If you’re reading this then you have survived Monday. You have been counting down the hours during your working day, ready to come home and chill or do whatever you do outside of the workplace(unless you work from home). You want to get home home, eat some food and put your feet up. As the weather in the UK right now is cold and wet after an unusually warm week, this take on the classic Shepherd’s Pie is the perfect dish to warm you up and make up feel happy.
This dish takes about 70 minutes to cook, of which 30 minutes are for prep and the remaining 40 is the actual cooking time. As a father of two, the chance to good real hearty food can be a struggle at times and I thought I would make things easier for my wife and do all the prep work on the Sunday night. All she needs to do is cook it and everyone is happy.
Todays recipe is my take on Shepherd’s Pie but instead of lamb, I have used some incredible locally sourced venison that I butchered myself, so here we go:
Venison Shepherds Pie
Ingredients
450g minced venison
900g peeled potatoes
1 large white onion finely chopped
1 large carrot diced
1 large parsnip diced
1 celery stick diced
1 clove garlic finely chopped/minced
600ml beef or chicken stock
1 small glass/large glug of red wine (I used a tasty Bordeaux)
120g white mushrooms chopped
2 tbsp chopped parsley
Decent knob of butter
Splash of milk
Pepper/Salt for seasoning (if required)
What next:
. Grab a large saucepan, fill it with water and add your potatoes. Bring to the boil and cook for 15-20 mins or until soft, but not too soft. Chop all of your veg and add them to a hot frying pan with a knob of butter and cook away on a medium heat until the onions start to soften.Add 450g of minced venison to the frying pan and cook until the mince has browned.Add your garlic and a large glug of red wine and reduce for 5 minutes.After roughly 5 minutes, add the beef or chicken stock as well as the chopped parsley and let it simmer away nicely for 15 minutes.Check your tatties after 15 mins and if they feel soft, take them off the heat and drain them.Once drained, return them to the pan, add a big knob of butter and a generous splash of milk and mash away to get them nice and creamy. Add pepper/salt to taste and put them aside.
After 15 mins of cooking, check the mince and if the sauce is a bit watery, by all means add some cornflower to thicken.Once the sauce has thickened, remove from heat.
Add your saucy mince into casserole dish and smother your mashed potatoes on top. Don’t forget to fluff the potato topping with a fork to make it look nice.Pop it in the oven at 190C and bake for 30 minutes.
Remove from oven, plate up and serve.
Field To Fork Food 