Cottage Pie a la Pove

I recently made some stoup.

 I call it stoup 'cause I am not sure if it is stew or soup.

It was my way of using leftovers  - Farro, Quiona,   Lentils, Black Beans, Corn, Green Peppers, Diced Onions, a few bits of Beef etc,  all cooked in vegetable stock.  (I hate wasting food)

After a few days this stoup got to be old hat, so I dressed it up and transformed it into "Cottage Pie a la Pove".   All I needed to do was to put the stoup into a casserole dish, cover it with mashed red potatoes, ( made from scratch), and bake it at 375 degrees for about 35 minutes.

Darn!   It was good!.  (Maybe on account of the copious amount of butter I added to the mashed spuds).
























I believe that Cottage Pie originated as a "Monday Leftover Dish" made by frugal housewives in poorer families  in the U.K. and Ireland.

Any cooked beef leftover from Sunday dinner would be minced, and placed in a baking pan  - together with other leftovers from Sunday -  gravy, peas, carrots or green beans (diced), -  then covered with mashed leftover potatoes.  The secret was to bake it until the spuds were crispy brown on top.

Our Mum made it many times.  She was an economical and excellent cook, feeding eleven hungry people  (nine children, + Dad, +Mum)  on a very limited budget.

(My Cottage Pie was a wee bit faux 'cause I did not mince the leftover beef).

N.B  If the leftover meat was Lamb, then it was "Shepherd's Pie" not "Cottage Pie".

Beef = Cottage Pie.      Lamb=Shepherd's Pie.   (Got it?).

 And please join with me in going grammatically ballistic the next time you see one of the following on a menu.

 Shepards Pie  NO

 Shepard's Pie  NO

 Shepherds Pie  NO

 It's "Shepherd's Pie" dammit =  and then only if it is made with Lamb or Mutton.




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