SHEPHERD’S PIE
When my Mum made shepherd’s pie, it was to use the cold meat leftover from a roasted leg of lamb. She minced the meat in a hand turned mincer which clamped onto the kitchen bench, then she’d follow through with a carrot, an onion and a couple of stalks of celery to save her from having to hand chop them. My butcher minces lamb on request, which is just as well as there is rarely meat leftover from a roast in my household. In the 1960s, “savoury mince” featured highly on the school home economics cookery menu, it was fancier than Mum ever made, “exotic” with added herbs, so I copied the recipe from “Approach to Cookery” my first cookery text book before I discarded it. Here’s my 2012 edition.
SHEPHERD’S PIE
500g minced lamb
1 onion diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small carrot diced
1 stick celery diced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons tomato relish or ketchup
2 teaspoons mixed dried herbs including some rosemary
1/2 cup stock
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon plain flour
2 tablespoons cold water
TOPPING
4 medium potatoes
1/2 orange sweet potato
1/2 cup hot milk
1 tablespoon butter
Salt and pepper to taste
Sauté the onion, carrot and celery until translucent. Increase the heat in the pan, add the meat and brown, breaking the mince up with the back of a spoon. Add the minced garlic, sauces, herbs and stock. bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Mix the flour and water to a paste, then add to the meat and cook until the gravy thickens, stirring constantly.
Spoon into a large greased ovenproof dish, or 4 individual remekins.
TOPPING Peel the potatoes and cut into chunks. Steam until cooked. Mash the potatoes with the hot milk and butter and season the taste with salt and pepper. Spoon the potatoes over the meat, then roughen the surface with a fork. Bake 30 minutes 170C for approx 30 minutes, until the potato is browned. Accompany with simple steamed green vegetables. Serves 4
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Please Pass the Recipe by Sandra Gay is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.
Please Pass the Recipe 