Pie Between Friends

Shepherd’s Pie is an oldie but goodie back when I had an entire blog devoted for the most part to Tom Norrington-Davies’ Cupboard Love. The pie wasn’t in the book, but I had to get his other one, What Mother Used to Make, because I was truly a fan of his. His recipes were so good and smart, not to mention he is/was so nice too… My claim to fame is that we exchanged some emails back when I was writing the blog and his friend and my forum friend/Nigellaphite told him about him. He couldn’t be nicer about the project and was super encouraging… I sometimes think about finishing up that project. I made it to something like 100+ recipes, but I guess I just lost steam. Anyway, if you’re interesting to read how I cooked my way through – well mostly through – Cupboard Love, go to http://www.when-ilana-met-pantry.blogspot.com/.



I feel like life is a series of digressions, so here I am coming back from yet another one. Shepherd’s Pie. Pretty simple. Ground lamb cooked with carrots and other lovely things. It’s inauthentic to add tomato paste but Tom does. And he’s a Brit, so I am fine with doing it too. You kind of get a Bolognese type of sauce which goes in the bottom of the pie dish. Then, you top it with one of my favorite carbs, mashed potatoes! Gotta love the Brits for thinking this up. One of those rib-sticking meals on cold nights. Very comforting and very good, and Tom’s recipe really does hit the spot. Some people make the mash with parsnips or add cheese. I like the part of his recipe where he adds little hits of butter. I added it to the ridges that I made with a fork and it made the mash nice and crispy there. Fabulous recipe!