shepherd's pies

My friends and I throw themed dinner parties for one another. They generally involve some kind of play on words, be it alliteration, rhyme or otherwise. Anyway, now that you know I'm one of the cool kids (ha!), let me give you the recipes I made for our Shepherd's and Skullsplitter dinner party.

Many of my friends don't eat beef (well, certain kinds of beef), and one of them is a pescatarian. So, I actually made one traditional pie and another using Quorn. However, only the meat recipe is below.

To me, shepherd's pie is a clean-out-your-fridge kind of food, so rarely do I go at it with a particular recipe in mind. When I was a kid, my father used to throw it together anytime we had leftover mashed potatoes. Which was anytime my mother made mashed potatoes (I always suspected he threw an extra potato or two into the pot behind her back; so much does he love shepherd's pie).

I made my first shepherd's pies (two huge pies - one lamb and one beef), for my girlfriends and I to eat at my 10th birthday party. Did I mention I'm one of the cool kids? Anyway, here's the recipe.

Ingredients

Filling
1 lb of meat (I used sirloin this time, but I've used everything from leftover ribeye to ground beef)
4 large garlic cloves, minced
5 diced carrots
1 large diced onion
1 1/2 c frozen green peas

Potatoes
4 large potatoes, peeled and cut into 2 inch pieces
1/2 - 1 c milk
3 tbs butter

Gravy
1 beer (or use chicken stock or water)
wondra (I LOVE wondra, but a corn starch slurry or some sifted flour will also do the trick)

Seasonings
your favorite meat seasoning
salt
pepper
cayenne pepper
paprika
olive oil

Preparation
The night before, you'll want to cook the steaks. First, this breaks up what can be a long process (and since this is really meant as a use for leftovers, hopefully you'll just have leftover steak). Secondly, you're going to be cutting the steak into bite-sized pieces, and if you cook the steak right beforehand, and then cut it, you lose some of the juices.

You can cook them in your favorite way (broil, grill, pan-fry). I broiled them. Sprinkle them liberally with your favorite seasoning, allow them to come to room temperature, then cook. The steaks I had were about an inch thick, and I wanted them fairly rare inside (as they will be introduced to heat again later), so I broiled them for two minutes per side.

The day of, get all your vegetables diced and cut the meat into bite-sized pieces. Preheat the oven to 400* F. Peel and cut the potatoes, put them in a pot, cover them with water and boil them for about 15 - 20 minutes, or until a fork is easily inserted into them. While the potatoes are boiling, prepare the filling.

In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, saute the garlic, onion and carrot in the olive oil until just softened. Add salt to help this process along. Add the peas and cover. Lower the heat to medium-low and let simmer for about 3 minutes.

Raise the heat to high, add the meat and cook for about 1 - 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. The point here is to get some of the meat to stick to the bottom of the pan. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat, cover.

By now, the potatoes should be ready to mash. Drain them and then place the pot back on the hot (but off) burner. This will allow any excess water to steam off the potatoes. Give the pot a shake every few seconds. Once the steam coming off them has lessened, toss in the butter. Mash the potatoes with a potato masher or other instrument. Add the milk in small increments (you may not need it all) and stir it in until you reach the consistency you want. Then, season with salt and cayenne pepper to taste.


Assembly and Gravy

Transfer the meat and vegetables into a baking dish, spreading them out evenly. Then make the gravy.

Place the saucepan in which you cooked the vegetables over high heat. Hopefully, you have some meat and/or juices stuck to the bottom of the pan. When the pan is hot, pour in half the beer (or 1/2 cup stock or water). With a whisk or fork, scrape the bottom of the pan to loosen the stuck bits. Stirring continuously, sprinkle a fine layer of wondra over the liquid. Continue alternating liquid and wondra until you get the gravy consistency you prefer. Remove from heat and season lightly with salt and cracked pepper. The amount of seasoning you will need will vary based on what liquid you used, and you don't want to oversalt, since you've salted the other components of the dish.

Finally, you're ready to assemble fully. Pour your pan gravy over the meat and vegetables. Using a spatula, transfer the mashed potatoes on top of the meat and vegetables. Spread them out evenly (kind of like frosting a cake).

Sprinkle paprika over the top of the mashed potatoes (this will help them crisp up a little). Place the pie into the oven. Bake for 30 minutes to an hour, or until the top looks crisp around the edges.

Serve like you'd serve a lasagna. Or a pie.



I hope that wasn't too complicated! Enjoy.