Shepherd's Pie....for ...dinner.

chopped tomatoes....

Bayleaf...

Uncooked shepherd's pie...

simmering beef sauce ...

mash potatoes..

golden brown shepherd's pie...

I have been cracking my head of what to cook for tonight's dinner for my boys today. Have not done any shopping for days and still very tired after attending Uncle Keng Tee's funeral service. for 2 days... not enough sleep...So decided to dig into the fridge to see anything I can cook up. I found a packet of mince beef, some very ripe tomatoes.. left over pasta sauce... potatoes...and that give me an idea... I am going to make shepherd's pie! I have not make this dish which is my son#1's favourite for quite sometime already.

Do you know that shepherd's pie is a poor englishman dish?? Long long ago.. shepherds( one who looks after sheeps and take them to eat grass) are very poor and so they will use left overs and cook it with with some sauces using tomatoes and some spices and then mash some potatoes to cover on top and then bake it....I think that is how shepherd's pie got its name..ha..ha.. Now for the method:-

I first make the mash potatoes by peeling 3 big potatoes and put it in a pot of water to boil til soft.(Add a pinch of salt to the water).When soften drain away the water. Add a big knob of butter,about 2 tbsp to the hot potatoes and mash it with a fork or potato masher.Add some milk to get the right consistency (about 5 to 6 tbsp). The sprinkled some pepper and salt and mashed til very smooth. Leave that aside.... For the beef sauce fillings:-

I used 1/2 packet mince beef about 200gm. I chop up a big onion, 3 big tomatoes, and some finely grated carrots ( my boys doesn't like vege... so I have to grate and chop it finely and sometimes I blend it together with some cauliflower if I have it to hide the vege in the sauces!!) my tricks to get them to eat vege..!! Saute the chopped onions in a tbsp of oil til soft....then throw in mince beef to cook til brown...then add in the chop carrots , some pasta sauce or tomato paste if you do not have pasta sauce ( I will sometimes use campell tomato soup if I have it in my larder. It taste really delicious!). Throw in also the chopped fresh tomatoes. ..add a leaf of bayleaf .... simmer it til the beef is tender. ...about 15-20 mins.... add water if a bit dry...then I add in 1/2 tsp of Marmite instead of salt to season...If the sauce is watery , thicken it with a tsp of cornflour mix with a tbsp of cold water.

Put the stew into a heatproof dish and spread out thinly... then add in the mash potatoes on top of stew and spread out with a spoon...use a fork to make some pattern( see pic above) .I then sprinkled some parmesan cheese on top......... ready for oven...pre-heat to 200 degrees C ...and bake for 30mins til golden brown.... I have a nice ...shepherd's pie..ready to be gobble up in seconds!!!