Shepherd's Pie

Crunchy goodness

I have to say my attempt at shepherd's pie last night turned out surprisingly well. I did get a little panicky at one stage when the instant gravy I added to the beef mixture did not make a difference to the taste at all. Yes, I used instant gravy. The shame! I should have known better! Never again I assure you.

In the end, I put in about two tablespoons of tomato paste and some Worcestershire sauce and it did the trick.


Meaty goodness. (Not the sexiest of shots, but hey).

Chick Pea's Shepherd's Pie

Ingredients:
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* 1 large onion, diced
* 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
* 2 medium carrots, diced
* handful mushrooms, sliced
* 1 tsp olive oil
* 1/2kg beef mince
* 2 Tbsp tomato paste
* 4-5 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
* 1 cup frozen peas
* 5 medium potatoes, cubed for mashing
* 1/2 cup whole milk
* Handful of grated cheddar cheese
* 1 Tbsp butter, plus a few pats for baking
* Salt & pepper

Method:
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For the mash:
* Bring water to a rolling boil
* Add potatoes & boil until soft

For the filling:
* While potatoes are boiling, heat oil over medium heat and sauté garlic & onions until soft
* Add carrots & toss for a few minutes until heated through
* Add mushrooms & toss until mushrooms are tender, allow some of the liquid to boil off
* Remove mixture into a bowl and add beef mince frypan
* Cook mince until cooked through (no pink bits!)
* Stir in tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce and mix thoroughly
* Return cooked vegetables to pan and toss
* Add salt & pepper to taste
* Remove from heat and mix frozen peas

* Preheat oven to 180C

* Drain potatoes and return to saucepan
* Add pepper, butter & milk and mash thoroughly
* Add more milk and/or butter until the mash has a somewhat thick, sticky consistency
* Stir in 2/3 of the grated cheese

* Place beef mixture in baking dish and cover with mash
* You can decorate the mash by scoring with the tines of a fork (I didn't bother as I was a little too tipsy by then)
* Add a few pats of butter over the mash (to allow to brown in the oven), and sprinkle lightly the remaining cheese

* Bake in oven for about 30 minutes until golden brown

Update

Blue Mountains

I hadn't realised it has been over a month since I last posted. The last four weeks have whizzed by so quickly, I honestly don't know where the time is going.

We are still looking (in vain?) for an apartment/house/anything to purchase. I thought I'd found our dream house, but the auction was yesterday and it went for well over what we were told by the agent and anticipated.

Let's just say that it was a smidge under a million.

A million.

Yikes.

Add to that the value of the Aussie dollar isn't doing us any favours and you get the gist of how frustrating this whole process is becoming.

On a lighter note, we headed out to Blackheath in the Blue Mountains last week for a bit of R&R. We caught the train out on the Friday afternoon and in two hours we were there. The walk from the train station to the house we were renting was a good 15 minute brisk walk, which was certainly the pace we kept given it was absolutely freezing.

That evening we had dinner at the lovely Ashcrofts in town - J had lamb brains to start and I the pate (I love, love love pate, in all it's artery-clogging glory!). J said the lamb brains were delicious, and I took his word for it - I just couldn't stomach the thought of tasting it, let alone feeling the texture of it rolling around in my mouth...ugh.

For the mains I had lamb chops with a herb crust, and J pork with colcannon. J said his dish reminded him of Irish boiled ham with potatoes and cabbage - which is essentially what colcannon is, I believe; and was just what he needed on that cold winter's evening. My chops weren't very lamby in flavour, if you know what I mean, but by golly it was the most tender lamb I'd eaten in my life. I reckon I won with my choice, but J thought it was a tie.

We spent the next day bushwalking at nearby Govetts Leap, before heading to the local pub for a few beers in front of the cozy fire. My brother arrived that evening and we had juicy local steaks with baked spuds in the house.

My brother had gotten all his friends to chip in to purchase a telescope for his birthday earlier this month, which he excitedly brought with him to test out on the clear night sky. J and I only lasted about 20 minutes in the cold, but my brother very happily stayed out until the lens started freezing over. Ah you gotta love it!


Grand Canyon walk - Blackheath, Blue Mountains

We did a brilliant hike the following day with the Grand Canyon "walk". The tourist centre suggested it would be a three hour (which is was), medium (which it wasn't), hike. It certainly got our hearts pumping and knees groaning with all the climbing we had to do, and there were times we thought the trail would never end. But feeling all that fresh air in the lungs was incredible, and it was exhilarating when we finally finished. Something to be done again.

I guess we must have brought the cold back to Sydney with us as it has been very chilly this week. So tonight I'm going to attempt shepherd's pie again. I haven't made it in years, and I lost the recipe I had when my Hotmail account got disabled, so tonight, I'm going to do it purely by guesswork. Wish me luck!