Cottage Pie/Shepherds Pie

I have been told that I make cottage pie not shepherds pie, technically that may be true. Thing is I grew up with it being made with ground beef and being called shepherds pie. So I call it shepherds pie and will continue doing that. The history nut in me did some research and that tells me I can call it shepherds pie. The shepherds rarely used mutton, they made it out of everything from deer to rabbit and even goose. Yes when they had leftover mutton they did use it.

Today the temperature only got to 14 (57) so it seemed like a perfect day for shepherds pie. It has been over 4 months since the last time I made it, fall, winter, and spring meal for us. Looked in the pantry to see if I had everything, which I didn’t. I was out of beef broth and the freezer was empty of frozen peas. I could of just made something else, or ran to the store, but I wanted shepherds pie. Running to the store is something we still aren’t doing unless it is absolutely necessary. So was it time to give up, NO.

Trick is to break down exactly what shepherds pie is made out of. So, ground meat, chopped vegetables, some kind of gravy, and mashed potatoes for the top. I didn’t have beef broth to make a gravy but I did have beef bouillon powder, no frozen peas but I did have frozen corn. Ground beef I had so I had everything to make a version of a shepherds pie. It’s not the same one I normally make but it turned out to be a very good cottage pie/shepherds pie.

Just because you don’t have the precise ingredients doesn’t mean you can’t cook something. Just break the recipe down and use what you have. It won’t be the recipe from a book or the internet it will be your recipe.

1 pound ground beef browned and drained

1 cup carrot chopped

1 cup celery chopped

1 onion diced

1 cup frozen corn

4 packages beef bouillon powder

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon kitchen banquet

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon thyme 2 cloves garlic minced

2 and 1/2 cups of leftover mashed potatoes

1 tablespoon butter

2 teaspoons flour

2 and 1/2 cups water

Preheat a frying pan with the butter on medium heat. Add carrots and cook for 3 minutes, add the onion, celery, corn, and garlic and cook for 3 minutes. Add flour and cook for 1 minute stirring often. Add the water, beef bouillon powder, thyme, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, kitchen banquet and cook until thickened. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 1 half hour. Let cool and transfer to a casserole dish. Top with mashed potatoes and bake in a 350 for 40 minutes, broil for 2 minutes and serve.