I love shepherd's pie although when I make it, it never quite turns out
the same as I remember from growing up. The recipe is very simple

hamburger
onions
peas
mushrooms if I have them
mashed potatoes
Cook in oven for 1 hour

So I brown the hamburger, drain the grease, add the onions - make a gravy
and let cook for a while then add the peas/mushrooms. I think it's my gravy
that really sucks. Since I don't always have home prepared beef stock, I
usually add an oxo cube and flour, but there is not a lot of flavour. I've
also used canned beef stock with the same tasteless results - and quite
salty. Am I missing an ingredient to make the gravy more interesting.

I'm making this tonight, so any suggestions or improvements welcome.
Elaine

In article <4086b9bb$1_1@aeinews.>, "elaine" > wrote:

> I love shepherd's pie although when I make it, it never quite turns out
> the same as I remember from growing up. The recipe is very simple
>
> hamburger
> onions
> peas
> mushrooms if I have them
> mashed potatoes
> Cook in oven for 1 hour
>
> So I brown the hamburger, drain the grease, add the onions - make a gravy
> and let cook for a while then add the peas/mushrooms. I think it's my gravy
> that really sucks. Since I don't always have home prepared beef stock, I
> usually add an oxo cube and flour, but there is not a lot of flavour. I've
> also used canned beef stock with the same tasteless results - and quite
> salty. Am I missing an ingredient to make the gravy more interesting.
>
> I'm making this tonight, so any suggestions or improvements welcome.
> Elaine
>
>

Add a little brown sugar. Seriously.
This was my mom's secret...

Add it slowly to taste.

Garlic would not hurt either.

K.

--
Sprout the Mung Bean to reply...

>,,<Cat's Haven Hobby Farm>,,<Katraatcenturyteldotnet>,,<

http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...user id=katra

"Katra" > wrote in message
...
> In article <4086b9bb$1_1@aeinews.>, "elaine" > wrote:
>
> > I love shepherd's pie although when I make it, it never quite turns
out
> > the same as I remember from growing up. The recipe is very simple
> >
> > hamburger
> > onions
> > peas
> > mushrooms if I have them
> > mashed potatoes
> > Cook in oven for 1 hour
> >
> > So I brown the hamburger, drain the grease, add the onions - make a
gravy
> > and let cook for a while then add the peas/mushrooms. I think it's my
gravy
> > that really sucks. Since I don't always have home prepared beef
stock, I
> > usually add an oxo cube and flour, but there is not a lot of flavour.
I've
> > also used canned beef stock with the same tasteless results - and
quite
> > salty. Am I missing an ingredient to make the gravy more interesting.
> >
> > I'm making this tonight, so any suggestions or improvements welcome.
> > Elaine
> >
> >
>
> Add a little brown sugar. Seriously.
> This was my mom's secret...
>
> Add it slowly to taste.
>
> Garlic would not hurt either.
>
Thanks, yes I do sometimes add garlic. But I was honestly thinking that
perhaps there was a difference between Scottish hamburger and Canadian
hamburger. Far fetched..... but who knows.
E.

"Katra" > wrote in message
...
> In article <4086b9bb$1_1@aeinews.>, "elaine" > wrote:
>
> > I love shepherd's pie although when I make it, it never quite turns
out
> > the same as I remember from growing up. The recipe is very simple
> >
> > hamburger
> > onions
> > peas
> > mushrooms if I have them
> > mashed potatoes
> > Cook in oven for 1 hour
> >
> > So I brown the hamburger, drain the grease, add the onions - make a
gravy
> > and let cook for a while then add the peas/mushrooms. I think it's my
gravy
> > that really sucks. Since I don't always have home prepared beef stock,
I
> > usually add an oxo cube and flour, but there is not a lot of flavour.
I've
> > also used canned beef stock with the same tasteless results - and quite
> > salty. Am I missing an ingredient to make the gravy more interesting.
> >
> > I'm making this tonight, so any suggestions or improvements welcome.
> > Elaine


Simple recipe. Brown beef with onions, drain, add a can of gravy, a can of
tomato paste, a dash of worchester sauce. Mix in a 10 oz. frozen pkg of
peas and carrots. Top with your own recipe of mashed taters with some
cheese mixed in them. Top the taters with cheese, then I sprinkle on some
Old Bay.
Pop in oven for 1/2 hour.
-Ginny

"elaine" wrote in message

> I love shepherd's pie although when I make it, it never quite turns out
> the same as I remember from growing up. The recipe is very simple
>
> hamburger
> onions
> peas
> mushrooms if I have them
> mashed potatoes
> Cook in oven for 1 hour
>
> So I brown the hamburger, drain the grease, add the onions - make a
gravy
> and let cook for a while then add the peas/mushrooms. I think it's my
gravy
> that really sucks. Since I don't always have home prepared beef stock, I
> usually add an oxo cube and flour, but there is not a lot of flavour.
I've
> also used canned beef stock with the same tasteless results - and quite
> salty. Am I missing an ingredient to make the gravy more interesting.
>
> I'm making this tonight, so any suggestions or improvements welcome.
> Elaine
>
Perhaps some tomato paste in your gravy? Here in the US, tomato paste comes
in a small can and is very condensed. Are you adding salt and pepper and
any other seasonings?

Dora

Far as I can tell, someone wrote:
> I love shepherd's pie although when I make it, it never quite turns out
>the same as I remember from growing up.

Funny... I feel the same about Jello.

Honestly though, like a good soup or stew, they always seem to taste
better as leftovers.

"Petey the Wonder Dog" > wrote in message
...
> Far as I can tell, someone wrote:
> > I love shepherd's pie although when I make it, it never quite turns
out
> >the same as I remember from growing up.
>
> Funny... I feel the same about Jello.

Yeah, 'suppose that's life.......things seem different when you look back!

Anyway, made my shepherds pie... no peas in the cupboard so I used
lentils, brown sugar (thanks to Katra for the suggestion), garlic, steak
seasoning, beef powder and parsley ---- little bit of fresh lemon - no idea
why. Bubbling in the oven as I write!
E.

Here is a vegetarian cottage pie I make sometimes. It's very good and hard
to tell there's no meat in it.


* Exported from MasterCook *

Helen's Vegetarian Cottage Pie

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 4 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Family

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
4 oz Adzuki beans, soaked -- soaked
2 oz Brown rice, soaked
Water for boiling
1 tb Vegetable oil
1 md Onion, chopped
8 oz Carrots, thinly sliced
1 tb Soy sauce
2 tb Tomato paste
1 t Parsley
1 t Garlic powder
1/2 ts Oregano
1 t Basil
1/2 ts Marjoram
1 1/4 cups Bean stock
Salt & pepper
3 c Mashed potatoes

Wash the beans & rice in plenty of cold water. Combine about 4 cups of
water with beans & rice & cook for 50 minutes or until the beans are
soft. Drain, reserving the stock for later.

Heat oil in a skillet. Fry the onions for 3 minutes. Add the carrots &
cookk covered for 5 minutes. Add the cooked beans & rice. Stir well &
let saute for a few minutes, ensuring that the mixture does not burn.
Combine the siy sauce, tomato paste, herbs & stock. Mix well & pour
into the skillet. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to very low, partially
cover & simmer gently for 30 minutes, stirring frquently to prevent
it burning. Add more stock if necessary. Transfer into a casserole.

Top the cooked vegetables with mashed potatoes. Bake in a preheated
oven at 350F for 40 minutes, or until the potatoes are browned. Serve
with vegetables or a green salad.


From Sarah Brown, "Vegetarian Kitchen"

NOTE: I add beef stock powder that is vegetarian.


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 714 Calories; 59g Fat (71.3% calories
from fat); 10g Protein; 43g Carbohydrate; 7g Dietary Fiber; 3mg Cholesterol;
5010mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 1/2 Grain(Starch); 4 Vegetable; 11 1/2 Fat.


Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0



"elaine" > wrote in message news:4086f0ab_3@aeinews....
>
> "Petey the Wonder Dog" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Far as I can tell, someone wrote:
> > > I love shepherd's pie although when I make it, it never quite turns
> out
> > >the same as I remember from growing up.
> >
> > Funny... I feel the same about Jello.
>
> Yeah, 'suppose that's life.......things seem different when you look
back!
>
> Anyway, made my shepherds pie... no peas in the cupboard so I used
> lentils, brown sugar (thanks to Katra for the suggestion), garlic, steak
> seasoning, beef powder and parsley ---- little bit of fresh lemon - no
idea
> why. Bubbling in the oven as I write!
> E.
>
>

http://www.zared.com/Home/Cooking/Fr.../Adzuki_Beans/

On Wed, 21 Apr 2004 14:09:54 -0400, "elaine" >
wrote:

> I love shepherd's pie although when I make it, it never quite turns out
>the same as I remember from growing up. The recipe is very simple
>
> hamburger
> onions
> peas
> mushrooms if I have them
> mashed potatoes
> Cook in oven for 1 hour
>
> So I brown the hamburger, drain the grease, add the onions - make a gravy
>and let cook for a while then add the peas/mushrooms. I think it's my gravy
>that really sucks. Since I don't always have home prepared beef stock, I
>usually add an oxo cube and flour, but there is not a lot of flavour. I've
>also used canned beef stock with the same tasteless results - and quite
>salty. Am I missing an ingredient to make the gravy more interesting.

Worcestershire sauce

Tara

Aaag! That's not shepherd's pie! That's cottage pie. Shepherd's pie is so
called because it has lamb or mutton in it.

"elaine" > wrote in message news:4086b9bb$1_1@aeinews....
> I love shepherd's pie although when I make it, it never quite turns out
> the same as I remember from growing up. The recipe is very simple
>
> hamburger
> onions
> peas
> mushrooms if I have them
> mashed potatoes
> Cook in oven for 1 hour
>
> So I brown the hamburger, drain the grease, add the onions - make a
gravy
> and let cook for a while then add the peas/mushrooms. I think it's my
gravy
> that really sucks. Since I don't always have home prepared beef stock, I
> usually add an oxo cube and flour, but there is not a lot of flavour.
I've
> also used canned beef stock with the same tasteless results - and quite
> salty. Am I missing an ingredient to make the gravy more interesting.
>
> I'm making this tonight, so any suggestions or improvements welcome.
> Elaine
>
>

Hi Elaine,

I'm Elaine, too. I used to be Elaine one, but since I've been gone awhile,
I'll be Elaine too. <g>

I guess this question has been answered eons ago, 'cause I am dreadfully
behind! Oh well.... I've found that with beef cubes and canned broth,
what's missing is the fat. with the little cubes (I use the granulated), I
add a heafty tablespoon of butter in the cup of hot water and beefy stuff.
With the broth, I do the same, but sometimes I cook some of the liquid
down to make it a bit more concentrated in flavor. Sometimes I make my
roux with bacon "drippings" and flour and then add canned broth or cube
for liquid. Instead of brown gravy, sometimes I use mushroom soup or split
pea (if the veggie is peas) or cream of broccoli,if that is the veggie or
close enough, or onion soup. Good luch with it working out close to what
we remember as kids. It is so odd that just a few days ago, I bought the
stuff to make that very dish. Do you put cheese on top? Sometimes I do, if
it is handy.

I agree about that name thang. Shepherd's pies is lamb. We call the
hanburger one Wrangler pie (a lot of names went around: Cow pattie pie;
hooves and horns pie; bovine pie; cowboy pie; etc. A friend of
mine didn't like it, so he dubbed it Bullshit pie. Wrangler seemed to
stick) Then there is the pork one... geeze. Pig sty pie was eliminated
quickly. Hog heaven pie got a few votes; so did Porky Pig Pie.

Elaine,too

Anyway, about the gravy thing... I think your right that might be the
difference in taste.

On Wed, 21 Apr 2004, MOM PEAGRAM wrote:

> Aaag! That's not shepherd's pie! That's cottage pie. Shepherd's pie is so
> called because it has lamb or mutton in it.
>
> "elaine" > wrote in message news:4086b9bb$1_1@aeinews....
> > I love shepherd's pie although when I make it, it never quite turns out
> > the same as I remember from growing up. The recipe is very simple
> >
> > hamburger
> > onions
> > peas
> > mushrooms if I have them
> > mashed potatoes
> > Cook in oven for 1 hour
> >
> > So I brown the hamburger, drain the grease, add the onions - make a
> gravy
> > and let cook for a while then add the peas/mushrooms. I think it's my
> gravy
> > that really sucks. Since I don't always have home prepared beef stock, I
> > usually add an oxo cube and flour, but there is not a lot of flavour.
> I've
> > also used canned beef stock with the same tasteless results - and quite
> > salty. Am I missing an ingredient to make the gravy more interesting.
> >
> > I'm making this tonight, so any suggestions or improvements welcome.
> > Elaine
> >
> >
>
>
>

"Elaine Parrish" > wrote in message
...
>
> Hi Elaine,
>
> I'm Elaine, too. I used to be Elaine one, but since I've been gone awhile,
> I'll be Elaine too. <g>
>
> I guess this question has been answered eons ago, 'cause I am dreadfully
> behind! Oh well.... I've found that with beef cubes and canned broth,
> what's missing is the fat. with the little cubes (I use the granulated), I
> add a heafty tablespoon of butter in the cup of hot water and beefy stuff.
> With the broth, I do the same, but sometimes I cook some of the liquid
> down to make it a bit more concentrated in flavor. Sometimes I make my
> roux with bacon "drippings" and flour and then add canned broth or cube
> for liquid. Instead of brown gravy, sometimes I use mushroom soup or split
> pea (if the veggie is peas) or cream of broccoli,if that is the veggie or
> close enough, or onion soup. Good luch with it working out close to what
> we remember as kids. It is so odd that just a few days ago, I bought the
> stuff to make that very dish. Do you put cheese on top? Sometimes I do, if
> it is handy.
>
> I agree about that name thang. Shepherd's pies is lamb. We call the
> hanburger one Wrangler pie (a lot of names went around: Cow pattie pie;
> hooves and horns pie; bovine pie; cowboy pie; etc. A friend of
> mine didn't like it, so he dubbed it Bullshit pie. Wrangler seemed to
> stick) Then there is the pork one... geeze. Pig sty pie was eliminated
> quickly. Hog heaven pie got a few votes; so did Porky Pig Pie.
>
> Elaine,too
>
> Anyway, about the gravy thing... I think your right that might be the
> difference in taste.
>
> On Wed, 21 Apr 2004, MOM PEAGRAM wrote:
>
> > Aaag! That's not shepherd's pie! That's cottage pie. Shepherd's pie
is so
> > called because it has lamb or mutton in it.
> >
> > "elaine" > wrote in message
news:4086b9bb$1_1@aeinews....
> > > I love shepherd's pie although when I make it, it never quite turns
out
> > > the same as I remember from growing up. The recipe is very simple
> > >
> > > hamburger
> > > onions
> > > peas
> > > mushrooms if I have them
> > > mashed potatoes
> > > Cook in oven for 1 hour
> > >
> > > So I brown the hamburger, drain the grease, add the onions - make a
> > gravy
> > > and let cook for a while then add the peas/mushrooms. I think it's my
> > gravy
> > > that really sucks. Since I don't always have home prepared beef
stock, I
> > > usually add an oxo cube and flour, but there is not a lot of flavour.
> > I've
> > > also used canned beef stock with the same tasteless results - and
quite
> > > salty. Am I missing an ingredient to make the gravy more interesting.
> > >
> > > I'm making this tonight, so any suggestions or improvements welcome.
> > > Elaine
>

Whoa, well hi Elaine too - I must admit you had me worried that I was losing
it............'cause I didn't remember writing this. But then checked the
date and realized it was over a year ago. Whew!

Thanks for the suggestions though.

Elaine1

elaine wrote:
> I love shepherd's pie although when I make it, it never quite turns
> out the same as I remember from growing up. The recipe is very simple
>
> hamburger
> onions
> peas
> mushrooms if I have them
> mashed potatoes
> Cook in oven for 1 hour
>
> So I brown the hamburger, drain the grease, add the onions - make
> a gravy and let cook for a while then add the peas/mushrooms. I
> think it's my gravy that really sucks. Since I don't always have
> home prepared beef stock, I usually add an oxo cube and flour, but
> there is not a lot of flavour. I've also used canned beef stock with
> the same tasteless results - and quite salty. Am I missing an
> ingredient to make the gravy more interesting.
>
> I'm making this tonight, so any suggestions or improvements welcome.
> Elaine

You're missing the *gravy*. Adding boullion or a cube or even stock isn't
the same as gravy. You need a thickener - arrowroot or a cornstarch slurry
or even a flour/butter mixture.

Jill

> elaine wrote:
>> I love shepherd's pie although when I make it, it never quite turns
>> out the same as I remember from growing up. The recipe is very
>> simple
>>
>> hamburger
>> onions
>> peas
>> mushrooms if I have them
>> mashed potatoes
>> Cook in oven for 1 hour
>>
>> So I brown the hamburger, drain the grease, add the onions - make
>> a gravy and let cook for a while then add the peas/mushrooms. I
>> think it's my gravy that really sucks. Since I don't always have
>> home prepared beef stock, I usually add an oxo cube and flour, but
>> there is not a lot of flavour. I've also used canned beef stock with
>> the same tasteless results - and quite salty. Am I missing an
>> ingredient to make the gravy more interesting.
>>


Season the gravy with say worchestershire sauce or dry sherry, but be
careful of too much salt. Possibly when you were growing up the pie was
made from leftover roast beast so the gravy was better..



--
Once during Prohibition I was forced to live for days on nothing but food
and water.
--------
FIELDS, W. C.

> So I brown the hamburger, drain the grease,

###############
Theres your problem ...don't drain the grease. thats all the flavor you are
missing. BG

"BillKirch" > wrote in message
...
> > So I brown the hamburger, drain the grease,
>
> ###############
> Theres your problem ...don't drain the grease. thats all the flavor you
are
> missing. BG

Is shepherd's pie in the US made with ground beef? In the UK shepherd's pie
is made with ground up lamb (the reason for the dishes name), and cottage
pie is made with ground beef.

"what?" > wrote in message
...
>
> "BillKirch" > wrote in message
> ...
> > > So I brown the hamburger, drain the grease,
> >
> > ###############
> > Theres your problem ...don't drain the grease. thats all the flavor
you
> are
> > missing. BG
>
> Is shepherd's pie in the US made with ground beef? In the UK shepherd's
pie
> is made with ground up lamb (the reason for the dishes name), and
cottage
> pie is made with ground beef.
>

The lamb could very well be the difference. I did a google search before
posting and most, if not all recipes called for ground beef (even British
ones). Next time I'm going to use ground lamb. BTW I did not drain the fat
in my latest attempt - for exactly the reason you mentioned.

E.

what? > wrote in message ...

> Is shepherd's pie in the US made with ground beef?

Yes, in spite of what some people try to assert, shepard's pie in the US is
made with ground beef.

> In the UK shepherd's pie
> is made with ground up lamb (the reason for the dishes name), and cottage
> pie is made with ground beef.

Ground lamb is virtually unknown in the US. In most supermarkets you'd have
to order it special, if you could even get it that way.



Brian Rodenborn