Bagpipes From The Past....

Who doesn't love a parade?  The excitement...the music...the pagentry...and of course, the kilted pipers.  The wail of the pipes always reminds me of my dad...not because he was Irish...because, as you know if you follow this blog, he most assuredly was not!...but because all the early years of my childhood I would watch the St. Patrick's Day Parade from his office window which overlooked Fifth Avenue and the parade route...and was just across the Street from St. Patrick's Cathedral, which is ground zero for the New York revelers.

My dad would leave for work and say, "See you later, Pussycat"... A bit later, dressed in something appropriately green,  off my mother and I would go to meet him.  Once in his office a chair would be placed by the window and several boxes placed on the seat so I could see over the huge sill. 

My dad's corner window

With my daddy's arm around me to keep me from leaping forward, I had my bird's eye view of the festivities below.  I saw crowds of people gathered along the sidewalks and then I heard ...the bagpipes!  I can still smell my dad's cologne (Herme's Equipage) and feel the excitment tighten my stomach as I remember back to those long ago days.

                                                                         

By this time a crowd of people was gathering in the office and there was an air of fun and celebration.  We watched from the window as the bands marched down the street, followed by people marching with schools and societies, more bands, and of course, the many fife and drum corps and... the bagpipes!... And all the while, my daddy's arm held me tight.  Occasionally someone would come in to ask a question relevant to business, which he answered or attended to...but that arm never moved from around me, lest I tumble from the boxes and land on the street below, impaled on a bagpipe!

When the parade was over my parents and I would go for lunch.  All the restaurants had Irish food.  I never realized, until I was much older, that everyone wasn't the same...that this celebration was an ethnic one...because I am a "Nooo Yawkah" I rarely differentiated...everyone had some sort of a parade and we enjoyed them all...and on that day we were whatever the parade was celebrating!  So on that day...we were indeed, Irish.

Somewhere along the way I got this recipe for Shepherd's Pie...I do not remember from whom or from where it came, but I do remember how delicious it was...so I believe that today I will be cooking it... with a glass of Guiness to wash it down...

                                                                     
Shepherd's Pie

olive oil
salt and pepper
2 shallots chopped fine
1 1/2 lbs. leanest ground beef
1 package frozen peas and carrots thawed (not cooked)
4 sprigs thyme minced
1 sprig rosemary minced
2 tbsp. flour
1 tbsp. butter
1 1/2 cups red wine
2 tbsp. tomato paste
1 cup beef stock or broth
about 6 cups mashed potatoes
1 egg beaten
3/4 - 1 cup grated parmigiana cheese
Directions:
1- Saute shallots in 2 tbsp olive oil until transparent...then add chopped meat ...add salt and pepper to taste and cook until meat is all browned.  Discard any extra fat
2- Add in carrots and peas and stir into meat
3- Add flour and mix in well
4-add 1 tbsp butter, wine, 2 tbsp of tomato paste and thyme and rosemary
5- add in beef stock and cook down to a thick gravy
6- While this is cooking down make mashed potatoes the way you usually make them(it is about a pound of potatoes...I use yukon gold)
7-In a large baking dish spread the meat mixture and then cover with mashed potatoes...brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with parmigiana cheese...bake at 350 until heated through and brown on top!