The only
hard and fast school tradition when I was growing up was the cookie tin (which
I still have) filled with homemade chocolate chip cookies (the Nestle package
recipe, of course). I'd come in the
door, grab a couple of cookies and a Coke, and do my homework. Did I mention I like sugar?
SHEPHERD'S
PIE
1 pound
ground lamb (or substitute a meat of your choice, ground)
1 Tblsp
cooking oil
2 medium
onions, finely chopped
1 Tblsp
tomato paste
1 Tblsp
flour
1 cup beef
broth
2 cups
cooked mixed vegetables (Note: you can buy a variety of combinations, frozen,
at the market, and most include chopped carrots and peas; you can add corn to
the mix, since its slightly sweet flavor matches well with the lamb.)
Salt and pepper
to taste
5 medium
potatoes, boiled and mashed (the potatoes must be loose enough to spread over
the dish. Feel free to add milk and butter, and definitely some salt and pepper.) If you happen to have leftover mashed potatoes,
they'll do fine.
Preheat the
oven to 350 degrees.
Transfer
the mixture into a large, deep casserole.
Top with the mashed potatoes (if you want to get fancy, you can pipe the
potatoes on top with a pastry bag), and dot with butter.
One funny
story about the doughty kitchen ladies of Springside School. I lived in the burbs, and one day I found in
my backyard a small (maybe a foot long?) baby black snake, which I proudly took
to school to show off—probably because my mother wouldn't let me keep it in the
house. Somehow it escaped from its
terrarium in my classroom, on the second floor, and made its way to the
kitchen, in the basement, where the lunch ladies found it. Did they panic? Nope—they traced it to me, and politely
requested that I remove it, which I did, setting it free at the edge of the
playground. Kudos to them for not
smashing it with the nearest cooking utensil.
Our class production of Alice in Wonderland--that's me on the right, as Alice. BTW, I designed the scenery. I have no idea why I put a fountain in it. |
Because fountains are cool? Love the stories...and fountains. I'm not big on veggies, especially cooked ones (I know, I'm bad). I wonder what I could do to replace it...or just leave them out.
ReplyDeleteFabulous post, Sheila. The recipe sounds delish, but the pictures of you are even better! (You look exactly the same, except for the very short bangs. Which I also had at that age.) A fountain in Alice and Wonderland? Why not? Everything else was so odd...
ReplyDeleteYou forgot venison! I imagine that would make good shepherd's pie (or would it then be hunter's pie?) I have a recipe for a lower calorie version in Allergic to Death. I use ground turkey, low fat gravy, a bit of ketchup and worcestershire. Of course the original shepherd's pie was a way of using up the leftover roast or joint and mashed potatoes from Sunday dinner.
ReplyDeleteI'm on the same wavelength as Edith! Why not a fountain in such an odd place? You were clearly imaginative! And what cute pictures. I love the idea of you as Alice!
ReplyDeleteI never had Shepherd's Pie until I was an adult, and you know, I believe I've only had Cowherd's Pie! I'll have to try it sometime with lamb. Mashed potatoes are kind of like bacon to me, everything's better with mashed potatoes!
~ Krista
Are you sure you aren't Irish, Krista? I'll eat potatoes in almost any form, especially if there's butter involved.
ReplyDeleteIn case anybody wonders, potatoes and milk actually make a balanced diet--that's what kept a lot of Irish peasants alive, before the Potato Famine. Of course, you had to eat about five pounds of them a day.
I hadn't even thought of venison! I've had it only a few times, and never tried cooking it (most recipes seem to start with "marinate for three days"), but I know there are hunters around here. I have friends who make their own venison sausage--maybe I can ask for some for a Hunter's Pie.
Sheila, I love the snake story. Love the "Cowherd's pie" comment LOL! And have to say this looks like a great recipe. Fun. I also adore the Alice in Wonderland picture. How sweet. When I was in 7th grade, I did the wrote the play, directed and acted in a production of The Night Before Christmas. It was all puns. So much fun. [No, I didn't play Santa! I played a mouse stirring...] Don't have a picture. Isn't that a shame?
ReplyDeleteDaryl aka Avery
I have read that when you use ground beef it is called "Cottage Pie". I read this in a cook book a few years ago. I love looking at everyone's school pictures.
ReplyDeleteSheila - you were so stinkin' cute! Love you as Alice.
ReplyDeleteAnd, yes, you can used tofu to make a "Shepherd's pie." I'll post the recipe for my version for Thanksgiving, as it's the recipe the hubs and I go to every year in lieu of turkey. :)