shepherd’s pie

Hubby, a native of Ireland, and I have talked about making shepherd’s pie for ages. Tonight, we decided, was the night to tackle just such a feat.

The only time I have ever eaten shepherd’s pie was the last time we were in Ireland. After begging my mother-in-law to show me how to make it, she finally agreed. It’s a fairly straightforward dish – a mixture of hamburger or ground lamb (or “mince,” as you’d say in Ireland), carrots and onions in a tomatoe-y sauce; poured into a casserole dish; topped off with a thick layer of mashed potatoes and baked in the oven until bubbly and browned. How could THAT be bad? I’ve yet to meet a mashed potato I didn’t like.

Hubby came across a shepherd’s pie demo this week while watching an episode of Gordon Ramsay’s “The F Word” on BBC America. For those of you who’ve only watched Gordon on Hell’s Kitchen, it might surprise you to see him in the F Word light. He’s a kinder, gentler Gordon; not so intent on being a dick, as I’m sure he amps up for ratings on Hell’s Kitchen. Seriously, does he really need to scream “I’ve had ENOUGH, you donkeys!” in every single episode?

Believe it or not, Gordon does have an actual soul, and in the F Word, you get to see glimpses of him outside the kitchen. For instance, you might see him visiting the homes of lucky viewers to teach them to prepare a dish they want to learn to make, or even hanging out with his kids and pet sheep in the spacious backyard of his spacious home. There’s still plenty of kitchen action as well; Gordon occasionally even takes it on the chin when he goes head-to-head with visiting cooks competing with him to make the tastiest version of a given dish.

Anyway, hubby saw Gordon whip up a scrumptious-looking shepherd’s pie that didn’t look too terribly difficult to make, and we were thus inspired to try it out for tonight’s dinner. We took a spin through Marsh for the ingredients, where I was happy (and slightly surprised) to find very fresh ground lamb in the butcher’s case. Gordon’s recipe calls for minced lamb, but I’m sure my mother-in-law made hers with ground beef and I remember it being perfectly delicious. Of course, Gordon’s recipe also calls for grated onion, which, as you can imagine, was duly omitted in tonight’s effort.

The cooking was a team effort — hubby peeled, boiled and made the mashed potatoes (a rich and creamy version with butter, egg yolks and Parmesan cheese) and I handled the lamb. It was pretty easy – you just brown and drain the meat, add carrot, garlic, red wine, tomato paste and chicken stock. Not much different from the base for a boeuf bourguignon or Guinness beef stew. Then you cook it down until the sauce reduces and thickens, dump it all into the casserole dish and spread the mashed potatoes on top. Twenty minutes in the oven, and the top of the potatoes gets all golden brown and crusty. It looked and smelled GORGEOUS. We could hardly wait to dig in. I served it up with some steamed green beans and slices of delicious Irish brown bread that my hubby threw together this afternoon, and it was PERFECT.

Next time you’re in a meat-and-potatoes mood, I urge you to give this dish a try.

Gordon can shepherd me anytime.