Apr 14, 2010

Not a pie

So a couple nights ago I made shepherd's pie for dinner. Shepherd's pie is really really good, but I have one problem with it. The name makes no sense!
1. It is not a pie. it is ground beef with potatoes on top.
2. Shepherd? there is no sheep or lamp in this pie.
3. Shepherds would not have the time to make shepherd's pie. takes too long for someone who stands in a field all day.
So therefor, shepherd's pie makes no sense at all. But I like eating it, so that's ok.

2 large potatoes, peeled
1/2 cup milk
1/2 stick butter
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 lb ground beef
1 tsp dried oregano
1 1/2 tsp dried parsley
1 1/2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
4 tsp flour
1/2 cup minced onion
1/2 cup diced carrot
1/4 cup white wine (or beef stock if you don't want to use wine)
1/2 cup beef stock
1 cup green peas

Boil the potatoes until they are soft, about half an hour. Drain and mash them with the milk 1/2 tsp salt, and 2 Tbsp butter , then set them aside for later.
While the potatoes are boiling, melt the remaining butter in a big skillet. Add the garlic and beef and cook until the beef is very brown.
Season with the oregano, parsley, and Worcestershire. Sprinkle 2 tsp flour on top and stir to thoroughly coat the meat. Cook for another five minutes. Take the meat out of the pan and set aside. Dump the remaining grease out because that stuff is icky. Add the onion and carrot and cook for about five minutes, or until soft. Add 2 tsp flour, wine, and broth.

Stir and let cook for a few minutes to thicken. Then add the meat and peas.

Pour the entire mixture into a buttered baking dish and spread the potatoes on top. Be gentle, because the meat will try and escape if you spread the potatoes too roughly. Bake, uncovered, for 40 min at 350F. YUM!

XOXO
Natalie

2 comments:

  1. Shepherd's pie was originally called cottage pie and began to be called shepherd's pie when people started making it with lamb. For some reason, in the US, we call both cottage pie (properly made with beef) and shepherd's pie (properly made with lamb) the same thing.

    Americans are crazy. Crazy.:-)

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  2. Nice! good researching skills lady. but I still don't like calling it a pie....

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