Shepherd's Pie

A small group of very interesting women came along to my first blogging workshop on Saturday. I held it here at home and as the weather was warm and sunny, we all sat on the back verandah overlooking the garden. I had a wonderful time, I enjoyed sharing what I know about blogging and I think everyone went home happy. I wish all the ladies well with their blogs and when they're up and running, I'll give you the links so you can visit them.

When I was a young girl, we had a roast lunch every Sunday - and I do mean every Sunday - and what was left over was eaten as another meal on Monday night. For instance if we had a leg of lamb, we always had Shepherd's Pie for tea on Monday. My parents would have been astounded at the lunch we had yesterday. We had Shepherd's Pie. I roasted a leg of lamb and instead of having the big roast Sunday lunch, I cut up the leg of lamb, minced it and made a pie. My mother would have shaken her head at that. A leg of lamb was a good meal and you didn't go mucking around with it unless it was leftovers.  But Hanno's been having problems with his teeth for the past six months and he still can't wear the partial denture he's supposed to wear. I've been cooking a lot of soups and soft food because he has a real problem eating salads and the food we'd normally be eating now.

I made the pie in a slightly unorthodox way. I cut up the meat then ground it with the mincer attachment on my mixer; I put the vegetables through the mincer as well. Doing it that way saves on peeling, dicing and cooking the vegetables separately and they're ground up fine enough to cook well in the time they're in the oven and also fine enough for Hanno to eat. 

After making a good gravy from scratch, and mashing potatoes and turnips together, I topped the pie and it spent about 30 minutes in the oven. I served steamed pak choi fresh from the garden, dressed with a little honey soy. Just as the pie came out of the oven, in walked Sunny, Kerry and Jamie so I was delighted to have plenty to share with them. We all enjoyed it very much. The addition of the turnips to the mashed potato was to use up some of the leftover winter vegetables from the garden. It was delicious.

I forgot to take a photo of the cooked pie until after we'd had lunch.

Today I plan on spending some time in the garden to tend the tomatoes, tie up some rapidly growing raspberries, move the Welsh onions, mulch and fertilise. I have a few things to do in the bush house as well. Time is moving on and soon it will be too humid and hot to garden. If I can get these few things done today, I'll be happy knowing we've done most of what needs to be done and we'll only need to water and harvest in the coming months.  I'll take a few photos when I'm out there and be back tomorrow with another post.  :- )

What are your plans for this week?