In honor of the 'royal' wedding.

Okay, so I have enjoyed watching the royal wedding highlights, especially the clothes.  No, I didn't like seeing all the coverage coming up to the event, but I loved watching what everyone was wearing, especially Kate's two dresses and Pippas Dress!  They are young and modern and took the dowdy royals to a new era, thankfully. 
In honor of this fun occasion (all weddings are fun and exciting when you  believe it is done in a union of love), Dad cooked 'fish and chips' for dinner.  Although we were a bit lazy and our chips were 'baked' potato chips from a bag.  Plus I could fit it in weight watchers, (yes one piece of fried fish is workable).  In all this hoopla, I saw a chef on Oprah that had worked in Buckingham and Kensington Palaces and now has a cookbook out.  As only Oprah can do, she had 4 or 5 of his recipes on her web sight.  So today I decided to cook "Cottage Pie" or as I remember in Ireland it was called "Shephards Pie" I believe Shephards Pie is really made with lamb, but I don't like lamb, so I'm guessing that is the difference between the two.  Some places we ate had great pies, with ground beef or small chunks of I am guessing stew beef in a great gravy, others had some awful dishes, basically cooked up ground beef with mashed potatoes on top, no gravy and no flavoring.  I could always taste Worcestershire in the sauce, but couldn't figure out the rest of the ingredients (in the places that used a sauce), and this chef had all his ingredients and it was FABULOUS!!! 

So here is his version of Cottage Pie with a picture from the top of my 'piped' potatoes (before it was cooked)...I had too many and had to keep piping to fill it all up, and my picture doesn't have the lucious cheese on top.
Here are my changes to make it 'lower fat.'
1. Cook the ground beef, then drain it, save the broth and put it in the fridge, when it cools skim off the fat and then add the defatted broth back to the beef.
2. Use olive oil.
3. For the potatoes, use low fat margarine and olive oil for the butter and skim or low fat milk for cream.
4. Use low fat cheddar cheese in place of regular cheddar cheese.
We didn't notice any 'losses' in the pie, it was excellent.  I also found four servings way to large, we would put it more as six servings.

Cottage Pie
Recipe created by Darren McGrady
Oprah.com
April 28, 2011
Recipe created by Darren McGradyAccording to former royal chef Darren McGrady, this cottage pie is Prince William's all-time favorite entrée.
Servings: Serves 4

Ingredients

2 Tbsp. corn oil

2 small (6 ounces each) yellow onions , finely chopped

1 1/2 pounds ground beef

1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 to 2 tsp. dried thyme , according to your taste

2 cups water

1 Tbsp. Kitchen Bouquet browning and seasoning sauce

2 beef bouillon cubes

1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

2 pounds peeled red potatoes

2 ounces (1/2 stick) butter

2 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. ground white pepper

1/8 tsp. grated nutmeg

1 egg yolk

1/4 cup heavy cream

1 cup grated Cheddar cheese

Directions
To make beef base: In a large saucepan over a high flame, heat the oil and add the finely chopped onion. Sauté until the onion becomes soft and translucent. Add the ground beef and break it up using a wooden spoon. Sauté until the beef has lost all its pink color. Gradually stir in the flour, thyme, 2 cups water, Kitchen Bouquet seasoning, beef bouillon cubes and Worcestershire sauce.
Reduce the heat to low and simmer the meat (so that it is just bubbling) for about 30 to 45 minutes until the sauce has thickened and the meat is fork tender. Remove the pan from the stove, and use a slotted spoon to transfer the beef to the earthenware dish. The slotted spoon will lift just the beef so it will not be too wet to hold the potatoes.
If there is any sauce left after taking out the meat, cool and refrigerate it. Then reheat it in a small saucepan to serve alongside the finished pie. This recipe can be prepared up to this stage several days before you plan to serve the dish. Cool both the meat and the liquid and store in the refrigerator.
To make potato topping: Place the potatoes in a large pot and add cold water to about 1 inch above the potatoes. Cover the pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are tender when pricked with a fork (about 20 minutes). Drain off the water and replace the drained potatoes in the pan over a low heat for 1 to 2 minutes to dry them thoroughly. Mash the potatoes with a potato masher or pass through a ricer.
Stir the nutmeg, cream and egg yolk with the butter, salt and pepper into the mashed potatoes. Then use the mashed potatoes to cover the top of the dish. Either pipe them, using a wide star tube, or spoon them on and then fluff up using a fork.
Sprinkle the top of the potatoes with the grated Cheddar. It can be kept for 24 hours at this stage if covered with plastic wrap.
Bake in a preheated oven (350°) for about 20 to 30 minutes until the potatoes are golden brown and the pie has heated through.