For St. Paddy's Day: Shepherd's Pie and a Little Irish History

St. Patrick's Day is fast approaching and I've got a great recipe for shepherd's pie to line your stomach with before hours of heavy drinking.  All you've got to do is stay quasi sober for about an hour on the big day and you will be rewarded with a flavorful and satisfying meal.  In fact, I guarantee you'll be making this for years to come-- assuming you're able to remember what you ate for dinner the morning after.

Hopefully you're more responsible than I am used to be and won't have difficulty recalling hours of activities (such as dinner) that others will swear you were indeed present for.  I'm not trying to toot my own horn here, but I only see two ways you could forget about such a rich, comforting meal: alcohol and blunt force trauma to the head.  Regrettably, the two go hand in hand far too frequently on St. Paddy's.  That's probably enough alcohol jokes for now, so let's talk about the actual dish, shall we?

Although almost any ground red meat works for this recipe, in order for it to be true shepherd's pie, you've got to use lamb.  Shepherd's pie with beef really isn't shepherd's pie at all, but cottage pie, and that's English.  You don't want to make something English on St. Paddy's, do you?*  This all being said, I'm not really sure what I should call the food in the pictures and video, because I used bison.  Cowboy or pioneer pie sounds good, but I'll gladly settle on simply calling it delicious.

Enjoy this hearty meal with a nice Irish stout like Murphy's or Guinness.  Then again, if beer before liquor makes you sicker, maybe Jameson's is a wiser choice.

*  This is not meant to hate on the English.  In fact, like the civilized folk they are, the English (really the Normans back then) waited for a formal invitation before coming to the Emerald Isle.  That invitation came by way of disgruntled and deposed King of Leinster, Dermot MacMorrough, who lost his throne after kidnapping another Irish king's wife.  MacMorrough first went to Henry II of England for help in regaining his kingdom, but he was basically told, "Ain't nobody got time for dat."  Instead, he pointed the Irishman in the direction of the wealthy barons of the Welsh marches, or borderlands.  There a guy named Lord Strongbow (awesome moniker, right?) offered his assistance to the ousted Irish king in exchange for his daughter's hand in marriage.  Then, like most in-laws, they overstayed their welcome by never really leaving.



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Ingredients:

Filling

1 lb ground lamb, bison, beef, venison, or elk
1 T butter
1 large onion, diced (10 oz/284 g)*
2 carrots, diced (5 1/2 oz/156 g)*
1 large stalk celery (2 1/2 oz/71 g)*
1 clove garlic, minced
1 T tomato paste
1/4 C flour
1/2 C frozen or fresh peas, or as much as you'd like (~3.5 oz/100 g)
6 fl oz beef stock/broth (you can use chicken stock or even water) (177 ml)
1/2 t worcestershire sauce
small handful of parsley, chopped (about 1/8 cup)
leaves from 4 sprigs of marjoram, minced (use thyme or oregano if you can't find marjoram)
1 sprig rosemary, minced
salt and black pepper to taste

*  This is the weight of the veggies before peeling, trimming, and cutting

Topping

18-22 oz Yukon gold potatoes (about 3 medium potatoes)
1 clove of garlic, smashed and peeled
2 T butter at room temperature
3-4 T cream or milk
1 3/4 oz Dubliner cheddar cheese, or any other good Irish cheddar at room temp (50 g)
~1/2 t kosher salt or to taste

Need metric?

Bison 6 servings	Calories	Protein (g)	Carbs (g)	Fat (g)	Sodium (mg)	Sugar (g)
Total:	2,243	121	164	122	4,034	30
Per Serving:	374	20	27	20	672	5

Lamb 6 servings	Calories	Protein (g)	Carbs (g)	Fat (g)	Sodium (mg)	Sugar (g)
Total:	2,453	111	164	156	4,001	30
Per Serving:	409	19	27	26	667	5

Beef 6 servings	Calories	Protein (g)	Carbs (g)	Fat (g)	Sodium (mg)	Sugar (g)
Total:	2,506	113	164	155	4,041	30
Per Serving:	418	19	27	26	674	5

This recipe is designed for an 8x8" baking pan.  For a 9x13" pan, either increase the recipe by 1.5 or 2 times (but use 1/3 C flour instead of 1/2 C).  If you don't feel like turning the oven on, you can serve it as a stew with mashed potatoes, although I'd increase the amount of potatoes so everyone can get a nice portion.  This makes just enough to provide a thin layer of mashed potatoes over the 8x8" pan.

With a small side of say-- roasted brussels sprouts, you can serve 6 people dinner with 6, 2 2/3x4" pieces.  As a standalone meal it will serve five hungry people, or 4 individuals with leftovers.  Also great for company, since you can make ahead and then put it in the oven 45 minutes (20-30 minutes cooking, 15 minutes resting) before you want to eat.

You can also make this meal with leftovers from a previous night's roast.  Just mince up the meat and use in place of the ground meat. 

***

1.  Cut potatoes into even sized pieces and add to a pot with smashed garlic clove.  You can peel the potatoes if you don't like skins, or want a cleaner presentation.  Add cold water and a big pinch of salt to pot and bring to a boil.  Boil potatoes until easily mashed with a fork.  The potatoes should be done around the time you finish the meat filling.
2.  Sweat onion, carrot, and celery in butter over medium heat in a pot or dutch oven with a pinch of salt for 5-7 minutes.  Then add ground meat and break up with a utensil, folding the diced aromatics in with the meat.  Add a big pinch of salt to the meat.
3.  Once meat is almost completely cooked, add garlic and tomato paste.  Stir paste into the meat for about 3 minutes.  Turn down the heat if the tomato paste begins to burn.
4.  Add flour and stir for another 2 minutes to incorporate and cook flour.
5.  Add frozen peas and stir.  Season with some black pepper and then turn up heat to high and add beef broth.  Stir.  Bring to a full boil and then reduce to a simmer, scraping the bottom of the pot when necessary to avoid any scorching. 
6.  Now add worcestershire sauce, stir, and taste for seasoning.  Simmer sauce on low until it has thickened to your desired consistency.  You want it pretty thick so the sauce doesn't run everywhere when it's portioned out.
6.  Once sauce has reached desired thickness, stir in parsley, marjoram, and rosemary.  Turn off the heat and taste for final seasoning. 
7.  The potatoes should be cooked by now.  If they aren't, just continue to boil until easily mashed with a fork.
8.  Drain potatoes and return potatoes and clove of garlic to the same pot.  Add butter, salt, and add 2 tablespoons of cream or milk.  Begin to mash, adding more cream or milk as necessary to achieve a smooth consistency.  Add grated Dubliner and mix until melted.
9.  Pour meat filling onto the bottom of an 8x8" oven safe casserole dish.  For a 9"x13" dish, double the recipe.  Add mashed potatoes in large dollops on top of meat.  Use a fork to smooth out the mashed potatoes and place in preheated 350° F oven for 20-25 minutes (If you double the recipe and cook in a 9x13" it will take closer to 30 min).  If you want a little bit more color on top, broil for a couple minutes or hit it with a torch.

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