Welcome to the very first entry of Jessy’s “Cooking in LA” series. With such an abundance of delicious restaurants in our fair city, not to mention the royal pain of going grocery shopping, a large number of us all tend to dine out rather than cook. After all, as the bard(s) told us all those years ago, “nobody cooks in LA.”

Well we say, let’s reclaim our kitchens! Let’s feed ourselves for a change! In this first chapter, Jessy teaches us how to make a Shepherd’s pie.

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Let me preface this column by saying I am not quite a cooking virgin. We’ll just say I’ve managed to get to cooking second base. You know, just felt around for a little while to see if I could manage it. But now, my soon-to-be loyal readers, I am diving in, full force, to a world of culinary delights inspired by my love of “Top Chef” and bare necessity.

The first recipe attempt I will subject you to is something I found on Cooks.com (a pretty prolific site when it comes to finding not-too-tricky tasty delights), what they have termed “Drunken Shepherds Pie.” I’ve had (and quite enjoyed) regular, non-intoxicated shepherds pie on my various trips to England. I’m actually a big Anglophile, so pretty much anything from those parts sparks my fancy, but add the word drunken to the title and I’m sold on it. The “drunken” part of this recipe comes from the heavy-handed slosh of Newcastle ale you add to the meat as it cooks, and is further complemented by the remaining six-pack of beer you must drink while you cook the meal.

Shepherds pie is traditionally made with lamb, but it’s a little more pocketbook-friendly if you just buy yourself some regular old (well, not literally old) lean beef from your corner grocery store (which most likely doesn’t stock lamb in the first place). Oh, and beef is what this particular recipe calls for. I’m sure you can substitute lamb if you’d prefer, just do some research on exactly how to cook it.

Now, I have to admit that I am cheating. I have actually made this exact recipe before. However, that was under the tutelage of a much more experienced chef who in the end I allowed to do most of my cooking for me. But I promise, this is my first time tackling this dish (or any meal beyond scrambled eggs) as a strictly solo mission.
Here are a few of the tips that I learned on my own, and you should follow too, when tackling the recipe below:

• I’ve never heard of using piecrust in this recipe, but I gave it a shot. And dang! It was good, albeit a little squishy. My course of action next time would be to put the pie crust in your cooking vessel of choice before you add all the delectable filling and crisp it up a little in the oven first. Not too much though, since it has to cook again when you put the whole thing in to bake. That way you get that flaky, delicious crust that the Pillsbury Dough Boy is always going on about.

• I learned this next tip the hard way. You know how on those cooking shows, the cute little chef has every cute little ingredient already measured out in cute little bowls, ready to be tossed with a cute little flourish into whatever fancy-shmancy dish they’re making? Well that’s a good rule of thumb to follow in pretty much any area of this recipe… except the gravy! As a notorious failure at time management, I attempted be proactive by preparing every minute detail of the pie ahead of time. What I didn’t know was that packaged gravy mix clumps into something disgustingly similar to the contents of a toilet when you let it sit … The beef takes a while people! Let it sit and make the gravy when the recipe tells you to!

• And last but not least, from me to you, the recipe says instant mashed potatoes are acceptable for a reason! Do not go against that very sage advice! It’s up there with “always wear clean underwear” and “look both ways before you cross the street.” Don’t think of it as half-assing. Think of it as making mashed potatoes that actually taste good, are rich and creamy, and don’t make you want to pull your hair out because of the lumpy mess you created with real spuds while you were trying to be a kitchen big shot. Trust me on this one. And this is definitely something you should prepare ahead of time. Oh, and make a little extra. That way you have something to snack on while you enjoy your icy cold Newcastle.

Now let me know a dish that you would like me to find a recipe for and attempt on my own! Nothing’s off limits. And I just got a make-your-own sushi set!

Now behold, ye olde glorious recipe for “Drunken Shepherds Pie”:

1-1.5 lbs extra lean ground beef
1 can corn niblets
1 small can mixed peas and carrots
1 package brown gravy mix
Newcastle beer (1/4-1/3 bottle)
mild cheddar cheese, shredded
1 small yellow or Vidalia onion, diced
6-7 cups mashed potatoes, seasoned and buttered to taste
(potato buds instant work very well)

Melt 2 tablespoons butter and 1/4 teaspoons salt in a large skillet on medium heat. Dice onion into small squares. Add onions to butter and mix well to coat. Cook on medium low until very soft/transparent.

Add ground beef to onions, until very lightly browned and crumbled, add Newcastle Beer, continue to cook on medium-high and stir to keep meat small and crumbly, until done. Drain excess fat and beer from meat in colander, transfer to a separate bowl and cover.

Drain corn and peas/carrots in colander until all excess moisture is gone. Transfer to a separate bowl.

prepare gravy mix (1 cup cold water, whisk in gravy powder slowly, bring to a boil, then remove from heat, continue to stir to prevent clumping, as soon as gravy looks smooth, add about 4 tbsp cold water, stir and mix into beef/onion mixture, cover and set aside. (mushroom gravy works very well also)

Prepare mashed potatoes to taste

In a medium casserole dish, add 1/4 pat of butter near each corner. Put either a layer of pie crust in, or a thin layer of mashed potatoes (or both) spread meat/onion mixture into casserole dish, add layer of mixed corn, peas, and carrots. add thin layer of cheese if desired, then top with a layer of mashed potatoes thick enough to reach 1/2 inch below the edge of the casserole dish.

Add a layer of shredded mild cheddar cheese (and another layer of pie crust if desired) and a few small pats of butter placed randomly on top of cheese and potatoes.

Bake at 350°F for 1 hour, or 425°F for 35 minutes.

If worried about burning cheese due to lack of pie crust topping, add cheese 1/2 way through cooking time.

These are really good inside their own small pie shells, to serve individually - simply reduce cooking time until bubbly.

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