aka What I Made For The In-Laws On Christmas Eve
1. Boil and mash some potatoes.
2. Brown some beef mince. Add a little cooking wine and some beef bouillon to make it juicier. I’d meant to do some onion with this but I forgot it.
3. Add raisins and chopped chestnuts and pine nuts to the mince (as much as you fancy).
4. Add ground cinnamon and clove (as much as yr liking for these spices dictates).
5. Cover with mashed potatoes. Cook for a bit in the oven.
6. 5 minutes before the end, put on some peas and switch the oven to grill and put some grated lancashire cheese on top of the mash.
7. Serve resulting shepherd’s pie with the peas.
I put in a little too much bouillon and not enough cinnamon (& forgot the onion) but even so this recipe went down very well indeed, many second helpings asked for which is always the mark of a good dish. It’s quite rich, but then it is Christmas.
(Also this may be cottage pie not shepherd’s, being as it hasn’t got any veg in it. I forget which is which.)