We have an English – American integrated family. My spouse is British and I the American. In the last two decades we have explored many recipes and foods from both worlds, as I refer to it. Many dishes prepared in the United Kingdom are the same as the states with just a few differences in ingredients and how prepared. One thing that sticks out with me that is different between the two is sugar content. Here in the states, we have sugar in everything. The next difference is UK food has more pastry and meat in my experience visiting the south coast. There are meat pies, meat Cornish Pasties, oh I can’t forget the sausage and mash though no pastry is involved. Bangers and Mash are one of my hub’s favorites.
I’m not dissing any of it and I love pastry everything, it’s just interesting experiencing the difference in variations from across the pond. When my husband first came to visit the states and announced he was cooking “Toad in the Hole” for dinner my reaction was shock. I don’t even remember my teenage children’s reaction but I’m sure wide-eyed was involved at just the words. Who names this stuff?
I felt like having comfort food tonight for dinner. My go to has been Shepards Pie (Cottage Pie). It’s simple yet homemade and doesn’t take long, I’m sure many know of it. The funny is in my Yank-Brit household there are two versions. One involves pastry and ground lamb. Look, I’m in a never-ending body morph stage of life I never asked for and am trying to slow it down by not gorging on goodies. Adding pastry to anything gives me the uncontrollable urge to eat it ALL. I will eat pastry like a child will suck up candy. I’m told lamb is a regular affordable meat in the UK like ground beef is here but that could be wrong as I only have one source of information, my husband. It’s been 20 years since he has resided back home, and we all know how much food prices have changed. If you’re in the UK chime in and update me what is (or is not) affordable now. Lamb in my part of the country is hard to get, very expensive, and only eaten on rare occasions.
I made the quickie version of Shepards Pie; I’m not going to lie to you. I browned 2 lbs. ground beef and added 1/2 cup of instant brown gravy, boiled and whipped my 4 medium potatoes (you can use packet potatoes yes), then used a can of sliced carrots, rinsed well. I am not a recipe blog, and this is just for entertainment.
You get my drift, if you’re in a hurry yes you can make this fast by cutting corners in cooking. I prefer the old-school prep and cooking but not today. I linked the original recipe videos above (highlighted text). I layered up all the ingredients in a baking dish, baked it at 400F for 20 minutes to get the top a bit crisp and done! Don’t hate, I could have done much worse.
The good about it all is the leftovers. Reheating the remaining pie the next day it tastes so much better. I vary the vegetables in mine, from carrots to peas to green beans depending on what you like. You can also top it with Crispy fried onions before popping in the oven, and that was dinner. Years ago I started getting bored with cooking. I primarily cook East Asia dishes or Indian. I took the cue from a Mediterranean cookbook and the fact my western diet started making my body unhappy. Thats a whole other part of life change I never knew about. Eat your veggies!
My Ten Toes 