If Maria was a Shepherd's Pie

A while ago I was hunting a new job, and it was a long and painful process of surfing the net, applying to the jobs what I think would suit me better, or would be more me, going to plenty of interviews, waiting for answers, getting some trials, and being disappointed at not getting them all over.

And one of those trials was for a very interesting position at a Mental Healthcare institution. I thought it would give me the opportunity to grow as a chef because I'd be in charge of everything inside of the kitchen, making the menus, ordering the food, managing the stock...And most importantly, through my cooking, I might be able to make some people lives a tiny bit better. That will make one of my professional dreams come true.

The trial consisted on me making dinner, and I got to make a Shepherd's Pie, which screams Comfort Food, because is warm, is tasty, is easy to eat and even though you might try to give it a fancy twist piping the mash on top, it would always look home made.

And as I already made it one day at home and took all the photos, I think that there's no time like the present for sharing the way I do it. I'm aware it is a British classic, so probably I might be messing up with some tradition, so that's exactly why is it called: "If Maria was a Shepherd's Pie".

Mine has a bigger ratio meat and vegs to mash than I've been usually served, because for me mash is there to bind together, to complement the dish, not to be the main character of it. Probably, in origin wasn't like that, mainly because probably potatoes are a lot cheaper than meat, and the actual shepherds had to eat something that would sustain them throughout the day, and lets face it, potatoes are a great source of energy.

But, ladies and gentlemen, we live a sedentary way of life nowadays, and it won't be bad for us to change the chip and, if able to afford it, start cutting down the carbs, specially at night. So, that's my reasoning for coming up with this recipe, that I really hope that its tastiness would make you love it as much as I do.

IF MARIA WAS A SHEPHERD'S PIE

INGREDIENTS:

2 medium onions

4 carrots

250 mL of frozen peas

500 gr of minced beef (you can use any minced meat you like)

4 medium sized waxy potatoes

1 bayleaf

2 garlic cloves

100 mL of grated tomato or chopped tin tomatoes

1 teaspoon of cornflour

1 tablespoon of butter

1 splash of milk

3/4 tablespoons of olive oil (except the recipes that absolutely require butter, or deep frying, in which case I'd use vegetable oil, I always cook with olive oil)

Salt, Thyme and Pepper to taste

PROCEDURE:

- Wash thoroughly the potatoes, peel them and in a saucepan, covering them with cold water, boil them until they're cooked. (It would take around 20 minuted after the water starts boiling. Check inserting a sharp knife in the biggest one, if the potato slides off the knife easily, they're done.) Obviously, there's more ways to make mash, and if you'd like to use instant mash, feel absolutely free, but this is the way I like to do it when I have time and good potatoes.

- Mash the garlic with the flat blade of your knife and put the resulting paste in the pan with the oil cold, or, if you're lucky and own one, with a pestle and a mortar. Don't turn on the fire yet.

- Chop finely the onions and set aside.

- Turn on the fire on low, and when the garlic starts smelling, add the tomato puree, and mix quickly with the oil. Adding the tomato will get us to drop the temperature of the oil, preventing our garlic to burn and let us with a horrible, bitter taste.
- Let it cook for a bit, while some of that moisture evaporates, and add the onions. Mix them well with the oil and salt them.
- While the onions are gently poaching, peel the carrots and cut them in small pieces.
- Add them to the onions and let them cook slowly, until the onions are translucent and starting to golden.

- Bit by bit, start adding the meat to the pan, leaving it space to brown and cook, because if you add it all at the same time, the water in it will start to come out and the proteins in the surface of the meat won't be allowed to caramelize, leaving us without that succulent meaty flavour, that will have your mouth salivating.

- While your meat cooks, season with pepper, thyme, the bayleaf, or add the herbs you prefer, like parsley, or maybe rosemary and oregano... and add the frozen peas.
- Cook for 5 to 10 minutes, and sprinkle the flour. Mix it well and transfer it to a medium size casserole.

- Check if your potatoes are cooked, and drain them if so. Add the butter, salt and pepper and let the butter to melt.

- Preheat your oven at 200ºC
- Mash the potatoes until you end up with a creamy, fluffy and soft mash. You can leave some chunks of potato in it. Is not that important.

- Cover your meat mix with the potato and spread it in a regular layer. If you make some peaks with a fork, they'll crunchy up in the oven.

 - Pop in the oven and bake until the mash is golden, with a lovely streaks of brown crunchyness and the meat below bubbles up.
 - Serve piping hot and let yourself be comforted.

I was bored and decided to pipe the mash in rosettes, but there's no need whatsoever.

Hope you guys like it and give it a go!!!