But definitely not "Cow Pie".

Following one of my sudden and inexplicable culinary urges, I decided to cook dinner again tonight and had a similarly pressing desire to try my hand at making a Shepherds Pie. I had found a simple recipe a while ago and it had taken a backseat for some reason or other. Is it a sudden 'homesickness' for the time spent in the UK all those years ago? Maybe, but I thought it'd make a nice change as well as a good chance to try cooking something new.

So first of all, I must admit that a combination of unavoidable circumstances led to what eventually emerged from the oven. Namely, the lack of minced lamb, the wife's inability to eat green peas, and a shortage of willpower to venture out to the supermarket. As such, liberties were taken as to the substitution and interpretation of the recipe.

Neither of us felt like going shopping so we used some minced chicken that was left in the freezer. I know, I know ... no lamb, not even beef (which would made it a Cottage Pie). Just some dry, minced chicken. And frozen.

And to further this sacrilegious display, I used instant mashed potato flakes.

But all in all, Ets and I both agreed that it was actually quite tasty and I consoled myself with the fact that it was probably healthier than using lamb or beef.

So here's the recipe (adapted from here).

Ingredients:
2 cups mashed potato (prepared as per instructions on the box)
500g minced chicken
1 onion chopped
1 carrot chopped
4 tbsp butter / margarine
1/2 cup stock
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp cornstarch mixed with 1 tbsp water

Procedure:
1) Melt the butter in a pan and saute the onion and carrots until tender (about 10 minutes).

2) Add chicken and saute until almost cooked.

3) Add salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, stock and cook uncovered over low heat for 10 minutes (add more stock as necessary to keep moist).

4) A minute or so before it's done, stir in the cornstarch mixture to thicken the sauce.

5)  Place all of this in a baking dish and spread the mashed potatoes on top. Drag a fork lightly over the top to make lines and small peaks that will brown and crisp in the oven.

6) Place in an oven heated to 210 C for 30 minutes. Then switch to grill for around 15 minutes to further brown the top.

This was a smidgen more than the two of us needed for dinner but we managed to eat all of it and two slices of garlic toast anyway.

So ... here's how it turned out.

Pretty good, huh? Quite happy that it wasn't dry at all and not LUMpy in the slightest (Mum: nudge, nudge, wink, wink).

Labels: food, recipe