It originated in England, then moved across most of Europe and was made with ground lamb. If the dish was made with beef it was referred to as cottage pie. That distinction dropped away after 1920 when the dish started appearing in American cookbooks. It was a low-cost dish using ground scrapes of meat that could not be sold as whole cuts, or parts that were strewed to make tender and picked free of the bones and utilized instead of wasting them. Once in America it was made from various types of meat but always a dish that was made from lesser quality or cheap meat, it was filling, tasty, and cost effective for feeding large families.
At Hidden Valley part of that history is what made this dish worth trying, it was inexpensive, could be made easily to feed large groups, and contained protein, vegetables, and a starch to fill up hungry campers. We were sure most campers would eat hamburger, we picked corn and green beans because they are popular with even younger children, and we decided that crispy topped mash potatoes could entice even the pickiest eaters. The first attempt was made in 2002 and we served it cafeteria style and hoped for the best. It took some talking by our staff to get the campers to try it but once they did it was an instant hit. We ran out of it that first night and a camp favorite was born. We were honestly surprised how many emails we got, how much feedback was on our surveys asking what in the world Sheppard’s pie was and how do we make it? It is truly one of inspirations behind our producing the Hidden Valley Camp Cookbook.
We hope you all enjoy making it with your family. You can change the vegetables. Make it a vegetarian dish by substituting beans, or tofu for the meat and making your gravy from vegetable stock. You can use cornstarch to thicken your gravy for a gluten free version. Experiment and take pictures to post to the camp Facebook page, that way we will all be together in spirit until we meet in 2021 in the Hidden Valley dining hall.
Post Brought to you by:
Lisa Shrout
Photos taken by Lisa Shrout, Video created by Dayna Karius
