Shepherd's Pie Peppered

I can't eat cottage pie (a.k.a. shepherd's pie) without hearing strains of Sweeney Todd.

It's priest. Have a little priest.
Is it very good?
Sir, it's too good at least.
Awful lot of fat.
Only where it sat.
Haven't you got poet or something like that?
No, you see the trouble with poet is how do you know it's deceased? Try the priest.
Heavenly!

Indeed, that's what we had for dinner tonight (shepherd's pie, not priest). After getting a mediocre version at a restaurant on Saturday, Jeff wanted something better and I obliged.

The dish starts with boiling some cut up potatoes for the topping. I like homemade mashed potatoes so much better than instant that I only use the boxed kind when I'm in a big hurry. Generally, the real thing is worth the wait and the effort. Besides, I don't like my taters overly smooth. The texture needs to be creamy from butter and milk, but not so whipped they have that processed feel to them.

While the potatoes were boiling, I pulled some left over burger patties out the fridge where they had been tossed yesterday to defrost. After crumbling and browning the burgers in went a couple of tablespoons of flour to thicken the juices and then vegetable stock to make the gravy. Of course milk or any other kind of stock would also be good, but I just happened to have an open carton that needed to be finished. Some wine might also be nice (Wish I had put some in tonight.), but use something good. (Remember, don't cook with anything you wouldn't actually drink!) After the gravy is thickened stir in a package of mixed veggies. (Any kind will do, but I prefer peas, carrots, green beans, for this kind of thing.) For seasonings, a healthy dose of pepper is always a good start. I also added salt, onion powder, and a few shots of chipotle sauce for warmth. This mixture simmered on low while I mashed the potatoes with butter, milk, salt, and pepper.

Finally, after ladling the filling into eight ramekins divvy up the taters on top. Then, put them in the oven for about 20 minutes, and finish them under the broiler to brown the tops a little. The result is a top crust that is golden and beautiful, yet fluffy inside. The potatoes seal in all the gravy, so the meat is tender, flavorful, and very hot.

This whole process is the same one I use to make homemade pot pies. Usually I toss in whatever left over veggies I have and skip the meat, but of course any combination is good. Instead of topping the ramekin with mashed potatoes, cut triangles out of ready-made pie dough and drape them across the filling, which then bubbles up around the crispy crust when it bakes.

Of course, being Southern, I just have to have some kind of bread on the table, so tonight I popped some extra large buttermilk biscuits in the oven, too, which we ate with plenty of honey as a nice counterpoint to the pepperiness of the gravy. (Mmm..mm) All in all, I'd say this was about a hundred times better than the cottage pie we forked over $9 for at Robbie Fox's on Saturday. I don't think Jeff will ever order this out again!