I made a cottage pie the other day and it came out really good. (From Wikipedia: In Britain, shepherd’s pie is technically always made with lamb and cottage pie always with beef, though in common usage shepherd’s pie is used to apply to either.) Here is the recipe I used …
2 medium potatoes, cubed
1/2 cup milk
4 tablespoons butter, separated
1 pound ground beef
1 medium onion, 1/4-inch dice
1 medium carrot, 1/4-inch dice
1 medium celery stalk, sliced
1/2 pound mushroom, sliced
2/3 cup frozen peas
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup brown gravy
Salt and pepper
Peel potatoes and cut into cubes. Place in cold salted water and bring to a boil, reduce heat to low boil until potatoes are fork tender, about 15 minutes. Drain potatoes and mash with milk and 2 tablespoons of the butter until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste and set aside. Brown ground beef in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Remove ground beef from pan and drain off excess fat, reserving 3 tablespoons of fat. Put reserved fat in saucepan add onion, carrot, and celery. Sweat for 5 minutes until onion becomes translucent, add mushrooms, and frozen peas saute for 5 more minutes. Return ground beef to pan along with parsley, thyme, Worcestershire, and nutmeg, simmer for 1 to 2 minutes. Add brown gravy to pan simmer 1 to 2 minutes, season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and let cool. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Layer bottom of a 3-liter casserole dish with beef mixture, top with mashed potatoes making uneven peaks with a fork. Cut remaining butter into small cubes and sprinkle over mashed potatoes. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until mashed potatoes have turned golden brown, remove from oven and let cool 5 minutes.
I used instant mashed potatoes instead of real ones. And, I used Heinz savory beef gravy from a jar.
In the oven …
All done …
This is what I look like from underneath my steering wheel …
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