Shepherd’s Pie

Basic Hygiene rules

Disease out breaks bring to our consciousness ,the need for basic hygiene and personal care. I am now frantically washing my fruits and vegetables with vinegar just to make sure that the vegetables are free of germs. The announcement of the spread of Ebola virus on the West African coast has sent shivers down our spines. For those in the habit of buying already peeled fruits on the streets , its time to stop. The times call for a lot of care in what we eat and how we live.
For more exciting happenings lets turn to my kitchen,  I am serving up Shepherd’s pie, which is typically a British dish but I have added the Nigerian twist with some Chilli and all the ingredients are in your neighborhood markets.
If you do not find minced meat to buy, you may decide to chop your meat into tiny pieces and boil till very soft before proceeding with the recipe. Enjoy!

Recipe ( serves 4)

Ingredients

6 pieces medium size Potato
1 teaspoon Butter
1/4 cup Milk
11/2 cups minced meat
1/2 cup Carrots( diced)
1/2 cup Sweet Corn
1/4 cup Green Peas or runner Beans
3 pieces Scotch Bonnet Pepper( chopped, adjust quantity to taste)
2 cloves Garlic( chopped)
1/2 tablespoon Cornflour 
1 cooking spoon Vegetable Oil
3 Bay leaves 
Beef seasoning to taste
Salt to taste

Method for Minced Meat Sauce

1, Season the minced beef with beef seasoning and salt and set aside
2, Heat the oil, fry the onion and garlic for 2 minutes until translucent
3, Add beef ,  bay leaf and pepper and continue to fry ,stirring frequently to ensure that the minced beef is well dispersed , or else the beef sets into big lumps
4, Cover the pot and lower the heat to allow the meat to cook for about 10 minutes
5, Stir and add carrot, green peas and sweet corn and stir. Taste to correct seasoning and salt
6, Dissolve the corn flour in 2 table spoons of water and add to sauce stirring to mix well. Allow to boil and thicken the sauce for about 3 minutes .
7, Turn off heat and set aside

Method for Mashed Potato( you can start this process simultaneously with the minced meat sauce)

1, Peel and boil the potato until very soft
2, Drain the water and add butter immediately and mash to a smooth consistency. Add the milk half way through mashing to give the nice soft consistency. The process has to be approach with speed as the mash will get lumpy ones the potatoes gets cold 

Method for combining the Sherperd’s pie

1,Pre heat oven to 400degrees
2, Scoop your minced meat unto the base of the oven dish
3, Scoop on the potato and spread over surface of the mince
4, Use a fork to make a pattern over the mash as desired. I went the extra mile to make patterns using decorating syringe . The top of the mash should not be smooth.
5, Place bowl or pan in a baking try and bake for about 30 minutes or until the top of the mash browns in some areas. 

Cooking tip: ensure that your bowl or pan is place in a baking tray. The mince meat sauce will boil over and drip some sauce.