Pogue Mahone Cottage Pie

Some people hear the words turnip and rutabaga and turn up their noses at a scrumptious roasted root vegetable dish. 

To them, you can say "Pogue Mahone," and carry on making a roasted root vegetable cottage pie with your leftovers while listening to the London lads themselves. The recipe for the roasted root vegetables is the previous post on this blog. 

The Pogues, famous for their singer Shane MacGowan who is known for being as twisted as his teeth, are a great companion for this twist on a British classic. 

The band was originally called Pogue Mahone, but then the BBC started censoring the band's name. Seemed some Gaelic speakers knew the name was really an Anglicization of the Irish "póg mo thóin," meaning "kiss my arse." Those Pogues. 

Seeing how Christmas just passed, I thought this 1987 Pogues song featuring Kirsty MacColl, "Fairytale of New York," fitting. It's considered one of the best Christmas songs ever in the U.K.

MacGowan co-wrote the ditty about an Irish immigrant on Christmas Eve dreaming of Christmases past while sleeping off a whiskey-fueled stupor in a NYC holding cell for the especially celebratory. When a pissed old man starts singing a passage from the Irish ballad "The Rare Old Mountain Dew," our protagonist begins to dream about the song's female character. 

If you're missing some of the lyrics, click here for the karaoke-style version:

The rest of the song is a call and response between the couple, as they recall their youth wasted on alcohol and drugs between some good old fashioned bickering: "Happy Christmas your arse / I pray God it's our last." 

Result!

But hey, nearly all British people like shepherd's pie, even the Northern Irish, so I am pretty sure they could have agreed on some variation of this dish. Cottage pie goes back to the late 18th century, when potato became king in Ireland, appealing to the less-wealthy, which was nearly everyone at the time. 

The pie consists of taking whatever savory leftovers are in the fridge, dumping mashed potatoes on top and calling it pie. By the 19th century, it was interchangeably known as shepherd's pie. 

Shepherd's pie can be made with nearly any type of meat, but I chose soya crumbles and lentils for a vegetarian version. You can choose whatever you want. 

For this cottage pie, warm up the leftover root vegetables (this recipe is based on a 9-by-13-inch casserole pan of leftovers) in a saute pan, adding a little more olive oil to help them brown a bit. 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

In a large stock pot, boil water. 

Peel and cut about eight potatoes into large slices. Put them in the boiling water and cook until soft. Drain. Dump potatoes into a large kitchen mixer (or use a hand mixer or masher, whatever your preference). 

Add buttermilk, butter and minced garlic to taste. Once blended to preferred consistency, add course country dijon mustard and Colman's English Mustard to taste, along with some grated cheese. 

A vegan version can be made by using olive oil instead of butter and soy milk instead of buttermilk. 

In a separate large stock pot, boil a cup of lentils and cup of soya (if you don't have dried available, buy the frozen kind made by Boca or Morningstar) in a about eight cups of veggie broth. Once the lentils and soya are softened, add the roasted root vegetables. 

Pour lentil-vegetable-soya mixture into a large casserole dish or two (you can freeze one for later). Spread evenly. 

Spoon on the mashed potato mixture. 

Use a fork and drag it across line by line back and forth, making a criss-cross pattern. Sprinkle the top with the remainder of the shredded cheese. 

Stick in the oven. The cottage pie is done when the potatoes are browned a little on top and the sides show gravy bubbling around the corners. 

When serving, you may want to top it with a little vegetarian gravy, either make your own with veggie broth and and corn starch until you get the correct consistency. Be sure to dilute the corn starch in water first. Or buy some mushroom gravy at the store. And don't forget the Guinness. 

Cheers. May your neighbors respect you, trouble neglect you, the angels protect you, and heaven accept you. Happy New Year.