Dear reader,

Last week I cooked a rolled lamb shoulder and still have some of it left in the refrigerator. I thought I’d make a shepherds pie with a difference. It’s traditional to use lamb in a shepherds pie and beef in a cottage pie. 

I have no idea what to call this pie apart from lamb and beef pie topped with mashed potato. 

I hope the title of this post gives you an idea of what was going through my mind.

The reference to a party reflects all the peppercorns I cooked with the lamb last week. I love the way peppercorns create a party in my mouth when I add them to a dish.

I find the almost numbing feeling of the mucosa of my buccal cavity and the soft sensitive epithelium of my lips exciting. Yes, I know I’m a bit of an oddball.

Now you could be asking yourself, it’s November, and I live in Australia, why am I cooking pie when I should be making a salad!

Check out the Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology for what’s going on http://www.bom.gov.au/.

Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology Bureau National Operations Centre 

Satellite Notes for 0000UTC Chart Issued at 1433 AEDT Saturday on 13 November 2021

A complex low system is present just off the southeast of the continent. The low-level to middle-level cloud band associated with this system is visible over NSW, Vic and Tas.

A trough extends parallel to the eastern coast of Qld. Thunderstorms also, for northern tropics.

The remainder of the continent is primarily cloud-free, aside from low-level clouds from onshore flow over much of the continent’s southern coast. 

Ingredients

• Leftover pressure cooker lamb and peppercorns
• Tin of corned beef
• Celery
• Carrot
• Onion
• Worcestershire sauce
• Flour
• Cooking sherry
• Instant mashed potato
• Grated cheese

Instructions

1. Lovingly sharpen your cook’s knife (as iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend Proverbs 27:17 NLT).
2. Cut the lamb into small pieces. 
3. Place the meat into a bowl with some flour and coat the lamb with the white stuff.
4. Dice the celery, carrot, and onion and set aside.
5. Warm a skillet and add some cooking oil.
6. Put the floured meat and peppercorns into the skillet and gently cook to brown it off.
7. Add in the contents of the tin of corned beef.
8. Mix everything through until it’s evenly mixed.
9. Add in the carrot, onion, and celery and allow it all to simmer until the vegetables have cooked through.
10. Add a splash of cooking sherry and a good slug of Worcestershire sauce.
11. Evaporate the liquid by simmering everything.
12. Allow everything to cool in the skillet.
13. Add a portion to a pie dish and put the rest in another container for another time.
14. Make the instant potato mash according to the manufacturer’s instructions for use.
15. Mix some grated cheese into the potato mash and lay it across the top of the pie contents.
16. Put the pie into a moderate oven and cook until the surface of the potato mash has started to change colour to brown.
17. Serve the pie however you like and with whatever you like.
18. Before you eat, though, take the time to give thanks to the Lord and thank Him for his grace.

Thoughts on shepherding

Well, not really about shepherding as much as the inspiration for thinking of shepherds comes from Thursday’s verse of the day in the bible app I use. It was Psalm 23:4. If you want to read some background check out Matthew Henry.

Final thoughts

• Would you mix your meats in a pie?
• Do you like lots of peppercorns in your mouth?
• How do you feel about instant potato mash?