Gravy for Shepherds Pie

So you're using minced raw lamb as opposed to minced cooked lamb left over from a roast?

Brown the meat well. Take it out of the pan and add your onion, carrots, celery/whatever you're using. Saute until transparent and starting to colour. Return the meat to the pan and add a splash of red wine, L&Ps and some stock - lamb or chicken, ideally fresh but half a stock cube and a bit of water will be fine. Reduce it all down slowly for an hour or so. If you wanted you could thicken it by adding a bit of flour to the veg before you add the liquid, but I wouldn't bother. Essentially the browning of the meat and the veg, together with the liquid you add, makes your "gravy".

Sorry Sophie, I can do the actual shepherds pie, I meant a separate gravy. I'm using raw lamb mince, yes.

Oh, right, sorry. Why do you want separate gravy you freak? ?

To put on the top, you Southern gravyphobe. ?

I'm going to have to bite the bullet and confess to my mother I don't know how to make gravy aren't I. ?

OK, this can apply to any style of gravy.

use the left over fat from the meat and heat this up (if you don't have any residual fat use butter). Add a tablespoonful of plain flour and mix together over a heat. Then start adding some stock (I've used knorr stock cubes for this). don't add all in one go, but just add a little then mix all in and keep going until you have the desired consistency. You will then have a gravy...I've just realised a flaw in my instructions....the colour of the gravy won't be brown, as the only way I get it brown is by adding "Kulor" which is a danish product they put in their sauces here. It's my cheat way of getting it brown, but it is literally a caramel that doesn't add any flavour, but colours the sauce/gravy.

Not sure if that helps you or not. ?

But you won't have any juices from the meat to make it with like you would with a roast. You can't make gravy from scratch like that, you need a base for it. Just go to Waitrose and buy some soddding gravy if you must. Otherwise you'll have to resort to the Bisto box, and we don't want that do we? ?

Actually, there is a way, but we're talking faff-tastic.

Buy some lamb bones from your butcher. Roast in a hot oven with onion, carrot, celery. Remove bones and veg and make stock. Sprinkle some flour into the juices in the roasting pan, add liquid and proceed as for normal gravy.

I sometimes make a marsala based one, a bit like Wifey Lind.

Melt some fat (without a roast, it'll have to be butter0, make a roux with flour. Splash in some marsala, and then add stock until its at the right consistency. Its not dark brown, and its a very different taste to biso or similar, but its yum, especially if you did what Sophie suggested and boil up some bones for stock.

M&S/Waitrose 'fresh' gravy is probably the way to go.

Lamb bones indeed. I think I might buy it ? I can't risk a disaster as it's for my PILs

Thanks all, will keep a note of these. ?

Theres a really simple way to do this.

when you make the filling, just double the liquid you add, and add a bit more flour. when your filling is cooked and ready to make the pie, strain all your filling through a sieve. add your filling to the pie dish, and pour over enough of the liquid to make the pie moist enough, then add your mash etc.

reduce the rest of the liquid a bit to concentrate the flavour a nd theres your gravy.

I think even I could manage that Nick, thanks, I'll give that a go.

I always have to make gravy to go on my shepherd pie.

Well, mine are always cottage pies as I haaaaaaaate lamb.

What's wrong with Bisto? ?