Shepherd's Pie

Since there's been so much talk about Shepherd's Pie on the BVI forum, I thought I'd share my recipe here as it is, by far, the best I've ever eaten. And, yes, it's with ground beef, not lamb - but I am sticking to calling it that as I grew up in Yorkshire England and we always called it Shepherd's Pie.

Sandy's Shepherd's Pie


4 – 6 potatoes cooked and mashed
1 lb ground beef
½ cup celery chopped
½ cup onion chopped
2 Tbsp flour
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
1 cup boiling water
1 Tbsp beef bullion

Fry the beef, celery and onion until brown. Stir in flour, salt, and pepper. Dissolve the bullion in the boiling water and pour into meat mixture. Stir and simmer until thick. Spread the meat in a 7 ½ x 11 casserole dish, spread the mashed potato on top and dot with butter. Bake at 350 for 30 min. Serves 4.

Serve with peas and sliced carrots.

(My mother used to layer mashed or sliced carrots [cooked] between the meat and potato layer and so sometimes I do the same).

Kate's Shepherd Pie

1 large yellow onion, chopped fine
1 green bell pepper, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons bacon drippings
1 1/4 pounds ground beef
1 teaspoon "Better than Bullion" au jus base
plus 3/4 cup water
or 1/2 cup beef broth
1 tablespoon corn starch mixed with 2 tablespoons cold water
1 teaspoon salt(sorry..no salt..between the bullion base and worcestershire..unecessary)
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
3 cups mashed potatoes

Preheat oven to 400 F.
Saute onion and pepper in bacon fat til onion is golden.
Add beef,stir and break up with wooden spoon, til browned.
Drain off fat.
Add bullion, corn starch mixture,salt and pepper, Worcestershire and stir for a minute or 2, until it thickens.

Pretty easy.

Then what Kate does, is she puts the beef mixture into individual serving size oven proof ramekins that are about
5 inches in diameter and about 3 inches deep. I think this recipe made 3 or 4 of those. Put about a cup of mashed potatoes on each one, and bake uncovered 25-30 minutes.
Then broil a few inches away from the heat about 2-3 minutes until the potatoes start to brown. Yummy!

Thanks for posting this. My husband says it's the best Shepherd's Pie I've ever made-and I have made several!

Thanks to both of you for posting the recipes! I think I am making Paul's wife Kate's recipe on Sunday (I knew I was saving that bacon fat for something <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />).

Deb, Kate's recipe is what she calls a work in progress. She says there is room for improvement. She is also making a revised Shepherd's Pie Sunday for the Super Bowl. She cringed when I told her you were making her recipe, but she's a perfectionist. Both myself and her mom thought the first recipe was excellent. I will post another of Kate's recipes next week. Paul