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Show Shepherd's Pie Best Meal in Single Dish A shepherd's pie is a one-piece dish. It originated in the Balkans. The Balkan shepherds probably learned of the dish from a still older old-er land because it is known that shepherds have lived among their flocks since the dim ages. They ate their meals far from their homes or villages, cooking them on the spot. There was only a crude fire and generally but one dish in which to cook the entire meal. Although it is primitive and simple, sim-ple, a shepherd's pie is a wholesome whole-some and delicious meal In one dish. In his kettle, the shepherd boils his rice and saves what he does not eat immediately. For a later meal, he first takes bits of lamb and with slices of onion, places this upon a skewer and browns the meat and onion over a bed of coals. Then he greases the inside of his dish and covers the bottom with a half-inch layer of left-over rice. Over the rice he slices a tomato. If he has a green pepper, thin slices of pepper are added. Some of the meat and onion are added for another an-other layer. Then salt and pepper, more rice and the rest of the meat and tomatoes and peppers. And finally a top layer of rice. Last of all, he pours over the mixture mix-ture enough broth, or hot water if there is no broth, to about reach the top of the pie. Bake for three-quarters three-quarters of an hour in a medium oven. When the top is browned, the pie is ready to eat. The modern housewife can follow the same recipe, only she can cook the meat and the onion in a frying pan and use canned tomatoes if she prefers. The pie will bake even, better bet-ter in a good oven at about 450 degrees. de-grees. The family casserole is a handy dish in which to make the pie. With a pound of left-over lamb as the base, her is a good meal for four. |