Peake Practice: Food news with Ray Peake

THE best shepherd's pie I have ever eaten was in New York, where the service is so efficient and fast you can get a pizza to your doorstep faster than you can call an ambulance.

The second best was last week when our staff tea took a rustic turn in the direction of this wholesome savoury dish.

I do not wish to give you the impression that I consider shepherd's pie to be the best pie in the world.

Top billing goes to steak and kidney - but I shall save the supremo for a later date.

While enjoying it - in fact, over-enjoying it as my waistline will testify - I realised that, to date, all of the given recipes have been for the more special occasion meal.

Now is the time to share the innermost secrets of a few of our staff meals.

I do not, of course, advocate that you serve this dish at your next dinner party.

It is, however, an excellent tea-time meal or supper dish and is universally enjoyed by children and adults.

It is also an excellent meal to make for ageing visiting relatives as it is not at all demanding on the old gnashers and its overall texture can be likened to that of a savoury trifle.

Not only is it easy and quick to make, it also freezes well and is a relatively inexpensive dish to produce.

What more could you ask for? The recipe perhaps. There are in fact two approaches to making this dish.

One is to use left-over roast meat, which is how the dish originated.

The other is to visit your butcher and specially buy the minced or ground lamb. For the purpose of this recipe we shall assume the latter.

You could, if you wish, substitute beef for lamb but you would then be obliged under the Trade Descriptions Act to inform your family they were, in fact, eating cottage pie.

Over the past 40 years (whoops, gave my age away) I have eaten and enjoyed many a shepherd's pie presented in various guises.

Sometimes it has had grated cheese on top of the potato, browned under the grill. Sometimes it has been with thinly-sliced tomato, which also works well. You could even add a few aubergines, substitute cheese sauce for the mashed potato and then you have the Greek classic moussaka on your plate.

So please do play around with this, or in fact any recipe, to the point where you have modified it, hopefully even improved it by giving it your personal touch and made it your own.

SHEPHERD'S PIE

(Serves four)

450g (1lb) minced lamb

1 medium onion chopped

30ml (2tbsp) flour 300ml ( pt) lamb or beef stock

15ml (1tbsp) tomato puree

2 teaspoons fresh mint (optional)

salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

DRY fry the lamb in a non-stick pan until browned.

Add the onion and cook for five minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the flour and cook and stir for one minute.

Add the stock, tomato puree, mint and Worcestershire sauce gradually while continuing to stir.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Bring the mixture to the boil then allow to simmer for 25 minutes.

Turn the mince mixture into a two-pint oven-proof dish.

Top with mashed potato as described below and return to the oven for one hour 15 minutes.

This can be achieved as simply or as elaborately as you wish. It can be scooped on with a spoon and patterns made with a fork. It can be piped using a piping bag with a large nozzle or any other technique you care to use.

Options now include topping with grated cheddar cheese and thinly-sliced tomato and placing under the grill for three minutes to make this dish extra special.

WE all have our own way of making mashed potatoes so feel free to use your own tried and tested method.

Mine includes simply adding butter, milk, a little grated nutmeg, a hint of parmesan cheese and of course salt and pepper to taste.

For this recipe you will need approximately 1lb potatoes.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.