Perfect Shepherd's/Cottage Pie That Anyone Can Make

so when people think of pie they think cherry pecan apple you name it this is a very special pie that in my opinion may just rise above those and the secret is that it's savory not sweet okay so today we're making shepherd's pie now i know many of you know this there's a bunch of different recipes online for it each of them being a little bit different but the goal of mine i wanted to be the easiest possible one that you can make that maximizes its flavor as much as possible that's my goal today and for those of you who don't know what shepherd's pie is it's basically a very basic meat mince filling which is then coated in mashed potatoes topped with cheese and broiled to crispy cheesy perfection so with all that said let's make this shall we okay so making shepherd's pie should be relatively quick and easy so there might be some room to make it a little extra special let's first start off with a simple mashed potato topping get yourself two and a half pounds or 1200 grams of russet potatoes give those guys a rinse and take off their little jackets and by that i mean you know peel them your joke jack you know it's like a jacket because yeah then cut your potatoes in half lengthwise then in half again lengthwise then cut across those two quarters to get roughly one inch sized cubes dump all of your potatoes into a medium sized pot add enough water to cover your potatoes season it generously with salt to taste and place it on a stove over medium-high heat now as soon as those reach a boil let them well boil for seven to ten minutes or until your potatoes are easily pierced with a fork but not you know complete mush now drain your tigers then in a separate small sauce pot add half a cup or 115 grams of unsalted butt er and half a cup or 120 milliliters of whole milk place it on the stove set to medium heat just until the butter is melted and the mixture is steamy hot now from here obviously you can mash your potatoes with a hand masher but for shepherd's pie you really want a fine mash that's why i like to use this potato ricer here which you can find in the links in the description then all you really need to do is toss in your cooked potatoes close the latch and push to get your tasty potato fluff poop stuff now repeat that until you've mashed all of your potatoes and from there you're gonna add your hot melty buttery milk mixture stir that in nicely then finish it with a third cup or 85 grams of creme fresh stir together again and lastly half a cup or 75 grams of grated gruyere cheese season that to taste with salt and pepper and mix until everything is thoroughly combined and you get a nice homogenized titer now to build the shepherd to your pie you must first choose your meat personally i like the ground beef version but it'd be a whole lot cooler if you ground it yourself so here i have roughly one and a half pounds of beef chuck roast which i sliced into nice long strips like you see here just a little easier to feed to your grinder additionally i also have about six ounces of a nice smoky bacon chopped into nice half inch pieces then just toss your beef and bacon together and simply run it through a meat grinder i really like this attachment that i have for my stand mixer it's like 50 bucks and it really gets the job done pretty quickly and if you want to grind your own there will be a link in the description for that otherwise you can just use pre-ground meat and papa will only judge you a little bit now once you've got your ground meat give it a nice kneading just like a piece of dough to emulsify it a little with the fat then get yourself a nice pan or medium sized pot heat that over medium high heat until extremely hot with no oil in the pan we want it nike add in your beef press it in and let it sit and sear for about three minutes then flip it like a giant burger patty to reveal a beautifully browned crust then repeat that on the other side now once you've seared both sides get a handheld masher and mash the beef to get it as finely as you can like you see here then let that continue to cook over medium-high heat now during this time you're going to see a lot of liquid come out then the liquid will evaporate and finally you'll be left with the fat that's good season it to taste with salt and pepper and let it fry on its own fat until it's nice and evenly browned yes there is a whole technique to cook ground beef beautifully now dump out all of your beef and place it to the side then add a tablespoon of butter to your pan heat it over medium heat until the butter is melted and bubbling then add 3 diced trumpet or 6 diced button mushrooms let those cook and sear just until they begin to brown then add 1 diced yellow onion 1 diced rib of celery 1 diced carrot and 4 cloves of sliced garlic season that the taste of salt and pepper and saute mixing occasionally for about two to three minutes or until the vegetables begin to soften nicely look we're making a casserole right not a puree so don't overcook the vegetables please now once softened toss in two tablespoons or 30 grams of tomato paste saute that for about two minutes or till it starts to caramelize on the bottom of the pot then deglaze that bad boy with half a cup or 120 milliliters of a nice red wine now look if you're a non-alcoholic type of person totally cool you can use additional stock with a splash of vinegar it's not the same but it's tasty and works just fine follow that up with two tablespoons or 30 milliliters of worcestershire sauce then bring that to a boil and add one tablespoon or five grams of fresh chopped thyme one tablespoon or six grams of fresh chopped rosemary then let that reduce until offset which is pretty much until almost all the liquid is gone then add one cup or 240 milliliters of beef stock season that to taste with salt and pepper let it cook for another minute or two to make sure everything's nice and hot and sweaty and finally the pista resistance 1 cup or 140 grams of frozen peas stir that together and let that cook just until the peas are hot now all you gotta do is dump your nice meaty pea mixture into a nice casserole dish something like a 9x12 spread it out evenly to the edges of the pan then press the meat down so it's nice and compact you really want your meat nice and tight then simply and gently lay on your mashed potatoes and evenly spread across the entire surface of your casserole once the entire thing is coated with a decent layer of potato go ahead and grate on half a cup or 75 grams of parmigiano-reggiano and half a cup or 75 grams of gruyere cheese don't be shy i don't want a skimpy little tiny bikini layer of cheese i want you to be sweating after grating this and optionally you can do the gordon ramsay thing and fork up the top of it then take that bad boy pop it in an oven set to 375 fahrenheit or 190 celsius for 20 minutes or until it looks freaking hot my guy i mean look at that it's just beautiful melty bubbling cheese a beefy boy just waiting beneath now one thing to note is that this is a little better if you let it sit for about 20 minutes before serving it'll hold a better slice and it won't be runny at all if you do that but none of us can wait and we have b-roll to shoot so cut it into a nice square place it on the plate top it with some chives which are pretty overused on this channel to be honest but you know whatever then just let this pie be your shepherd into flavor heaven we have here a beautiful pie of the shepherd now it is said that this dish was invented by one shepherd alone he had three sheep and i'm making this story up and i didn't think to think it through it's mashed potatoes on top of beefy yummy good there's a gummy like in another zone this is the perfect winter meal you get the pop and the sweetness from the peas within that rich anxious beefy flavor and yet it's not overly rich the potatoes help carry it through this is already sort of a nostalgic flavor profile i don't like that classic beef stew flavor but almost more exciting because you've got that cheesy potato it's a little crispy on the top the potatoes are smooth and creamy and just makes sense but it's a one casserole type thing where you have the whole meal in a single dish you scoop it out you put on your plate and that's the meal if you want to put extra with it that's fine but this already tastes like a perfect complete meal do you want to know what else is really just a casserole and not exactly a pie in my opinion [Music] b-roll [Music] all right guys and that is it so we made shepherd's pie it's a it's a basic thing to make you saw how easy it was you get some ground beef a little bit of bacon you saute it you got veg you got a little bit of tomato paste red wine it's delicious you're gonna be glad that you did it and uh and papa's gonna give you a kiss at the end so with all that said if you enjoyed this video or you learned something leave a like subscribe and i will see you next time [Music] you

Channel: Joshua Weissman

Views: 754,266

Rating: 4.9372625 out of 5

Keywords: Shepherds pie, shepherds pie recipe, homemade shepherds pie, easy pie recipe, easy shepherds pie, ground beef recipe, what to do with ground beef, frozen pea recipe, casserole recipe, easy casserole, winter recipes, winter braise recipes, Joshua Weissman, YouTube recipes, YouTube cooking, YouTube cooking series, sat bawl pro, shepherd's pie, how to make shepherd's pie, homemade shepherd's pie, homemade shepherd's pie recipes, shepards pie, easy shepherds pie recipe

Id: zXQ9wX4cKlQ

Length: 8min 1sec (481 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 02 2020