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Monday, September 14, 2015

Shepherd's Pie!

Sorry, I have been quiet for a while.... So I decided to make a shepherds pie....actually, no...more like, I had very many potatoes, some vegetables, and minced mutton. I have definitely made variations of this pie with different kinds of meat and still called it shepherd pie! 

So sometime last year, I discovered (... rather, was informed) that it is called 'shepherds' because ideally, it is made of mutton. Also, because a shepherd is he who tends and rears sheep. Yeah, you get the drift... How wasn't that obvious to me?

Anyway, so here I was. Straight from the office, feeling tired from battling traffic but eager to make a good meal. I didn't have anything for lunch because I forgot to pack my food and I was scared as hell to buy any. Why, you ask? Try having a severe bout of h.pylori (my friend, I even pack water to work! No jokes there!)
 Back to the post... So it's a very simple meal to prepare.

Serves 5

For the Mash:
10 medium sized potatoes
2 tbs Butter 
1 cup of Milk
Salt
Pepper

For the Filling:
Mutton
Olive Oil
Onions
Tomatoes
Mushrooms
Courgette
Green Pepper
Garlic
Salt
Pepper

For the Topping:
Cheese
 I always start cooking by preparing the item that would take the longest to cook. In this case, the potatoes. I boiled them with salt for 10-12 minutes.
 While that was boiling, I quickly fried onions and garlic, quickly followed by the mutton. I then added the remaining vegetables to the pan.

Once the potatoes were ready, I drained the water and added the butter and milk when the potatoes were still hot. This is the trick I use to get that perfect, silky-smooth consistency in mashed potatoes. I then add pepper for extra flavour.

I then layer the oven dish starting with the meat, then a layer of cheese in between to serve as a binder, then followed by the mash and more cheese at the top. 
 I then place the dish in a slightly preheated oven at 180° C until the top layer of cheese melts and is slightly golden brown.
 Ready to be devoured!
Thank you for reading!