If you’re talking to Julian Bond about shepherd’s pie, don’t even think about mentioning the word beef. The executive chef and director of the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts is adamant that his go-to meat-and-potato dish must always be made with ground lamb and not beef.

“That drives me crazy. If you make a dish like this with ground beef, it’s called cottage pie,” he told the Georgia Straight. “Being English, obviously shepherd’s pie is in my roots. It’s what I was brought up with. It’s one of those dishes you can make on the fly and serve right away, or you can fully bake and freeze.”

Shepherd’s pie was one of the first dishes Bond learned to make as a culinary student in England. He came to Canada in 1991 to cook for a chain of hotels and then worked at several Vancouver restaurants, including developing menus for Cactus Club Cafe.

“I kind of fell into teaching by accident,” Bond said, describing his first education job at the Art Institute of Vancouver’s Dubrulle Culinary Arts. “I was given a lecture on lamb, and the lecture was supposed to be about 40 minutes. Well, two hours later I finally stopped talking, because there’s so much to talk about with lamb. It’s so exciting…and I fell in love with teaching.”

Bond has been at PICA for six years and oversees both the culinary arts and pastry arts diploma programs. His students range from teenagers straight out of high school to retirees hoping to start a business. Bond also teaches casual, recreational classes to adults and is convinced that everyone can cook.

“You know what cooking is? It’s just common sense,” he said. “When you start cooking and the heat’s too high, you turn the heat down. You don’t put garlic in before onions because garlic burns before the onions are cooked.”

While making shepherd’s pie allows home cooks to practise many basic cooking skills, Bond encourages people to improvise with different herbs, spices, and vegetables once they are comfortable with the recipe.

PICA sommelier Tim Ellison suggests pairing the dish with Mirror Pond Pale Ale from Oregon’s Deschutes Brewery or the 2010 Merlot from Penticton’s Red Rooster Winery.

Julian Bond’s shepherd’s pie with a side of minted English peas

Shepherd’s pie

1/4 cup (65 mL) olive oil
1.1 lb (500 g) ground lamb (or ground beef if making cottage pie)
1 medium onion
2 medium carrots
2 sticks celery
2 cloves garlic
14.5 oz (411 g) can of chopped tomatoes
1 cup (250 mL) vegetable stock
6 dashes Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
1 small turnip
1 Bosc pear
5 medium Russet potatoes
5 Tbsp (75 mL) butter

Method

1. Heat a large pan on medium-high heat. Add olive oil and ground lamb. Cook until lamb is brown, stirring occasionally. Remove lamb from heat, drain excess oil, and set aside.

2. Dice onion, carrots, celery, and garlic, and sauté over medium heat for about 10 minutes. Return lamb to pan and add tomatoes, vegetable stock, and Worcestershire sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.

3. Preheat oven to 350 ° F (175 ° C).

4. Peel and chop turnip and place in pot of cold water, with water just covering the turnip. Place on burner and bring to high heat. Boil for 12 minutes or until fork-tender. Drain.

5. Peel and chop pear, and place in roasting pan or oven-safe dish. Bake with whole, scrubbed potatoes for 35 minutes.

6. Cut each potato in half, scoop out the insides, and push through a potato ricer. Add turnip and roasted pear and push through potato ricer. Return mixture to pot and add butter. Stir until smooth and creamy.

7. Increase oven temperature to 375 ° F (190 ° C).

8. Transfer lamb-and-vegetable mixture to oven-safe casserole dish or divide among six single-portion oven-safe dishes. Spoon mashed-potato mixture over top and pat down with fork. Bake for 30 minutes, increasing heat to 425 ° F (220 ° C) for final 5 minutes for golden crust. Remove from oven and let rest 10 minutes before serving.

Minted Peas

3 Tbsp (45 mL) olive oil
1 Tbsp (15 mL) butter
1 shallot
6 mint leaves
2 cups (500 mL) fresh English green peas, shelled (if using regular frozen peas, defrost to room temperature)
1 lemon
3 cups (750 mL) pea tips (available at Chinese markets)
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Add olive oil and butter to a small pot over medium heat. Thinly slice shallot and add to pot, stirring occasionally for about 3 minutes.

2. Chop mint leaves. Add mint leaves and English green peas to pot and mix. Cook, covered, for 5 minutes.

3. Cut lemon in half and squeeze juice from both halves over pea mixture. Transfer pea mixture to a mixing bowl and toss with raw pea tips. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve as a side to shepherd’s pie.

Yield: six servings.

Recipe has not been tested by the Georgia Straight.