl only when it’s reduced at Sainsburger’s or else where.

    Reply
  4. Grannymar

    Magpie,

    I am talking about when there are only a couple of ozs left. Now your game pie sounds tasty. What day am I coming over for that ❓ 😉

    Reply
  5. K8

    You know a rumour I heard once is actually very true:

    Add 1 or two squares of dark chocolate to the recipe when you’re boiling down the liquids!

    It complements the taste of the beef very well, and counteracts the bitterness from the tomatoes. Who’da thought?

    (Works for spag. bol/lasagne etc… too!)

    Reply
  6. wisewebwoman

    Very similar to my recipe GM except for no corn (doesn’t agree with me) and I use mushy peas which gives a really great consistency.’m hungry reading it 🙂
    XO
    WWW

    Reply
  7. Magpie11

    I was given some 100% chocolate for my birthday…I mean to say I had some 99% in the USA the other year an brought that back….The idea of this 100% stuff is to grate it into recipes….

    If you’re going to use chocolate slap in some chilli too!

    Reply
  8. Grannymar Post author

    @Magpie – 100% chocolate would be a little bitter for me. Very little would go a long way.

    @Annie – I thought that comfort food was about right for today.

    Reply
  9. Grannymar

    K8

    Several people who comment here see Magpie as female, but I know otherwise, his beard is a bit of a give away. 😉 Sorry Sir!

    He does have some interesting ideas on the cooking front.

    Reply
  10. Magpie11

    Oh! it’s okay…..there are worse things than being described as a woman…….(temptation to throw a cat amongst the pigeons and say, “Not many!”)

    As a primary teacher you get used to little ones saying, “Meees” Please Mees!”…one effective reply used to be “I’m not a bearded lady and I haven’t escaped from a circus.” This would be followed by blank looks or laughter….

    As for interesting ideas…I’m nervous of that phrase…I’m all too aware of “Living in Interesting times.”

    BTw I was given a bar of Chilli Chocolate a couple of weeks before Christmas…lovely! After all they both have their origins in Central America … what more natural combination can you think of?

    Reply
  11. Mo

    Grannymar

    Thank you 🙂 – Will get the jiff of it and hopefully you will see me around peepin in over your shoulder lol

    Take Care

    Reply
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