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Sprinkle the flour over the meat mixture and stir it in. Slowly pour in the chicken stock while stirring. Add the tomato paste, chopped carrots, salt, and pepper; raise the heat and bring to a simmer. Cook until the filling is thick and bubbling and the carrots have softened, about 15 minutes.

Cover the potatoes with water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the potatoes break apart when pierced with a fork, about 25 minutes. Drain the potatoes and return them to the pot. Add the butter, half-and-half or milk, and salt, and mash everything together with a potato masher.

Pour the meat mixture into a deep 9-inch baking dish. Spoon the mashed potatoes on top. You can make peaks and swirls with the back of a spoon or a crosshatch pattern with a fork. For a festive look, you can pipe out the mashed potatoes through a pastry bag fitted with a ¾-inch star tip. Bake the pie until it is bubbling around the edges and the potato crust turns a deeper yellow, about 45 minutes.

Serves 8

Technically, shepherd's pie is made from lamb, and cottage pie from beef, but often the term “shepherd's pie” is used for both. Whatever you call it, you can't fail to please with this ultimate comfort food.

Bangers and Mash

On the evening that Dumbldore's Army (the D.A.) is to meet for the first time, Harry eats bangers and mash for dinner, referred to as sausages and mash in the American version of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Chapter 18).

During wartime rationing, sausages were so waterlogged that they made exploding noises while they fried, earning the British nickname “bangers.” This dish is delicious smothered in onion gravy. You can use good-quality sausages instead of homemade sausage patties.

Bangers

½ pound ground veal

½ pound ground pork or beef

1 cup fresh bread crumbs

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground sage

1/8 teaspoon dried marjoram

1/8 teaspoon ground thyme

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 egg yolks

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

Mashed Potatoes

6 potatoes, peeled and quartered

2 teaspoons salt

4 tablespoons (½ stick) butter

1 cup whole milk or half-and-half

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Onion Gravy

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 cups chicken broth

Salt to taste (this will need to be adjusted according to the saltiness of the broth)

For the bangers, combine all the ingredients except for the 2 tablespoons butter or margarine in a large mixing bowl and mix well. Heat the butter or margarine in a skillet. Form the meat into sausage shapes and fry on each side over medium-high heat, turning often, until the sausages are well browned. Transfer the sausages to a paper-towel-lined plate. Repeat until all the mixture is used up.

For the mashed potatoes, place the potatoes in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer about 25 minutes or until the potatoes break apart when pierced with a fork.

Drain the potatoes. Add the salt, butter, milk or half-and-half, and black pepper. Mash with a potato masher until the potatoes are light and fluffy.

For the onion gravy, heat the oil in a medium saucepan. Add the onions and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions are golden, about 30 minutes. Add the flour and stir until smooth. Add the chicken broth. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thick and bubbling. Taste the gravy and add salt, if necessary.

To serve, place 2 or 3 sausages on a plate. Mound 4. the mashed potatoes on the side, and spoon generous amounts of onion gravy over the whole lot.

Serves 6

Chiddingly Hotpot

Hermione and Ron are in a fight… so what else is new? Ron made fun of Hermione in a lesson with Professor McGonagall, and now she's sitting alone at the Gryffindor table, not really eating her stew. She's mad, and it doesn't help that