Shepherd's Pie

[indyfrisco]

Rack that recipe. Shepherd's Pie is one of my favorite comfort foods. I've only made it a couple times as [softball]I've always been the only meat eater in the house[/softball], and this dish is usually so big, I'm eating it every meal for a week. Now that I have a couple kids, maybe I should try it again.

One thing I like on Shepherd's Pie I got from The Cheesecake Factory. They put parm cheese on top of the mashed potatoes before baking. Makes a nice cheesy crust. When I made my own, I just used the microplane and put a heavy dose of it on there. Turned out great.

I must say, that Duxelles recipe looks awesome. I make homemade pizzas all the time. I'm thinking use the Duxelles as the sauce as opposed to my normal red sauce, some motzerella, gruyere, parm and top with an assortment of wild mushrooms.

[indyfrisco]

Check my ABT thread.

viewtopic.php?f=17&t=28234

Below the first row of pictures is something called a "fatty". It was sausage filled with cheese and then smoked. The pic looks awesome.

I'm thinking also of a mixture of ground pork, beef and veal. Fill with the Druxelles instead of cheese and smoke.

Damn. Getting hungry.

[indyfrisco]

Question though. You said to process the shallots onions and mushrooms together. But after that, you said to saute the onions and shallots and then add the mushrooms. I take it you do this first and then process them all together right?

[indyfrisco]

No. The first pics were from a different site where I learned to make these. I improvised a bit. Scroll halfway down the thread and you see the pics I took with my blackberry. Those were the actual ones I made. I used ground pork only.

Notice the discoloration of the cream cheese in the finished products. That was the smoke that made it a yellowish color. I had never had "smoked" cream cheese before. Absolutely awesome.

I've made these a few times since. Just had them at the Christmas party at my house. I made 60 of them and they were all gone by end of the night. I've started to baste my BBQ sauce on them 1 hour in. Then after 30 minutes, I put another round of sauce on them. Cook 30 more minutes and the sauce is almost black from the smoke and it is almost like candy from the sugar and heat....until you bit into them. I used my HOT BBQ sauce on ones I did for my poker group. Guys kept saying how their mouths were on fire but they kept eating them. They're that good. Worth the sting.

When I do the fatty, I will probably do the same thing with the BBQ sauce.

[Dinsdale]

You guys are trolling me, right?

The next time a meet a full-blooded American who even knows what a proper shepard's pie is, it will be the first time.

Haven't done it in a while... but when I revisit them, I'll tell you guys what's up.

Hint: a "pie" has a "crust." You guys are really missing the boat.

[indyfrisco]

Dude,

I said I make mine with a "parm" crust. It's just on top.

Do tell though. I bet a nice puff pastry crust would be pretty damn good. Just wondering how the juices from the beef and veggies wouldn't make the crust soggy, no matter the crust type.

[Dinsdale]

Just wondering how the juices from the beef and veggies wouldn't make the crust soggy, no matter the crust type.

The same way they don't in a meat pie/sausage rolls.

But that doesn't really relate to the subject at hand...

Briefly -- make your mashed potatoes first, then spread it on the bottom and sides of a casserole dish (needs to be fairly thick mash to be able to stay up the sides). Maybe even a spritz of oil on the surface, then out it in a screamin hot oven for a bit. When it starts to crust up, take it out, and use it as a crust to put your ingredients in (canned corned beef being a favorite amongst poor people, but as mention, a recipe for freestylers if there everwas one). Then you make your potato/cheese crust on top, then bake the sucker again.


So... I take it we're done hating on Limey food now? Have a thread that's split between how bad it is, interspersed with everyone talking up their favorite version of a Limey dish... regardless how badly they're butchering the recipe.

[indyfrisco]

A crust made of mashed potatoes? I woulda never guessed that.

And count me out on the ones that were dissing limey food. Notice I never entered that discussion. I'm not too familiar with it as is so I can't comment either way good or bad.

[Dinsdale]

A crust made of mashed potatoes? I woulda never guessed that.

Frankly, most Limeyfood recipes I see discussed here don't even vaguely resemble the way I've seen actual, real Limeys prepare them, like at the British food store/associated Saturday Market kiosks, or anywhere else where Limeys are doing the Limey thing.

I'm not too familiar with it as is so I can't comment either way good or bad.

Neither is anyone else on here, but that doesn't stop them from commenting.


Roast beef with Yorshire pudding is about the greatest dinner known to mankind.

[Dinsdale]

What you should give a fuck about is making a proper sheperd's pie, now that you've been enlightened.


BTW-in Limeyland, shepard's pie is kind of a poor single bachelor's meal... hence what Dad made when Mom wasn't around... which beats the hell out of corned beef hash.