We are pleased to introduce Food Comics from The Chopping Block where our resident Cartoonist Tom O'Brien illustrates his cooking adventures. Here, he illustrates how to make his grandmother's Shepherd's Pie recipe.
/OBrien_shepards_pie_page1_.jpg?width=600&name=OBrien_shepards_pie_page1_.jpg "Welcome back, Food Fans! This time around, I'm going to talk about one#of my favorite recipes of all time! It's quick, it's easy and you're guaranteed to love it! It's Shepard's Pie! Although I've made a few tweaks to this fan favorite, this recipe mostly comes straight from my mom, and from my pure blooded Irish Grandmother, before that! The terms Shepherds Pie and Cottage Pie are used mostly interchangeably. If you only use ground beef it's technically a cottage pie, and if you only use lamb its Shepherds Pie as shepherds have sheep not cattle.")
/OBrien_shepards_pie_page2_.jpg?width=600&name=OBrien_shepards_pie_page2_.jpg "Here's what you'll need: Either 1lb of ground beef or 1/2lb ground beef and 1/2lb ground lamb or 1lb ground lamb. One medium onion, medium dice. Two cloves of garlic, minced. One carrot, medium dice. A quarter cup of peas. A quarter cup of corn. (Want to make the whole thing faster, and easier I often just use a can of mixed vegetables to replace the carrot, peas and corn.) One can of condensed tomato soup. (Want to make it even easier than that? Although I don't often do this, you can replace the soup and the can of mixed veggies with a can of condensed vegetable soup! (I wouldn't recommend using alphabet vegetable soup. I made that mistake once.)) 3 medium or 2 large potatoes. 1 egg and a splash of milk. 4 table spoons butter. 1 cup shredded cheese. 1 tablespoon each of: oregano, basil, and rosemary.")
/OBrien_shepards_pie_page3_.jpg?width=600&name=OBrien_shepards_pie_page3_.jpg "Preheat your oven to 350. Cut the potatoes into a large dice, and place in a large pan. Cover them in cold water and bring to a boil. Boil until fork tender. In the mean time, brown the ground beef in a large cast iron skillet. You can drain the fat if you want, but I think that's good flavor. Next add the onions, cooking until transparent. Once that's done, add the garlic, and cook for 30 seconds. Next add you veggies, either chopped or canned, herbs, and your soup. Don't add any water for the soup. Heat all of that through. Then pour the mixture#into a loaf pan or casserole dish.")
/OBrien_shepards_pie_page4_.jpg?width=600&name=OBrien_shepards_pie_page4_.jpg "Once potatoes are tender, drain them. Then back in the pot they go. Add the egg, milk and butter. Mash away! Put the mashed potatoes on top of the mixture that is already in your pan. Then add the shredded cheese on top. Bake the whole thing for 15 minutes. Serve and enjoy!")
Want more classic recipes that have been passed from generation to generation like this one? The Chopping Block's Celebrate Julia Child cooking class is full of recipes inspired by the chef who made French cuisine accessible to all so many years ago. The new spring menu features Pissaladière (Caramelized Onion Tart), Lobster Thermidor, Asparagus with Hollandaise Sauce and Chocolate Mousse.
