I used 2T butter, 2T flour, 1c beef broth.

My mother was British. She called it shepherd’s pie. That’s enough for me.

My mom almost always used leftover roast beef (and leftover gravy!) in this. Otherwise, she’d do Cornish pasties with the leftover roast. I do suspect that your great-grandma also lived through the Depression, which is where my mother drew most of her frugalness about food. Times were very bad in UK back then and my mom came from a large family so….

Although the classic version of Shepherd’s Pie is done without crust, my great-grandma, who was Scottish, always made it with a pastry crust inderneath. I suspect that it was because she was used to making forfar bridies, and she thought that the undercrust made it easier to remove from the pan? In any case, she also used leftover roas beef that she ground up in her old tabletop grinder. She also minced up some leeks and fried them in butter before mixing them with the mashed potatoes. Depending on the season, she either added green peas fresh from the garden, or diced up parsnips.

This recipe sure brings back memories! Thanks for sharing.

Bisto is pretty much like our brown gravy mix–at least the original Bisto. But if it’s the instant gravy granules (like Oxo used to do) that’s fine too.

Wow that sounds good!

I like to use Bisto granules and a little hot water to add a little sauce. Just a LITTLE water(1/2 cup?)

You can sure double this! It doesn’t have to be precise like a cake. And sure, the onion soup would work just fine because the gravy mix is a seasoning here–it doesn’t make a gravy per se.