Judy Garland Was A Master At Cooking This Iconic, Old-School Comfort Food

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On screen, Judy Garland hypnotized viewers by clicking her ruby-red heels in "The Wizard of Oz" and playing the tear-jerking role that Lady Gaga would later reprise in a remake of "A Star is Born." At home, however, Garland was a deft home chef, stating that she was prouder of her ability to cook for a crowd than of anything else she'd accomplished. One of Garland's signature dishes was her "shepherd's pie supreme."

This is not to be confused with cottage pie, as shepherd's pie has a difference: It's made with lamb, as opposed to beef. Nor is Garland's pie an easy-peasy three-ingredient dinner that you can whip up an hour before serving. This meal is a culinary marathon that requires roasting a whole leg of lamb and poaching two chicken breasts, then picking the meat off the bones and grinding it by hand. Like celeb chef Alton Brown, whose homemade burgers require the use of a countertop meat grinder, Garland's shepherd's pie takes advantage of the benefits of meat you grind yourself: Access to higher-quality product, and control over the process. Paradoxically, she utilized instant potato flakes for the topping of her pie, but she doctored them up to taste like homemade with the addition of chicken stock, sour cream, milk, chives, and butter. Garland admitted that making her signature shepherd's pie required a ton of time and dirtied countless dishes, but raved about the way it came out: "[L]ike a birthday cake — fluffy and delicious" (via The Evening Sun).

The great thing about shepherd's pie and cottage pie is that these two meals can take as much or as little time as you have, and will taste as delicious with high-end ingredients as bargain ones. If you have the time and money, a top-shelf pie like Judy Garland's is worthy of even the toniest dinner party — grind your own meat, make your mashed potatoes from scratch, and lavish attention on a homemade gravy. It might take you all day to bake, but the results will be undeniably premium. 

On the opposite end of the spectrum, a humble pie made with a package of mince from the supermarket and a bag of instant potatoes melded together with some condensed cream-of-something soup (bag of frozen veggies optional, but highly suggested!) will warm your belly in a hurry. To gild the lilly, shred some local cheddar... or simply buy a bag of the processed cheese from the dairy case. Be like Garland, and use a mixture of "high" and "low" ingredients to put your own spin on this classic dinner. No matter how you make your pie, your loved ones will thank you!

Sometimes, the defining line between a masterful home cook and one who's simply proficient is knowing how to work with what you have. Garland was clearly in the former camp, as she knew when to expend a lot of energy and cash on ingredients (her home-ground meat) and when to make do, as with the potatoes.