Is a Shepherd's Pie supposed to have a crust?

JAS_OH1 said:
I think I would prefer my shepherd's pie with chunked meat, too. I have never eaten Scotch pie, either.
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Back in Victorian times (or before) it would have been made with left-over chopped pieces of roast lamb - not starting from raw mince. I've made it from left-over lamb and its definitely better than using minced/ground lamb.
 
JAS_OH1 said:
I am not sure why, but in a pie, minced/ground meat doesn't sound appealing. Conditioning, I suppose.
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When I was young and fancy free ( in the 70s), I used to buy a "Minced Beef Pie" from Marks & Spencers. I remember a rather delightful minced beef & gravy thing which was very acceptable.
No doubt that has changed!
 
karadekoolaid said:
When I was young and fancy free ( in the 70s), I used to buy a "Minced Beef Pie" from Marks & Spencers. I remember a rather delightful minced beef & gravy thing which was very acceptable.
No doubt that has changed!
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None of us may be young anymore, but I was under the impression that you were still fancy free, LOL!
 
haha, thank you guys! I'll clarify, I did mean a crust in the traditional pie sense. The top is potato. I'm going to make one tomorrow and post pictures. Basically, you would lift it out of the casserole dish with a ladle or spoon and onto your plate.

When you cook it, when adding the beef and vegetable mix into the casserole dish, the beef is contacting directly with the edge of the panwith no flaky/moist/delicious/not delicious barrier between the beef mix and side of the dish. Once that has been added, mashed potatoes is put on top of the mix, not down any of the sides. Insert into the oven for awhile, all the deliciousness meshes together and voila, Canadian Shephards Pie.
 
JAS_OH1 said:
I interpreted it the same way. Grandma (in law) thought there should be a pastry crust underneath. I have never eaten one, but my best friend in high school's mom was from England and she used to make them. At the time I didn't like lamb so I passed on dinner, but I watched her make it. No pastry crust underneath. And I have seen recipes online, never seen a pastry crust underneath.

Now there is no point probably in arguing with the GIL, but just say that's not the way you make them or anyone you know makes them. Perhaps sometime you could make a concession for her and make her one with a pastry crust underneath--or not.
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Hmm this is a fun and possibly very time consuming segway...most of store bought pie crusts are circular and shallow, but my Shephards Pie's are square and deep. I'll have to practice making custom pie crusts. My last adventure with this was just making a mess though.
 
Imsotiredofnuggets said:
Hmm this is a fun and possibly very time consuming segway...most of store bought pie crusts are circular and shallow, but my Shephards Pie's are square and deep. I'll have to practice making custom pie crusts. My last adventure with this was just making a mess though.
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Pie crusts aren't too difficult. You'll get it figured out. And once you do, a world of savory pies await you! And in my experience, kids love meat pies!
 
garlichead said:
Yep, beef is shepherd's pie here for the most part, although, I always use lamb. Which funnily enough becomes an issue for a lot of people. Lamb is for some reason not appreciated as much as it should be and don't know why, although it is becoming more acceptable in the last decade, especially local lamb. Australian and New Zealand lamb was pretty much the only lamb available which was and is much more gammy, so that might be the reason.
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North American lamb is less gamey, as you mentioned. But, it is not easy to find, especially in a big beef state like Texas.

CD
 
Morning Glory said:
Back in Victorian times (or before) it would have been made with left-over chopped pieces of roast lamb - not starting from raw mince. I've made it from left-over lamb and its definitely better than using minced/ground lamb.
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Sounds like the evolution of chili in Texas and the US. It was originally diced beef chunks, but is now almost always ground/minced beef. Ground beef probably wasn't readily available back then.

CD
 
caseydog said:
Sounds like the evolution of chili in Texas and the US. It was originally diced beef chunks, but is now almost always ground/minced beef. Ground beef probably wasn't readily available back then.

CD
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I love chunks of beef in chili. My cousin (Phoenix) is married to a Mexican-American who makes her chili with beef chunks (no beans). It's soooo good!
 
JAS_OH1 said:
I am not sure why, but in a pie, minced/ground meat doesn't sound appealing. Conditioning, I suppose.
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From a historical context it probably shouldn't given mince/ground meat was the way to use up the worst of the animal before we had the ability to create reformed meat and pies/stews etc were ways to hide the lesser options hence the Lord of the Manor got his roast venison and the servants got umble pie made from the mince and offal of the animal (where we get the phrase on eating humble pie)

These days with mass production farming that has massively driven down the relative price of meat and so not all mince is the poor quality it used to be and we get what were traditional "peasant food" now made with higher quality produce.

Personally... think it depends where its coming from... in the same way I like using mince meat in certain things I would be very wary of buying a tin of chilli-con-carne... a mince meat pie is probably somewhere between the two but would depend on where I'm buying it from.
 
Imsotiredofnuggets said:
haha, thank you guys! I'll clarify, I did mean a crust in the traditional pie sense. The top is potato. I'm going to make one tomorrow and post pictures. Basically, you would lift it out of the casserole dish with a ladle or spoon and onto your plate.

When you cook it, when adding the beef and vegetable mix into the casserole dish, the beef is contacting directly with the edge of the panwith no flaky/moist/delicious/not delicious barrier between the beef mix and side of the dish. Once that has been added, mashed potatoes is put on top of the mix, not down any of the sides. Insert into the oven for awhile, all the deliciousness meshes together and voila, Canadian Shephards Pie.
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Will love to see your cottage pie! Sounds delightful! (Even Canadian shepherds don't herd cattle!)

Here I also ladle either type out of the casserole dish and onto a plate. Never seen either sort with a pastry crust anywhere on the pie.
 
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