There’s nothing like a Cottage Pie on a cold winter’s night. Well… maybe a lovely Boeuf Bourguignon in a small cafe in Paris would top it, but we didn’t win the Powerball last night… We’ll go for second-best.

The names Cottage Pie and Shepherd’s Pie are often used interchangeably, but they are different dishes – Cottage Pie is made with beef, Shepherd’s Pie is made with lamb. These things are important to know. Use the wrong term and someone will be judging you mercilessly. And we certainly can’t have that, can we?!?

I had leftover mashed sweet potatoes from last night, so I boiled up some russets, mashed them, added two egg yolks and some sour cream, and mixed them into the leftovers. Fancy.

The filling was ground beef, onions, lots of assorted mushrooms, portobello mushroom soup, beef broth, and mixed vegetables. More easy than fancy.

Into the oven at 350°F – about 180°C for the rest of the world – for 45 minutes while I relaxed.

Dishes such as these don’t make for pretty pictures once they’re spooned into, but I wanted to take a picture with my new phone and see how it came out, so – here’s a picture after we all had several spoonfuls.

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There’s lots left over for lunches – and the phone takes some pretty good pictures!