Shepherd's Pie with Cheese Crusted Leeks

During the long festive holidays, besides eating out, we were busy in the kitchen playing "masak-masak" to test out the new ovens - the LG Solardom plus the Fisher & Paykel. Both are a breeze to use and it was such great fun to have the pie and a cake baking simultaneously.

High on the request list from Splashie Boy was his absolute favourite, Delia Smith's Shepherd's Pie with the luxurious topping of cheddar cheese and leeks. I've also tried Nigella Lawson's Shepherds Pie which is chock full of button mushrooms and porcini but this one is still the best with it's cinnamon and thyme flavoured minced meat.

For the pie, I always use Isetan's minced lamb leg and replace the swede with carrots as I'm not a fan of that vegetable. Do give it a try as Delia Smith has this recipe on line. If you're vegetarian, she also has a recipe which uses pulses to replace the meat. Incidentally Delia Smith's How to Cook books are brilliant if you need basic guidance on cooking. Accompany it with her television shows and you won't go wrong in cooking. Although some may find her old fashioned versus modern chefs like Nigella and Jamie Oliver, she's still the icon of British cooking as her recipes always turn out great and she's so patient in explaining everything.

Tagged with: Shepherds Pie + Delia Smith