28-12-2019, 02:19 PM
13
Re: sheppard's pie--- mashed potatoes
I forgot to say when I make the topping I cook both white potatoes and sweet potatoes and mash them together when cooking a cottage pie for my dad, he loves sweet potatoes. I also put a little single cream in, can't remember if I mentioned that in my last post on the thread.
29-12-2019, 04:24 AM
14
Re: sheppard's pie--- mashed potatoes
This evening I made a Cottage Pie for two and, using many of the suggestions above, I must say it came out much better than I had previously made.First I proceeded much the same way as I would do for beef bourguignon. I used a nice cut of beef and cut that in small thin strips. Tossed with flour and allowed it to set for 1/2 hr to get a nice coating of flour. This I fried in a bit of oil until a nice brown coating was achieved. Set aside. Sauteed finely chopped onion in butter until it was nicely browned, During the last 1 minute of sautéing , added the chopped garlic (5 lg cloves). Added this to the beef strips. added 3 cups of rich beef stock, 1 lg bay leaf, a sprinkling of ground thyme, freshly ground black pepper, 2 TBLSP of Worcestershire sauce, 1/3 cup of a hearty Burgundy, finely chopped fresh parsley, and a lg handful of sliced mushrooms. I set it over a very low flame and simmered for about 75 minutes until the beef strips were super tender. I then par-boiled some small carrots chucks and celery, added that to the beef. I saved the water from the veg par-boil. Set beef in fridg overnight to marinate.
this evening all I had to do was pre-heat the oven to 400 F and boil the Russet potatoes. When done I mashed them with lots of butter, light cream, and salt. When it tasted right to me I added two kinds of cheddar and "American style" cheese. I very lightly heated the beef and I used some of the rich veg water to make a thick gravy.
I poured the beef into a small casserole dish and spooned the cheesy potatoes on the top but I did not attempt to completely cover the beef. Instead, I made small mounds of cheesy potatoes, almost touching, so I would have the maximum amount of potatoes exposed to the high oven heat and thus made the potatoes more extremely well browned.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that the dish was much better than I had hoped. Quite tasty. Being the piggy that I am, I over-ate and now I am full and warm on a chilly winters night. This will be added to my personal recipe book and made on cold evenings. Yummy !
29-12-2019, 01:57 PM
17
Re: sheppard's pie--- mashed potatoes
Originally Posted by bakerman
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I am curious about how others make their Sheppard's Pie. The last time I made it, the mashed potato topping did not come out right. I made my mashed potatoes the way I always do: butter, light cream, salt and spooned that on top of the "pie" before it went into the oven. Potatoes did not taste at all good. any ideas of what it takes to make the potatoes taste right ?
I have never had any complaints and they always go for second helpings.
The secret is to never ever make your mash the way you would if serving it as a side veggie. It will prove to be too creamy. (the downfall of many a shepherd's pie!) You need to have the potatoes as moisture free as possible for the best topping.
When I used to do Shepherd's Pie and Champagne parties, which friends loved, on some occasions, I even used to bake the potatoes in their skins in the oven and then scooped them out to ensure as little moisture as possible, but can't be bothered to do that nowadays.
When I have eight to 10 family coming for supper and serve this, I usually make two dishes of it.
For each dish I use 2.1/2 pounds of potatoes (I used Reds or Desiree if I can get them).
(serves 6)
Boil the potatoes until soft, drain, back into saucepan and place back on very low heat for 1 minute until moisture disappeared.
If you have a ricer put potatoes through that, (Mine broke so don't use one anymore).
Start mashing, add just salt and pepper, mash a bit more, now add 2 egg yolks, 4 tablespoons of butter and a quarter cup of milk. more mashing. then finally, add 2 tablespoons of grated Parmesan Cheese. Finish mashing.
When you smooth out your mashed potato on top of your minced Lamb and fluffed it up into peaks or pattern, finally sprinkle with 4 tablespoons of grated Parmesan Cheese again. Wallah!
I promise you, your mashed potato will come out great as long as you don't add any more than the above measured ingredients.
Happy cooking!
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