Yep, as long as you’re prepared to accept it for what it is Quorn mince is very acceptable, for a number of recipes.
I’ve always got some in the freezer!
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I’ve always wondered why it is that Sheperd’s pie made by sheperds for sheperds and is made with lamb
But
Cottage pie is made with beef … should it not be Cow pie or Herd pie … why is it called Cottage pie ?
I don’t mean to sound pedantic.
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Because, oh light of my life, the name derives from poor people who lived in cottages who made if from leftover meats (sometimes including sheep/lamb). It’s only become to mean that beef is the filling in recent times.
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Absolutely not!
Cow pie is a different thing entirely, much favoured by Desperate Dan…
As for stargazy pie, an entirely different kettle of fish!
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I rather like haslet … which is nothing like a cottage or a sheperd or a cow pie.
Hmm …I could just scoff some now. I’ve never made it though.
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I’d not heard of haslet - had to look it up. I found it was a minced pork meatloaf. Often served cold. Now my meatloaf is always a mix of beef mince and pork mince - delicious.
But this is a thread about pies. As I live in France, I have a longing for pies and now its winter will make a pie every so often. But they are simply not part of French cooking - not pies topped with potatoes or pies topped with pastry. Pastry is used (feuillete) but most often as a base rather than a topping, and potatoes mixed in are used (parmentier) rather than creating a pie. Personally I prefer a pastry topped minced beef & carrot pie - served with potatoes.
Two carbs in a dish? Oh yes
In fact I had to look up what French was for pie as I have never seen it. Both google and deepL came up with “tarte”. But a tarte is not a pie.
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But a tourte is 
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But now you mention it I always associate a pie as having pastry … and Sheperd’s pie has no pastry.
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Dang you are right - thanks for that. Better than deepL
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Shepherds pie is made with lamb.
Cottage pie is made with beef.
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I buy my pies frozen
Never seen a frozen lamb pie - lamb used to be the cheap meat, I used to buy half a lamb for $10 and the butcher would cut it up for me (not any more)
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I bought half a leg of lamb for around £16 (approx 18 aus dollars). Strange how the uk doesn’t seem to do quite so much sheep farming nowadays.
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£18 is $36 Aussie.
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So much for my iPhone’s currency converter calculator!!!
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Obviously it is, I am afraid, if it came up with the answer that £16 = $AUS18.
Maybe Steve Jobs didn’t get the hang of maths?
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I don’t ever recall having shepherds pie and I know I’ve never made it.
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I admit that I thought it seemed somewhat low, based on my research on the matter a couple or so years ago after watching Australian Gold Hunters
But, given the strength of the pound nowadays, I kinda accepted the dip.
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Is that because you are in the US and lamb is hard to find compared to beef or pork? My recollection of shopping for food or eating out in the US is that the meat choice was limited. I don’t recall eating lamb there, certainly not offal.
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No, I have sheep. Honestly, I have heard of lamb chops and leg of lamb but don’t recall ever eating it.
I do like Greek food, that I was told, was sheep but other than that, don’t recall eating sheep or goat.
I sell my sheep mostly to hunting ranches. People want trophy rams. I don’t understand that but city folk don’t know any better. I sale to people wanting new blood lines in their herds and to people that are wanting show animals.
Hispanics prefer goats over sheep for cooking. Only sold a few to them.
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Every family has their own traditions and often create their own favourite twist on a traditional recipe but I can’t imagine that the original recipes for Shepherd’s Pie contained tomato sauce.
Tomatoes were viewed with suspicion in England for many years - they were thought to be poisonous and only grown as ornamental plants. It was only after the mid 1800s that cooks started to make sauces and soups with tomatoes.
The bottom bit of a Shepherd’s Pie (or a Cottage Pie) was usually just minced or thinly sliced cooked meat and the moisture added was a meat stock, usually saved from when the meat was first cooked, with maybe an onion added after being fried in a bit of dripping until softened.
I must admit, when I used to make it, I liked to add in some finely chopped veg for a nicer flavour and to make the meat go further.
I have also occasionally added a small can of plum tomatoes if I’m making it with minced beef but I have never thought of my additions as being traditional.
Now there is nobody left at home to eat meat, I’ve become a total rebel and make my Shepherd’s Pie with a can of puy lentils instead of meat, with a bit of finely diced veg and a can of tomatoes. Then I top it with a mash of mixed root veg - carrot and celeriac is my favourite topping but I’ll use up a mixture of whatever root veg I have.
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