Food Memories--Time Traveling

I have my food memory antenna set to high. It's rather easy to transport myself to another country and another time. The smell of canned orange juice still takes me back to 1965 and the ship that took us from Piraeus, Greece, through the Suez Canal, then to the west coast of Australia. I'd never had anything canned before our ocean journey, and I didn't like the taste, so that smell takes me back to the beginning phase of our epic immigrant journey.

Today's Recipe

As Greek immigrants in Australia, my sister, Antonia, and I adjusted. We learned English easily and quickly. We made friends, and we adopted the comfort food (meat pies and sausage rolls) as our own. During the time we lived in Canberra, we would take a bus from school to a central hub, and wait to ride the bus that would take us home. Often, we would buy a meat pie as a treat. To eat it, you'd cut a slit in the top crust and pour in tomato sauce (what we call ketchup in the United States). Once it had cooled a bit, you'd hold it up and take a generous bite, making sure that the gravy didn't drip onto your school uniform. Here's the recipe that inspired this food memory.

Recently, while preparing dinner for a friend who's in a wheelchair following leg surgery, I came up with a simplified recipe for Shepherd's Pie, the old British comfort food classic. My friend has Celiac Disease and must avoid any trace of gluten, so I was limited with the seasonings that I could use. One of the seasonings available to me was Heinz Chili Sauce. It's not commonly used for this recipe, but I used it to add oomph to the dish. Over the many years away from Australia, I'd tried to recreate that beloved and comforting meat pie at home with unsatisfactory results. But, when I tasted the meat filling of the Shepherd's Pie, all of my Aussie meat pie memories washed over me. This was my missing ingredient! I will be developing that recipe soon, but in this installment, I'm sharing my Easy Shepherd's Pie recipe. It comes together quickly, even with the made-from-scratch mashed potatoes, and it's comforting and delicious. Here's the recipe.

Topped with mashed potatoes & tiny bits of butter