Hi Everyone: I am going to take you to the ingredients list and then the method so there isn’t no mixups on how to make this yummy meal. I have found a jar of marmite in the African isle of Cermac groceries. Odd thing is It is a very British product and I tasted it for the first time out of curiosity. I swear if didn’t like it I would have thrown it away and it is expensive here in USA.
So far I wasn’t disapointed and for the record it says it is vegan yeast actract. It is full of unami and this is what I was looking for and this is why I bought it.
- 1 dab of marmite
- either 3 pinches of seasoned salt, pink salt or seasoned salt
- 3 dashes each of worcestershire sauce, malt vinegar, either maggi or knorr aroma
- 1/4 cup of oil of vegetable, olive, corn, canola, grapeseed, sunflower, safflower, peanut, avocado
- 1 bag of frozen mixed vegetables
- 4 slices of cheddar cheese.
- 6 regular or sweet potatoes scrubbed.
- 1 onion or shallot chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 lb or 1 kg of mince of either lamb for shephard’s pie only , goat, chicken, beaf, turkey or veal for cottage pies
- 1 bay leaf, 1 pinch of black peppercorns ground in mortar and pestle
- 1 pinch each of savory, white pepper, marjarom, thyme, tarragon.
- I tsp of water
- 2 tsps of nido or carnation milk powder
- 2 pats of butter
Now we are done with the list of things you will need out of the way that we can now discuss methods on how to make this yummy meal. There Is the combo stovetop regular oven method and the instant pot method in several steps.
MASHED POTATO TOPPING: oven/ stovetop method is boil the scrubbed potatoes by placing them in the pot and the water level is just over the potatoes and cook for 40 minutes or you can also microwave the potatoes only for 7 to 10 minutes also in instant pot for 12 minutes on pressure cook on a trivet and add 1 liter of water in the instant pot. Press the quick release button and wait for pressure to escape. Only with microwave baked potatoes you do not have to drain at all. Just drain the potatoes and let it cool completly and then peel them.
The jackets come off very easlily and place them in a large mixing bowl and go to mashing. Once they are mashed then you can go ahead and add the nido the water and the butter and mash some more. Yes I do have my grandfather’s mashed potato recipe posted but this is more hearty and rustic while his was very silky and smooth. I prefer rustic when I am doing a this shephard’s/ cottage pie recipe. Cover and set the mashed potatoes to use as topping aside.
FILLING: Preheat oven to 375F or 190C first. On regular stovetop method in a large cast iron skillet and in instant pot on saute method place the cooking oil of choice from the list in either the inner lining of instant pot or the skillet on stovetop the onions, garlic, make sure they caramelize first, the seasonings like one of the items from list such as pink salt or any other, Just be careful you don’t want salty food. Add all of the herbs mentioned and the bayleaf, marmite, malt vinegar, worcestershire sauce, the contents from the mortar and pestle, the mince and the bag of mixed veggies.
If you are baking in the oven then just use the mashed potato topping from the bowl and slather it all over the mince and the mixed vegetables mixture underneeth top with the cheddar cheese by breaking the slices and placing this all over the top of the potato topping then place in the oven to bake for 20 minutes.
For instant pot you will need to transfer in to baking dishes made for instant pot itself the filling that was cooked in the inner liner. Wash this out and let dry then place the potato topping on each one and spread out to where it forms a nice topping indeed. Place the chedder cheese on this like you would do stovetop/ oven method. Now you will need to place a trivet at the bottom of your instant pot then the bigger round one I placed at the bottom and placed that metal disk that came with it on top and the small loaf pans that you see here in front of my instant pot with the pies already complete.
The slightly bigger round one I think was getting browned at the time when I took this picture. Place the air fryer lid and select bake. It is at 350F for 15 minutes. When I heard the sound that it was ready I took the 2 loaf pans out and it came out lovely. I then removed the disk and again placed the air fryer lid so that it can brown a little. All I seen was melted cheese on top. I just wanted it a little brown so it can be a little crispy.
I remember when I first made these I made a a pie crust at the bottom and then I seen what an actual one looked like I know I had goofed and then I know the crustless shephard’s pie is the real McCoy. So I also know only lamb really is a shephard’s pie. Using other types of mince is just a cottage pie which are made very similarly. Also I didn’t put cheddar cheese on the others and now I got wise.
To my British friends: all I have to ask is please rate me on this one? Let me know how I did please? I Think I will attempt Yorkshire pudding next time I make some Brittish food.
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