Sheperd's Pie

Made sheperd's pie last sat with one of my good friend, J. Instead of using minced lamb, we used chopped chicken thighs instead. Supposedly, 1hr 20 mins preparation (as stated in the cookbook), took us 4 hrs instead for the whole process. Made sheperd's pie last sat with one of my good friend, J. Instead of using minced lamb, we used chopped chicken thighs instead. Supposedly, 1hr 20 mins preparation (as stated in the cookbook), took us 4 hrs instead for the whole process.

Mistake 1: When the book says used minced meat, please use minced meat. J seldom cooks at all. She doesn't know how sheperd's pie looks like, so when I asked her if she preferred chicken or lamb, she chose chicken. So, I ended up spending almost 2 hours slicing the 7 pieces of chicken thigh while J slicing the last 8th piece. I sounded like I am trying to push the blame to her for choosing chicken. Well, alittle but it is not her fault since she doesn't cook at all. Haha!

Mistake 2: We should have cut the potatoes into chunks so that it would facilitate us in mashing the potatoes. We spent an hour trying to mash the potatoes as some parts were uncooked, so we went to heat the potatoes again for another 15 mins or so. It is my first time making mash potatoes, so no one's to blame for this part.

Finally, all the ingredients are ready. I did the frying and made sure that the chicken are seasoned to taste. I added chopped carrots, peas and chicken stock. It will be good to add some salt and sugar to taste. Added some plain flour, say about 2 tablespoons to the chicken and cook until the chicken are fully cooked. Once done, I scooped up the fillings and put inside the baking dish. After that, we added the mash potatoes and use a fork to form the swirl around the mash.

Looks good for a first timer. It tasted really yummy! Except that it needed some improvement in the seasoning, not salty enough. J's hubby said it was not bad and my family agreed too. I am gonna to make sure the whole preparation will take less than 2 hours and we are gonna use minced lamb next time round. :P