Not Shepherd's Pie - yet.

I'm not saying this to be mean but...

That is how my husband opened the conversation at dinner.

There, is the difference between men and women.  He really meant it, he was not intending to be mean, and in the 2-stroke male mind, he thought all he had do was utter the disclaimer, say what was on his mind and all would be well, no feelings would be hurt.

Oh dear, I thought, he is going to tell me I am short and fat.  No. And I know he didn't intend to be mean, but ... " you did remove that shepherd's pie recipe from your blog, right?  because it really isn't good" .. he hastened to add that every other shepherd's pie I had made was wonderful, but, as I feared, stopping the creative flow to weigh and measure had ruined the finished product.  Ok, I had to agree with him, it was not at all like any other Shepherds pie I had ever made, and I had already taken down the recipe.  And, I couldn't dispute what he said, it was not good.

I will try to reproduce the one that I normally make so you can see how nice it can be.  Having said that, I actually don't much like shepherd's pie - never really liked it when I was a child, but I knew that my husband and his mother would like it because it is similar to the comfort food of the south that they grew up on.

After giving it some thought, the mistakes I made were - apart from stopping to weigh and measure - that I used all bison instead of half bison and half more fatty beef, this made the end produce too dry, and of course, less resembling the southern food with its high fat content.  Secondly I used yellow potatoes, I know better, white potatoes are so much prettier to look at and are fluffier and I do believe they taste better.  I will return to this recipe when I have given my husband time to get over the unpleasant dinner he tried to like.

While making the shepherd's pie I, as always, made double the amount.  Now I have a less than satisfactory chuck of something in the freezer, and I have been mulling over in my mind how to make it acceptable. Finally I have decided - turn it into a curry! That should be interesting.

Meanwhile, do try the panko chicken.  This is another attempt on my part to make a more healthy version of the fried chicken so popular in the south and it seems to work.