Culinary Adventures: Ultimate Shepherd's Pie

When I visited Orkney in late 2012, I was introduced to an Orcadian dish called clapshot, which is a mix of mashed potatoes and mashed Swede turnips ("rutabagas" in the American vernacular). One of the more involved dishes I've ever made is shepherd's pie. I decided to make a unique dish combining the two. In early 2010, I concocted a dish I referred to as Shepherd's Pie 2.0, which derived from Rachael Ray's recipe. But, it's not that simple.

I first mentioned clapshot in December of 2012. Last July, I recounted Radio Orkney's Great Clapshot Debate of 2015. I'd found this recipe, and then an Orcadian friend sent me this recipe as well. I knew I was going to have to do a bit of improvisation, and my buddy Gray 1 had told me two things of interest: that 1) it's not clapshot unless the neeps and tatties have been through a freeze to chemically alter the sugars, and 2) some people say it's okay to accomplish that freeze through the use of a freezer. I decided to consult with the Orcadian Equestrian, the source of that second recipe link, for some advice:

Tom: Question for you, ma'am: I've got two neeps and three tatties in the freezer in preparation for clapshot. How long do they need to stay in there before they're ready for cooking?
The Orcadian Equestrian: Your tatties don't need to be in the freezer (although it won't hurt them). My mum - the font of all neep knowledge - would say a week would do, and she boils her neep from frozen and then adds the tatties 15 mins later.

So, in early January, I blocked off a Monday evening and began to experiment. At this point, I'll refrain from sharing my recipe since the first batch I made was highly experimental. I'll also note that it got better with age: in subsequent days, the last pieces were the best, and a good ninety seconds in the microwave appear to have helped in that process. This ended up being my first new recipe of 2016, and I'll count it as an incremental success!