Shepherds Pie or Cottage Pie?

Hello there, I hope you are well and not melting in the heat. We've had some lovely warm sunny weather in England recently. In true British style, I will add that 'we could do with some rain!' 

Last week I photographed dinner as I cooked it, I forgot to photo it after it was nicely browned up, so you'll just have to imagine that part. My parents were due to visit for the week staying nearby at a caravan park. I cooked 2 Cottage Pies just incase they stopped by that night for dinner. These are characteristic by their Beef Mince content. Typically in the UK we call it Shepherds Pie, however that would be if it's made from Lamb Mince. 



I used this Stork cookery book as a basis to show the recipe, though I've been making this recipe for many years so rarely follow this recipe exactly. I thought I'd share my recipe and how I try to make it a one pot dinner.  

When I looked up about Shepherds Pie on-line, I found it interesting that it was traced back to the 18th Century. It was a way of using up a roasted beef joint after the weekend. The Cottage Pie was a popular dish for poor Irish cottage homes. Shepherds Pie may have originally had a pie crust but Scotland and Ireland replaced this with their plentiful supply of potatoes. There is more interesting info about the humble Shepherds Pie and the Cottage Pie from Jamie Oliver. If you live outside the UK, do you cook this dish or something similar for your family? 

One last strange fun fact:: is the total craziness of knowing that this dish is actually a cottage pie, yet calling it Shepherds pie! Even the cook book calls it by the wrong name! Anyway enjoy it whatever it's called.    

So onto my recipe and how it differs from this cookbook. I add mixed herbs and some soy sauce to enrich the beef flavour. I also add a grated carrot and either a few handfuls of frozen peas or a peeled and chopped courgette. I and my son J don't eat peas, so we opt for courgette. I then have a complete meal in one pot to put in the oven. If the meat mixture was simmered for 30mins and put together hot, the forked topping of mashed potato can be grilled for a few mins. I often cook double potato the previous day to save some for this dish, eg sausage and mash or fish cakes. 

As my Dad doesn't eat onions, I swapped them for parsnips. I remembered at the last minute just before adding them to the pan! If I'd planned it better, I would've bought some Celeriac to use instead.  
We ate one on the Saturday and we choose to eat the other one on the Monday. I added sliced tomato and grated cheese topping to the second one, just to change it up a bit. It was nice not having to cook that night too!

Maybe you may like to try it, let me know how you cook yours to make it unique to your family meals.
Do you ever eat meals by a different name? The only other one that I can think of is Toad in the Hole... Why!? There is no toad. 

Thank you for visiting, I'm trying to stay more up to date on blog reading at the moment x