American Shepherd's Pie (2024)

FAQs

Do they have shepherd's pie in America? ›

This shepherd's pie with cheese is an Americanized version of the old Irish standard. My family loves it. You can prepare your mashed potatoes as you usually would — adding butter, milk, sour cream, or whatever!

This traditional shepherd's pie recipe is made with a mixture of lamb and sirloin, lots of veggies, and a creamy, cheesy mashed potato topping ⁠— sure to delight everyone at the table!

The terms shepherd's pie and cottage pie have been used interchangeably since they came into use in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, although some writers insist that a shepherd's pie should contain lamb or mutton, and a cottage pie, beef.

It's called cottage pie in the U.K. because they use beef and in Ireland since the shepherds tend sheep, it's shepherd's pie. No doubt, the English put out an excellent cottage pie, but in Ireland it used to be a delicacy since the Irish couldn't afford beef they repurposed any unused veggies and meat.

Cottage pie is more strictly defined, limited by the use of beef alone. The name “shepherd's pie” first appeared in an English cookbook of 1877 that attributes the dish to Scotland while complaining that it is “too farinaceous,” since the potato topping was evidently itself topped by a wheat-flour shell.

Apple pie is arguably one of the most popular pie flavors. A symbol of America, the apple pie was actually invented by the British. Apple pie is simply made with sliced apples on double-crusted pastry dough.

Talk about satisfying. Ground beef, vegetables, and gravy are baked under pillowy mashed potatoes. If it's not yet already, this will soon be a family favorite recipe.

The dish originates from the British Isles, but some might argue that it is an Irish dish by origin. The name "Shepherd's Pie" was first recorded in an 1877 cookbook. In this same cookbook, it was noted that the dish was of Scottish origin. During the period between the 18th and 19th centuries, money was very tight.

The main difference between Cottage Pie and Shepherd's pie is cottage pie uses ground beef, and Shepherd's pie uses ground lamb. Both pies are cooked with vegetables and gravy and baked under a layer of mashed potatoes. To make Shepherd's pie using this recipe, simply substitute ground lamb.

Most workers ate their meat, potatoes and corn separately but workers of mainly Asian origins, combined their rations to create shepherd's pie, a more communal dish. The French-Canadian railway workers liked this new concoction, adopted the dish, and called it “pâté chinois”, which loosely translates to Chinese pie.

What is puppy dog pie? ›

It was an old tradition to bake a china dog inside a pie – an idea connected somehow with ancient Roman offerings to wolf gods. The people of Painswick were embarrassed at being too poor to afford meat so cooked up stray dogs to put in pies for visitors from Stroud on feast day.

According to the Oxford Companion to Food, once upon a time, Scotland made its shepherd's pies with pastry instead of mashed potatoes. Indian cooks once considered shepherd's pie to be a perfect dish for tiffin (a word used to mean a light snack in British India).

Seasoning sounds like your first problem.. add more salt and pepper to your filling and make sure your mash is also nicely seasoned. Add cheese to the mash, a mature cheddar perhaps. Add fresh thyme or bay leaf to your filling or even a splash more stock or wine, a spoon of smooth mustard or a skinless chopped tomato.

Flour: All-purpose flour will thicken the beef gravy. Ketchup: Ketchup will add a little tang to the ground beef mixture. Beef Broth: Beef broth creates a gravy-like consistency in the middle. Cheese: Top the shepherd's pie with extra Cheddar for a cheesy finish.

You'll have to refer to it as Cumberland pie. The most expensive slice of meat pie was sold in Lancashire, UK, for over $1,700 a slice!

Over time, ground beef became the filling of choice, and lamb was used less frequently. Thus, these two names were used interchangeably. The dish originates from the British Isles, but some might argue that it is an Irish dish by origin. The name "Shepherd's Pie" was first recorded in an 1877 cookbook.

Natchitoches are traditional meat pies originating from Louisiana. These small, savory pies are filled with a combination of ground beef and pork, onions, garlic, red bell peppers, celery, oregano, red pepper, black pepper, and cayenne pepper. The pie dough is made from flour, lard, eggs, whole milk, and baking powder.

The Natchitoches meat pie is one of the official state foods of the US state of Louisiana.

It's a rare American I've bumped into who likes Christmas cake or Christmas pudding. Even rarer is one who likes mince pies. But in England, Christmas just wouldn't be Christmas without mince pies. We eat dozens of them in December (and only in December.