Shepards Pie

[Luv Angel Musik Babee]

So I've heard most people mention shepards pie and Ive never tried it or made it. What's a really good receipe for it? Does it take long to cook? I'm so lazy when it comes to night time meals, I find if I cook something that takes ages then I don't feel like eating it.

[Telori]

Angie Shepherd's Pie is so easy and versatile. This is an easy left overs meal that I make when I dont feel like cooking and the kids love it. You make up mince (if you haven't got any left over from spag bol or savory mince etc) Boil then mash potato with milk and butter. Grate cheese.
Put the mince in an oven proof dish
Top with mash
Sprinkle with grated cheese.

Everything is predone so it's only a matter of heating the pie and browning the cheese. We have ours with garlic bread.

Mince is great because you can add all these vegies the kids dont know about. If I make the mince from scratch I use gravy to thicken the it so it's more like a bought pie.

A yummy alternative with the mash is to add one of those vegi flavourings in the packet (McCormicks or something make them, they're only about 99c per packet)

[Patricia]

Mine is pretty much the same as Telori's but I dont use left overs I cook my mince fresh and add as many grated veges as I have in the fridge. Then i thicken it up and put half mashed potato on one side and mashed pumpkin on the other. When mashing the potatoes I add some really finely chopped red onion and a little bit of garlic. Sprinkle the lot with some grated cheese and then pop in a hot oven until lovely and brown.

Nice and easy and always a winner in this house! :)

[sandramay]

mince, oh how i miss you red meat. actually I have some mince I need to cook up, perhaps i could have nachos for dinner. I can't make the schnitzel because hubby won't eat it, he has uni tonight and won't get home until 1030pm :-( I miss him when he is away, how sad. haha

ANYWAY I love shepards pie, my mum puts peas in hers though, yuck. hah

[Naomi]

I love shpeherds pie, great for hiding veges. Can someone tell me ... can you freeze it? Say you premake it and freeze it before you put cheese on - would the mash freeze ok - or is it best to premake the mince and then make the mash fresh?

[Luv Angel Musik Babee]

Well I might try a shepards pie tomorrow night. Could I used grated carrot and onion in the mince? The only other vege's I have is broccoli, cauliflower and pumpkin and somehow I don't think I can grate them in lol.

[Telori]

I always have grated carrot and chopped onion in my mince. The only way the kids will eat carrots.

[Patricia]

Angie chuck all the veges in..I do...yes Sandramay even peas.

Naomi I would probably cook the potatoes fresh every time...but I am sure they would freeze ok on the pie :)

[Luv Angel Musik Babee]

Really? Even pumpkin? Wouldn't that go all mushy? Oh and would I be able to make the mince earlier in the day and add the vege's? Then at night just boil the potato's and mash them then bake it?

[Patricia]

Yes Angie.... I add the pumpkin to half the top so have half pumpkin half potato but you can have whatever you want. But add the cauli and broc into the mince and it will cook down and be yummy when you thicken the meat with gravy

[ubby77]

I love shpeherds pie, great for hiding veges. Can someone tell me ... can you freeze it? Say you premake it and freeze it before you put cheese on - would the mash freeze ok - or is it best to premake the mince and then make the mash fresh?


i always cook two at a time and freeze one not a problem

[yomamma]

I brown 500g mince in the microwave, than add a tin tomatoe soup, salt,pepper,stock cube and whatever vegies i have on hand, and a couple dashes worchester sauce mix it all up then cook in the microwave for 15 mins stiring every 5. then i'll either put in pasta of some sort(cooked) or cooked rice. the vegies i dice up small. cook the potato to mash while the pie is cooking then serve. for hubby and i , i make pastry and line a pie dish fill with meat top with mash and cheese and cook in a very hot oven til pastry done.You can make the meat up in the morning,i do, and reheat at night:waves:

[Jewly]

I used to make my shepards pie with leftover lamb roast. I'd just mince it up in the food processor and add whatever I had to it, like tomato & BBQ sauce, onion, and veges. Always turned out nice.

[Doll]

500g mince, brown it in the fry pan with a small amount of oil. (remove from pan into a bowl. Chop an onion and fry in a bit of oil for 1-2 mins then add back the mince. Sprinkle over a couple of tablespoons of Gravox and gradually add hot water & stir until a nice thick gravy has formed. If you have time, you can add some drained corn kernels (or frozen), frozen peas.

When it comes to a nice stew consistency, transfer to a casserole dish.

Peel, chop and boil around 5 large potatoes. Drain when cooked and add a large dob of butter and mash with a fork until lumps are gone. Gradually add some milk and beat through potato mash until nice and creamy. Gently add mashed spud to top of mince and spread evenly. Use a fork to rough up the potato top and bake in moderate oven for about 20 minutes. Grate 1/2 cup of cheese and add a couple of tablespoons of dried breadcrumbs to this and then sprinkle over spud and whack back in hot oven for 5 mins or stick under a grill for a couple of minutes until cheese is sizzling.

YUM, YUM and very easy.

If you have more time and you want to make it a bit more healthier, add grated veggies, like carrot, pumpkin, zuchinni & chopped mushrooms & garlic when you fry up the onions. (Frozen mixed dice veggie mixes like carrot, peas, corn are great as well). Add whatever herbs you like.

A dash of Tabasco, Worchestershire, BBQ or just plain tomato sauce added to the mince when frying add more flavour.

The basic recipe is really easy. Mince, Gravox, Potatoes. WallaH!!!!!!

To add more fla

[Di Nana]

my hubby makes shepards pie[ I hate it ] never heard of mince though , he always minces up cold meat such as lamb or mutton, adds onion, grated carrot, mushroom, tomatoes, herbs and lots of tomatoe sauce, then topped with mashed potatoe, and grated cheese.

[sjc]

my hubby makes shepards pie[ I hate it ] never heard of mince though , he always minces up cold meat such as lamb or mutton, adds onion, grated carrot, mushroom, tomatoes, herbs and lots of tomatoe sauce, then topped with mashed potatoe, and grated cheese.

Di Nana, Mince is beef, put through the mincer, you buy it from the butcher, or supermarket. You can of course mince it yourself if you have a mincer. much easier to buy it already minced.

Sheryl

[Di Nana]

Sjc, sorry you must think what a thicko Kiwi I am, [who hasn,t heard of mince] I never re read what I am posting, Meant to say I have never heard of mince used in Shepards Pie ,sorry senior moment.was a really good definition of mince though.

[sjc]

Sjc, sorry you must think what a thicko Kiwi I am, [who hasn,t heard of mince] I never re read what I am posting, Meant to say I have never heard of mince used in Shepards Pie ,sorry senior moment.was a really good definition of mince though.

I am quite familiar with Senior Moments Nana Di. I have them often.


Sheryl

[Luv Angel Musik Babee]

Ok I know this is an old thread but I'm going to make it for dinner tonight, I feel adventurous LMAO But I have a few questions, first, I add grated carrot and small broccoli bits to the mince yes? I'm just going to leave the pumpkin out cause Gav has been fussy with it lately. Also the gravy, can I just make it up with bolied water first then add it to the mince? And let it simmer for a bit? And can I put pastry on the bottom? I love pastry and I just can't call it a pie if it has no pastry LOL Last question LOL what do I put it in the oven in? A caaserole dish? with no lid? Cause I don't really have anything else

[Di Nana]

Angie, sounds like you are changing the whole shepards Pie into something elseLMAO it does NOT have pastry on the bottom, don't forget to put mashed spuds on the top with grated cheese a flat dish with no lid is fine like a small roasting dish don't know about the gravy thing my husband puts lots of tomatoe sause to give it moisture:yes: Good luck, If you like bloody pastry do it LMAO :eww:

[Luv Angel Musik Babee]

But Patricia uses gravy, she said so in an earlier post.......

Is it suposed to have tomato sauce stuff?

[Di Nana]

now I'm keeping out of it as you know I am no cook :headh: so if Patricia uses gravy do it, I would never challenge her cooking over mine after all I don't cook LMAO all my cooking is good for is to see if the batteries still work in the smoke detectorsLMAO

[Luv Angel Musik Babee]

LMAO Di sometimes mine is like that too.


Patricia, Patricia where are you? :Hehe: or anyone that knows how to cook, I want to get started soon

[Di Nana]

just go for it Angie your boys are still little and they will think you are great no matter what, I remember making my elder two kids custard and it always had the lumps in it, they used to fight over who got the most lumps in there custard the more the better, They were so proud of there mum and her lumpy custard:Hehe:

[Luv Angel Musik Babee]

LMAO LMAO @ lumpy custard. I never make that just buy it LOL

[Barbara]

I don't use gravy in mine - I use stock cubes (and a bit of corn flour if I want it thicker - which is pretty much the same thing).

But if you want to thicken it up, gravy is good :yes:

Edited to say - you can use tomato soup or tomato paste as well which thickens it up. I suppose it comes down to your own taste :)

[Patricia]

now I'm keeping out of it as you know I am no cook :headh: so if Patricia uses gravy do it, I would never challenge her cooking over mine after all I don't cook LMAO all my cooking is good for is to see if the batteries still work in the smoke detectorsLMAO

OMG Di you make me laugh so much. I am glad someone has faith in my cooking.

I have never made it with pastry Ang..I think you would need to blind bake the pastry first...getting complicated now..

[Di Nana]

God Angie, Patricia knows what she is talking about, :O whats blind pastry you wear glasses not me,:dk: we are not good cooks did you notice that

[Patricia]

Di all that means is that you need to bake the pastry a little first before you put the filling in or it would just go all gluggy and yukk. In order to do this you would need to fill the pasty shell with dried peas or soup mix or something to stop it from rising too much.

[Luv Angel Musik Babee]

Well it's in the oven. 2 of them LMAO One without pastry and one with. Hopefully at least one of them will work out LMAO Hope it doesn't take long either the kids are getting ansty and a bonus Gav didn't watch me make it so hasn't seen the carrot, broccoli and onion :D :D

[Di Nana]

And do you do this with anything pastry like apple pie, and is this just the base :>:

[Luv Angel Musik Babee]

Well the one without pastry is yummo :d: Gav is having his on bread too but the potato isn't crunchy the kids were getting too restless plus I think I overdid the cheese :Hehe:

[Patricia]

Yes any pastry shell Di that will have a wet filling :)

[Telori]

I always use too much cheese Angie...the kids like it better.

And I made custard the other day and none of the kids would eat it! They like the bought stuff...little buggers, I'm only trying to save money...LMAO

[Luv Angel Musik Babee]

LOL Teena


Well Patricia was right about the one with pastry but it's still yumm and the mash and cheese is crunchy on this one.


Here's the pic teach :P :P
http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f329/Luv_Angel84/general/sheppie.jpg

[Patricia]

Wow...looks very good in theory Ang..shame about the glugginess.

If I am completely honest I veer away from pastry and pies ...on the bottom that is..if I make homemade meat pie for dinner I usually just top the mince with pastry and then cook some more pastry seperate as I hate it going gluggy on the bottom :)

[Telori]

Looks good enough to eat Angie...:D

[Di Nana]

I am sooooooooooo hungry it looks soooooooo good you are way better than me :P

[Luv Angel Musik Babee]

Thanks guys. I am so darn proud of myself :Hehe: It's really yumm too and mostly just the middle thats all funky. Gav liked it and so did Ty except for the chucks of broccoli but I took theirs out early cause they were both whingeing to me

[Di Nana]

see I said it was not hard to inpress little one's (sorry if I burst your bubble)

[Luv Angel Musik Babee]

LOL I know but Gav even noticed it and still ate it. Quite proud of them too :Hehe:

[Patricia]

See Ang..you could hide heaps of veges in there and they would never know..zuchinnis are another thing that dissolves well and quickly..

[Luv Angel Musik Babee]

Mmmmmmm yes will have to try them later :D this was just an experiment with the basics :D

[Naomi]

I put gravy in my shepherds pie, and veges (but I'm a slacker, I just use the frozen veges). Hugo loves it, one thing I can guarantee he will eat. Oh, I put gravy instead of tomato soup/sauce/paste because Hugo won't eat tomato-ey things :dk: but he loves gravy.

Well done Angie, it's a pretty easy one to make and leftovers can go in the fridge and get heated up the next day too. I'm glad the boys liked it!

[Luv Angel Musik Babee]

Hi Naomi, you're back are you? I was actually quite surprised with the kids, next time I'll plan ahead and have more vegies though :D

[Barbara]

:clap: Well done Angie!!!

It looks delicious :yes:

[yomamma]

i know it is a bit late now but next time if you cool th emeat first you don't have to blid bake the pastry. it only goes soggy if the meat is too hot, don't forget pastry needs a hot oven 220 for the first 10 mins then you can turn it down to 180. Do you make your own pastry or buy it made?

[Luv Angel Musik Babee]

Make my own pastry? God no LMAO LMAO I use puff pastry, the frozen cheap stuff LMAO LMAO

Julie, I will let it cool next time and see how it goes, thanks.

[Telori]

LMAO LMAO I was going to put a heap of LMAO in here when I read Julie's post about you making pastry Angie...but I didn't want to offend...but seeing as you are laughing at the idea yourself...so can I LMAO LMAO LMAO LMAO

[yomamma]

making your own pastry is easy as pie.
the kids can help with the rolling out, mine do

[Luv Angel Musik Babee]

LOL I try and keep Gav out of the kitchen when I'm making dinner, then he can't see what I hide in it LMAO LMAO



And yes Teena you can laugh as much as you like, I would never ever make pastry, it's quite cheap to buy LMAO LMAO

[yomamma]

lazy!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Luv Angel Musik Babee]

Yep that's me :D :D :D

[rails]

Hi
Saw a receipe on t.v yesterday where they used polenta which had been oven baked cut into circles with tomato in between which had also been sliced. The polenta was made with a good couple of handfuls of parmesan cheese (freshly grated). It looked absolutely delicous but l guess a bit time consuming if in a hurry.

[Telori]

I would never ever make pastry, it's quite cheap to buy LMAO LMAO

I'm with you Angie....never make pastry...:D