FFwDorie - hachis parmentier

This is a dish my mom would like.  Similar to the shepherd’s pies she tried to get me to eat as a kid.  She never succeeded.  I would not even try them.  Why?  My utter dislike of potatoes.  As a kid I only ever ate the French fried variety, or raw with salt!  I spent many a night sitting at the table staring at the little mash of potatoes on my plate, refusing to eat them.  They are even worse cold!  I’ve grown to like them a little more.  Serve them mashed with lots of gravy or cheese sauce and they aren’t so bad.  So you can understand I was a little hesitant with this dish.  I was not overly familiar with the cheeses suggested so I googled each one and my hesitation grew even more when I saw the descriptions of nutty and smoky.  I bought a cheese a few years ago like this and I really did not enjoy it.  I decided on a French emmental hoping it would be mild.  In the end it turned out well!  The potato topping, with it’s crispy crust and just a hint of cheese, was the best part.  I was a little disappointed in the meat filling.  I expected more of a meaty flavour.  That may be attributed to the cut of beef I used.  I still have not figured out if the stewing beef I used is the same thing as chuck.  Anyone? 

Oh..the three year old would only try the potatoes, which he loved.  The fifteen year old wanted nothing to do with it and L gave a shrug and an “it’s ok” but I did notice he ate two portions and just finished off the left overs.