She led “Easter Parade,” “Meet Me in St. Louis,” traveled over the rainbow, and made it back “In the Good Old Summertime.” We could, of course, only be talking about Judy Garland, who has “Born A Star” — and also born with a taste for the good things in life. She was an avid patron of The Frolic Room bar on Hollywood Boulevard and a foodie fan of crunchy salads, which she preferred to mix using her hands. It’s perhaps no surprise that the comfort food she loved best — shepherd’s pie supreme — was also packed with pomp. Made her way, the dish contained half of a lamb leg and two chicken breasts. Despite the chicken addition, this upgraded shepherd’s pie still certainly counts as a shepherd’s pie (not to be confused with cottage pie, which uses ground beef instead of lamb).
In 1967, a sit-down interview was published in The Evening Sun newspaper with Judy and her children, Lorna and Joey Luft (then ages 14 and 12), in the catacombs beneath the Palace Theater in Manhattan. As Garland tells the outlet, “I’m busy looking for a new apartment in New York these days, one with a good kitchen.” Offstage, home cooking occupied a sizable chunk of her free time. “I’m a very good cook. I probably cook better than I sing,” Garland continued. “When both my daughters [Lorna and Liza Minnelli] and I get into the kitchen, it’s like one of those Pillsbury bake-off things.”
Garland was famous for many things, including her shepherd’s pie supreme
The newspaper article includes Garland’s recipe for her shepherd’s pie supreme, which comprises a 3-pound, bone-in half leg of lamb, two chicken breasts, weighing 1.5 pounds, cream of mushroom soup, dill, stock, onion, and Worcestershire sauce, all covered by a caraway-dotted mashed potato topping. It’s a multipart masterpiece, and as Garland said of her shepherd’s pie, “It’s beautiful. It comes out looking like a birthday cake, all fluffy and delicious.”
Her main tip for making the recipe was, “Give yourself lots of time,” and indeed, the leg of lamb alone takes 2.5 hours to roast, the chicken simmers for another hour, and the whole thing bakes for another 20 to 25 minutes once the mashed potato topping is added. The meats were cooked, trimmed, and ground by hand (reminiscent of Garland’s favorite hand-mixed salad).
To complete the meal, said Garland, “Serve with a wonderful green salad and/or cooked green vegetables.” The printed recipe yields two casseroles, enough to feed a hungry houseful or enough to freeze one for later. “I can now cook for 36 people and I’m prouder of that than anything else I do.” Elsewhere, Garland was once famously quoted as advising, “Give the people what they want and then go have a hamburger” (via AZ Quotes). Although if we have a little extra time to spare, “Me and My Gal” are really craving shepherd’s pie.
