As part of a series I’ve created for my ground beef partner Schweid & Sons I present to you NOT BURGERS! On this show I’ll give you great ideas for what to do with ground beef other than make burgers. Scroll to the bottom to see the video and follow along with this recipe…
Cottage Pie is essentially Shepard’s Pie where the lamb ‘mince’ (as the Brits would say) is replaced by beef. Cottage Pie actually predates Shepard’s by many decades and may have origins in peasant cooking going all the way back to the mid-1700s. That would make this dish around 250 years old! It was devised as a way to use leftovers in a pie, mixed with beef and topped with cheddary mashed potatoes.
INGREDIENTS for FILLING
1.5 lbs - quality ground chuck
1 - tbsp butter
1 - large leek diced
2 - carrots, diced
1 - stalk celery diced
1 - clove garlic pressed
2 - tbsp flour
1 - cup beef broth
1 - cup red wine
1 - tbsp tomato paste
1 - tbsp worstcehterresurre
2 - bay leaves
1 - tsp fresh ground black pepper
2 - tsp fresh rosemary leaves chopped (or 1 tsp dry)
2 - tsp fresh thyme chopped (or 1 tsp dry)
1 - cup frozen green peas
grated sharp cheddar cheese (for top)
MASHED POTATOES
4 - large russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 stick - butter
1/2 cup - heavy cream
salt to taste
Cook beef, chop in pan, until pink has left. Remove from pan with a slotted spoon and discard most of the rendered fat. Leave just a slick of fat in pan. Beef should be pebbly and moist.
Sauté veggies in butter 5 mins. Add flour, stir to coat and add broth slowly while stirring. Simmer 5 mins, add wine, worstcestchre sauce, tomato paste, and simmer. Add seasonings, stir to incorporate then return beef to pan. Stir all together.
Heat oven to 375 F
Simmer covered for up to 45mins. if it dries out, add some more broth. If still wet uncover and cook until not so liquid.
Make mashed potatoes while meat is simmering. Cut potatoes in quarters and boil until knife goes thru easy (roughly 20mins). Mash in large mixing bowl, add sour cream, cream and butter, and whip with hand mixer. Add a dash of salt, taste. Should be awesome.
Add peas after an hour and cook covered for 5 mins. LET COOL then add mixture to an 8” square baking pan, cover with the mashed potatoes gently, score with fork and sprinkle lightly with the grated cheddar. Into the oven for 25 mins or until top is golden.