"J. Clarke" wrote:
>
> Arri London wrote:
> > pavane wrote:
> >>
> >> "Arri London" > wrote in message
> >> ...
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> I am Tosk wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>> Well, I have three pounds of fresh ground sirloin, fairly lean and
> >>>> a bag of golden potatoes. I love a good Shepard pie, but have
> >>>> never cooked one myself, anybody have something I can try?
> >>>>
> >>>> Thanks, Scotty
> >>>
> >>> First of all, you can get some *lamb*. Shepherd's Pie is made with
> >>> lamb, not beef. If made with beef it's Cottage Pie.
> >>>
> >>> Brown the meat. Add onions, diced carrots and peas and some broth to
> >>> make a gravy. Simmer until the vegs are cooked. Thicken the gravy as
> >>> desired, season with salt, pepper and herbs of choice.
> >>>
> >>> Cook the potatoes until done; mash as usual. Pile the
> >>> meat/veg/gravy mix into a baking dish. Top with the mashed
> >>> potatoes. The top of the potatoes can be swirled around
> >>> decoratively with a fork. Bake at 400 F until the potato layer is
> >>> browned.
> >>
> >> Well stated and a good recipe. Lamb indeed for the Shepherd's Pie,
> >> beef for the Cottage Pie, both good and I've never figured out why
> >> there is argument about this. Can you imagine a Shepherd herding
> >> cows? Good grief, the mind boggles. Again, very nicely stated
> >> recipe.
> >>
> >> pavane
> >
> >
> > TY. Haven't made any in ages though.
>
> Just for hohos I asked someone I know whose total knowledge of cooking
> consists of "what's for dinner dear" and "throw it in the microwave" what
> kind of meat one would fine in shepherd's pie, and his answer was "lamb". I
> asked him why. He looked at me like I was nuts.

Quite so LOL.

>
> I think perhaps that in our modern urbanized culture people think that it's
> called "shepherd's pie" because chef Shepherd at Chez Pie came up with it,
> rather than because it is a kind of pie commonly eaten by people in the
> business of herding sheep.

There ya go. Hmmm...there is a small town in this state known as 'Pie
Town'. A cafe called 'Chez Pie' would probably go over well with the
tourists. Dunno if there is a Chef Shepherd there though...

>
> One way or another, now I'm hungry for it drat it all.

So make a cottage pie instead, if lamb isn't readily available. Method
is the same either way.