Do you think Founders Breakfast Stout would be a good pairing here? Only dark beer I have, currently. It's this or Founders Pale Ale. For clarification - I'm drinking the beer in question, not putting it into the pie.
I think a stout would be perfect. You've got starch, cheese and rich concentrated ground lamb filling. Stout will register well paired w/ that.
Shepherd's pie is a great, versatile dish with food, can pick up malts or contrast nicely with bitters. The beauty of it in the pub is you can point at any tap and, whoosh. And it might be one of the few dishes where I might go for a stout. But PA wouldn't be bad, either.
You should try and cook the meat in the same stout you are drinking. I usually do this and it pairs very well.
thanks for the suggestions. breakfast stout went very well with the pie. Also, for the record - I made the pie with my last bottle of DFH Indian brown. Yeah I figured stout was the way to go, it's just such an awesome beer on its own I wasn't sure if the pie would dull it down. Which I'm happy to report did not happen.
Yeah, I normally just grate a little on before baking. I'm guessing you need to be careful not too add to much to the potatoes. I've made used parmesan in mashed for other dishes, but I could see too much cheddar messing up the texture.
Oh, I put plenty IN the mash. It actually doesn't eff up the texture much at all. It's just the crusty goodness that forms on the top of the potatoes gets ruined if there's too much cheese sprinkled on the top. Hope that makes sense.
I usually put the potatoes on top. It's the only way to get them crispy. The cheese will become liquidy either way so I usually put it over the meat and veggies as a middle layer. If you fluff the tops of the potatoes (on top) with a fork it leaves a lot of surface area that can be baked or broiled for the last 5 minutes. Crispy and Decadent! It's probably a matter of personal preference and either way it's really easy to make and great for this kind of weather. Try both!
I braised my ground lamb, carrot & leek in Harviestoun Ole Engine Oil, and topped it with mashed potatoes mixed with Cahill's Stout Cheddar. (Was for Robbie Burns Night in January.) Then I drank the rest of the Harviestoun, and a Fraoch Heather Ale with it.
