Shepherd's Pie
You need to eat this.
Recipe:
1 lb Ground Lamb
3 or 4 Gold Potatoes
2 Carrots
1 Onion
4 cloves of Garlic
1 tbsp Smoked Paprika
2 tbsp fresh Thyme
2 tbsp Flour
Milk
Wine
Chicken Stock
Sharp Cheddar Cheese
This is a really simple recipe I love to make. Comfort Food at its best.
Brown your ground lamb until you develop a decent fond and get some good color. It may be a good idea to wick away some of the fat with a paper towel at this point, but I didn't in this video. The choice is yours.
Grate your onion and carrot and add it to the lamb. This should deglaze the pan nicely. Add some salt, and cook until you form another nice fond on your pan. Deglaze that with wine, enough to nearly submerge your mixture, or at least get it nice and wet. Cook that down until the wine almost completely evaporates, then add the paprika, garlic, and flour. Cook that for about 30 seconds to a minute, then add chicken stock. You will want to add about twice as much stock as you did wine. The flour will thicken that up into a nice gravy, but you'll also want to let it cook for a few minutes to cook down. Stir in your thyme, and let it sit while you make the mash.
Peel and chop up a few potatoes and simmer them in salted water until they're tender. Strain them and add in 1 egg yolk, grated cheddar cheese, and a few tablespoons of milk. Mash it together and add more milk until the mash has the texture you like best.
To assemble, take a baking dish (or two awesome, tiny, cast iron crocks) and pour in your meat mixture. Top with mashed potato, and spread over the meat with a fork. It's best to dot the top with the potato, then spread delicately so it doesn't push the meat mixture up the sides. It's a tough task, but take your time, and you'll get it. It's easier if you're making a small portion like I did in this video. The tiny crocks make it easy to spread the potato.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for about a half our, or until the tops turn nice and golden. Make sure you put a foil-lined pan under them as they cook, because juice will drip over the side!
Let them rest a good half hour before consuming. Enjoy!
