Shepard Pie

During the depression and WW II our main meal 4 nights a week was leftovers of some sort. Sam Levinson, a great comedian, once said he remembers having leftovers every night and never having the original meal. My favorite, by far, was something my mother called Shepard Pie. Ground cold roast beef, (ground in the good old Foley Mill) covered with gravy and mashed potatoes and baked. Yummy stuff. I made it myself a number of times over the years, but never saw it on a menu until a few years ago. Now it is everywhere. Great road food. Pubs, diners, etc. all have it, so that prompts 3 questions--------------
(1) What is your favorite recipe for Shepard Pie?
(2) Where do they serve the best S/P you know of ? and
(3) What the heck was #3 ???? It doesn't pay to get old, damn !!
Well if I remember what #3 is I'll be sure to let y'all know.
See ya in the funny papers.

Shepherds Pie was served in our U S Army mess hall as one of the three choices on the "Low end of the menu" day. A good day would see us with 3 choices- steak/pork chop/ fried chicken but on the 'Bad' days the three choices would be Liver/Scallops/Shepherds pie. I would take a soup bowl full of scallops every time...but most of the guys would select the shepherds pie rather than the other options.
It was made with ground meat, canned green beans and corn and a transparent (cornstarch?) gravy. Then they covered it with about an inch and a half of mashed potato, and baked it for awhile.
The scallops were the best choice for sure, but the troops were all destined to be Denny's and McDonald's customers when they got home. No rubbery seafood for them.

Dearfolk,
My mother never made that dish, so it evokes no childhood memories in me; I will have to imagine what Platonic perfection in the dish must taste like.
Tuesday is Shepherd's Pie day at The Normaltown Cafe', and I really enjoy theirs. They take leftover roast beef, trim it, grind it, add spices, and put that on the bottom of the cooking pan. They then top it with whatever leftover potatoes the restaurant has amassed in the last few days.
One memorable recent batch featured leftover garlic potatoes with additional garlic and other spices in the meat. Sharp cheddar was melted on top and it was baked in the oven. There were a few onions and green peppers added, but no green beans.
That particular batch was good enough that I ate seconds at noon and came back for yet more after going to the library. Usually theirs is a three-star edition, but that one earned four stars in my book.
Apparently the British have a variant on this that they call bubble & squeak. Can someone enlighten me?
Minus My Crook And Straw Hat, Ort. Carlton in Altogether-Too-Sheepish Athens, Georgia.

Dear Ort,

Bubble and squeak is actually, cabbage,potatoes, onions, and bacon, all mashed down together in a frying pan full of butter or oil til it makes sort of a "bubbly squeaky" sound as it's cooking.

My late mother made a variant of shepherd's pie (which actually is British in origin), she called "potato surprise".. she used hamburger meat, a can of Veg-All mixed vegetables (ick), cheese, gravy with mashed potatoes over the top and baked til brown.. it always needed ketchup and always gave me heartburn..
We used to have a nice British type pub here in Fresno called "Goodbody's" that served an excellent version of shepherd's pie with either roast beef or chicken.

I have an English friend who says that Bubble and Squeak really is named after the noises inside you after your eat it.

well I was trying to be polite here Gordon..hehehhe.. but it really does bubble and squeak when you make it.

Ah, all the Irish Pubs in South Boston and the environ serve Shepheard's Pie! The Irish that I know make it with the left-over meat from Sunday's mutton dinner. Grind the meat, dice the left over carrots, onions and celery and mix all together with the left-over gravy. We used to fill individual serving bowls with the mixture and pipe the freshly made mashed spuds on top and bake until spuds were brown and lamb mixture was bubbly.

Well Ladies and Gentlemen you all are Shepard Pie experts. I am surprised at the Army offering choices. In the US Navy we were given what they cooked, take it or leave it. And the Army selections were great. Scallops---wow, what a treat. Some General once said an army travels on its stomach. I bet he never got scallops. Ort. Carlton---so they have S/P in Georgia and it sounds great, 4**** Rating. How about that !!!
----and way out there on the Left Coast also---
I made it this past week so that is what prompted the post -----solid stuff and no squeaks were heard anywhere at all---inside or out. Squells of joy instead.

Shepard's Pie, gosh talk about comfort food. Growing up it was browned ground beed with onions added, mashed potatoes, 4 slices of KRAFT(always Kraft)american cheese on top, baked. I still do it the same way for my family with the addition of green beans, fresh(blanched first)if available, in between the meat and potatoes. My daughter has a problem with foods touching so I make this when she's elsewhere.

I had Shepard's pie at an Irish Pub in Portland Maine a couple of weeks ago. It was made with lamb and carrots and topped with mashed potatoes and cheese. It was excellent.

My mother used to make it with ground hamburger meat and onions covered with instant mashed potatoes and shreaded cheese. I loved it !!

My husband love Shepherds Pie- I make it with ground lamb,finely minced carrots and oinions and peas. It is seasoned with some beef stock. Then I top it with Mashed potatoes mixed with grated white cheddar and bake in individual gratin dishes. It is nice on a cold night with a crisp green salad and a pint of ale.

Here is a link to the recipe- you'll have to do the metric conversions- (there are web sites for that!) I add about 1/3 of a cup of frozen peas and a dash of worcestershire sauce.

http://www.letscook.co.uk/shepherdspie.html

You guys are all very nice not to have corrected my spelling. Shepard
is wrong, right? I will write it right this time ---Shepherd, right ?

But no matter how you spell it it sure is comfort food, Rusty.

SCBuzz, I think most pubs use ground beef because they just don't have enough leftovers. People are carrying those home for the "dogs".

And, Danmel, Thanks for the recipe-Sounds like you like S/P as much as your husband.

Talking about food is a great way to get the juices going, I think I'll start dinner. Bon Appetit everyone.

I never had SP as a child either. My first SP experience was at the women's shelter in DC where I used to work. We had great luches homemade by church ladies, and SP was popular with the disenfranchised population we served. It was awesome. I make it now with roast beef, fresh veggies and garlic mashed potatoes with some thyme and oregano from my garden. MMM. We're getting ready for a tropical storm. Maybe I need to make myself some comfort food while I batten down the hatches!

I like to make shepherd's pie with ground beef, onions, cream style and Niblets corn, mixed with a jar of beef gravy, put in a casserole dish and topped with mashed potatoes, a few pats of butter, and baked in the oven till the top browns. With some good bread, a whoppin' serving of comfort!

I was an adult before I ever tasted Shepherd's Pie. Since I didn't like food "mixed together", I only tasted it to be polite, but loved it. My new Texas mother-in-law made it with hamburger browned and mixed with a can of cream of chicken soup on the bottom, corn next, mashed potatoes, and finally cheese on top. I have since eaten various varieties Irish pub style around the Chicago area.

An interesting discovery - Mexican Shepard's pie. Once when we had prepared a lot of taco meat (Ground beef and taco mix) for a, it turned out, poorly attended church event we invented this dish. Put the meat mixture in the bottom of a casserole and heat in the oven. Top with just made mashed potatoes, grated cheese on top. Back in the oven till cheese melts and serve. It was so good we now make from scratch.

I love shephard's pie!!

i used to work at Goodbody's pub - the shepard's pie (accordint to my scot's friends) wasn't authentic, but it was delicious. i managed to "inherit" the recipe when it closed. a very sad day in my life - i'd prolly still be working there if it stayed open .

i also make an easy version of shephard's pie - i get this mix at the scottish games made by coleman's. you just brown the meat, add the packet, mix in some onions and peas, put it in an oven proof pan, top with mached pots, and brown. i do mine in a large old castiron skillet - it goes straight from the stove top to the oven. very easy, very tasty, mid-week type of meal. great in the winter.

My kids love my version.

Browned ground lamb, pearl onions, beef gravy covered with sour cream mashed potatoes. I bake it for an hour then I brown the top in the broiler, pull it out and top it with cheddar cheese and put it back in the broiler to melt the cheese.

Have you noticed the price of ground lamb lately? !!!!!!!!

The English import shops (often attached to pubs) sell a spice packet/envelope for shepherd's pie (OK, I admit it...I cheat a little now and then). I mix it with ground beef, minced onion and carrot, and saute. I pour off the grease. Then I put it in a casserole dish, cover with cooked mashed potattoes and Bake at 350 degrees until there is a nice crusty bit on the top of the potatoes. Alternately, you could make a gravy/sauce with OXO cubes, seasoned with pepper, a little thyme, and a Bay leaf.

But I still prefer a nice Beef pie made with OXO cubes. We had an OXO underground going during the height of the mad cow scare.

My mom hasd made the ground hamburger version many years ago but it has been a ton of years since I have had any.

What we always liked better is a SW version that mom made fairly often.

Tamale Pie

Brown hamburger with onions until just barely done.
Put in a 13x9 pan and cover with grated cheese.
Mix up cornbread batter, we usually use jiffy mix, and top the cheese.
Bake per the cornbread instructions.

This simple recipe leads to a lot of "play". Add green chilies or olives or beans or corn or all the above. A very tasty dish.

MikeS.