Shepherd’s Pie

There’s no way to properly express how strongly I feel about the excellence of this dish, and this formula in particular, without waxing poetic and making an ass out of myself. This is one dish that is so well-tailored to my specific tastes – ground meat, mashed potatoes, a rich, sticky sauce, the satisfying pop of peas and corn as you chew – that I don’t often eat other versions despite the high regard I have for the dish, both in flavor and concept. Like Chicken Pot Pie, I find it extremely rewarding to construct this in individual ramekins, although I don’t imagine it would do as well in the freezer – I’ve never tried it, since it never lasts more than 24 hours in my house, but I imagine the potato element would not hold up very well.

I believe the traditional meat here is lamb – that’s what I prefer to use but beef works equally well. In fact, any ground meat would likely do fine, hell, for that matter you could do probably substitute minced portabello mushrooms for the meat if you for some reason found yourself cooking a for a vegetarian potluck. I would stay away from any more delicate and leaner meat such as veal or chicken, since I’m not sure it would hold up to the extended cooking time.

I make cheesy mashed potatoes for this dish – by no means necessary but highly, highly recommended. I will include the recipe here as a separate entry.

Finally, there is no limit to the richness this dish can bear. Feel free to add demi-glace to the meat, use veal stock instead of chicken stock, and substitute cream for the milk in the mashed potatoes.

Ingredients:

• 2 TBS olive oil
• 1 lb ground lamb (or beef)
• 1 medium large onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, brunoised
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 TBS Wondra
• 6 oz chicken stock (or veal stock)
• 6 oz frozen peas
• 6 oz frozen corn
• 1 TBS each oregano and thyme
• 2 oz demi glace
• Salt and pepper
• 1 batch cheesy mashed potatoes

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450.

Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan until very hot but not smoking. Add the meat, breaking it up with your fingers as you add it into large chunks so that it covers the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and let it sit for 30-60 seconds, depending on how hot your pan is running, until it’s got a nice sear on it. Then, using a spatula or wooden spoon, begin to break it up and move it around. The final result should be quite small, with a few larger chunks here and there. Cook for another 3 or 4 minutes with the heat on high, stirring occasionally so it doesn’t stick or burn, but not so frequently that you don’t let it sear.

Add the onions, garlic and carrots, a bit more salt and pepper, and toss to distribute thoroughly. Cook until the onions and carrots have softened, stirring rather frequently so the onions around the edges don’t burn, about 8-10 minutes. Add the Wondra, stirring so that it is absorbed fully by all the fat and juices. Cook for about one minute, scraping the bottom so that the flour doesn’t burn. Add the chicken stock and deglaze, scraping the bottom and sides of the pan and stirring to combine.

Add the herbs, some more salt and pepper, and cook for about 15 minutes at a brisk simmer. You should have a thick stew-like consistency on your hands – not too liquidy and not too dry. Once it it reduced, add the demiglace if you’re using it, stir so it melts in, then add the frozen corn and peas. Toss to combine, cook for another minute until the corn and peas are warmed through and dimpled slightly. Remove from heat.

I’m assuming you’ve made your cheesy mashed potatoes in advance or while it was cooking. It’s hard to imagine using cheesy mashed potatoes that were made well in advance and just removed from the fridge. I would imagine that the cold mashed potatoes would totally screw up the cooking time. If you have made them well in advance, take them out of the fridge with enough time for them to come to room temperature.

Place the stew mixture in a large baking dish. Shake it once or twice so that the mixture is evenly distributed and flat – not bunched up on one side. Using a rubber spatula, spread the mashed potatoes evenly over the meat mixture. Ideally, the mashed potato mixture should not be any thicker than the meat mixture, so you’ll have to judge based on your baking dish. I usually do about an inch and a half of each. Once the mashed potatoes are spread out, smooth them with the rubber spatula. You can create little peaks or even score the surface by dragging a fork across it in rows or in a crosshatch pattern. In either case, the stuff that sticks up will brown nicely. There should be no need to dot the top with butter.

Place in the oven and cook for 20-30 minutes, until the top of the potatoes are brown and the mixture is bubbling. It may bubble up through the mashed potatoes on the corners – this is fine as long as it doesn’t get out of hand. If you really like a crust on the top you can place in a high broiler for a minute or two. Remove from the oven and let stand for at least 10 minutes before serving. If you cut into it right away, the meat mixture will leak out from under the mashed and you will not be able to cut individual cubes as effectively, so it’s important to let it cool and congeal slightly.