Recipe: Pate Chinois (Shepard’s Pie)

Pate Chinois (or Shepard’s Pie as it is called in America) is a meal I grew up with in my French-Canadian family.  It is easy to make, it is inexpensive, and it is delicious!  As a child, my mother used to make it every week.  Of course, as a child I used to complain about it, but when I went off to college and had to live on cafeteria food that is when I really started to appreciate it.  After I graduated college and moved in with some roommates, I used to make it for them all the time because they loved it, too.  And now, I make it for my family (although not every week).  My 12-year-old loves it, but my 10-year-old and 7-year-old do not.  Hopefully they will appreciate it once they are grown, too, and they’ll be making it for their own families. 🙂

Pate Chinois is a meal that can be easily customized.  Some people add mushrooms, or tomatoes, or peppers, etc.  My husband likes to add celery when he makes it.  Here is my version:

Ingredients

• 5-6 Yukon Gold Potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters
• Salt & Pepper, to taste
• 2 Tablespoons butter (for mashed potatoes)
• 2-4 Tablespoons milk (approximately – for mashed potatoes)
• 1 pound grass-fed ground beef
• 1 can creamed corn
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 Tablespoons coconut oil or butter (for sauteeing onions)
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 tablespoons butter, melted (to top potatoes)

Instructions

1. Boil potatoes until fork-tender.  Drain.
2. Mash potatoes, salt and pepper (to taste), 2 Tablespoons butter, and milk with an electric mixer until creamy.
3. In a large skillet, saute onion in coconut oil or butter until softened.
4. Add ground beef to the skillet and cook until browned.  Drain if necessary.
5. In a 9×5 loaf pan, mix ground beef and onion mixture with creamed corn.
6. Add potatoes on top of the ground beef mixture.  Spread evenly until smooth.
7. Brush melted butter over potatoes.  Place in oven under broiler just until the top is lightly browned.  Watch it carefully.  This should only take a few minutes.

Enjoy! 🙂