Shepherd’s Pie, my way

This is a dish I’ve always been drawn to on menus. My absolute favorite has historically been from The Dead Rabbit because it had a hint of curry.

For my first attempt at making the dish, I decided to use Alton Brown’s rendition because his recipes are so well done and exact. I view him as a gold standard for classic things that often get remade and reimagined, like guacamole and cinnamon rolls.

Overall, it was really delicious and cozy and not difficult by any means. I think this is just one of those dishes where you need the right recipe guiding you.

Some things I changed:

• I added 1 TSP each of curry powder, cumin and coriander to the onion, carrot and garlic mixture for that hint of curry my nostalgia was craving

• I did a 1/2 pound of ground lamb and 1/2 pound of ground chuck instead of all lamb and this worked well - technically the recipe calls for 1-1.2 pounds of meat so you could up the amount if you prefer

• I omitted the corn and just did peas, but upped it to 3/4-1 cup

• I divided this between two mini pie dishes so we could enjoy one fresh now and another later

• I broiled it after baking for a few minutes to get the top nice and golden