Shepherd's Pie

The Date: 18 October 2011

Tasty!

The Occasion: Pete loves this kind of thing, and I had not yet made him a shepherd's pie in over a year of marriage. So I gave it a whirl.

The Recipe: A combination of a Real Simple recipe and a Recipes.com recipe, with some of my own modifications.

How it Went:
Success! I would add a bit more flavor next time, and would like to try adding the gravy (included in recipe below), but I was pleased overall. "Easy" recipes often use shortcuts that I prefer not to use. In this recipe, I replaced frozen veggies with fresh and made my own mashed potatoes instead of used packaged.

Your Turn:
Wash, peel, and cube 4 medium sized red skinned potatoes. Put them in a pot, cover with water, add a dash of salt, and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat and cook about 13 minutes.

While this is boiling, cook 1 lb ground beef or turkey in a 10-inch skillet. Sprinkle with a few dashes of black pepper and a shake of dried thyme leaves. When cooked though, skim off grease.

In a smaller skillet, cook 2 T butter and 2 T flour until bubbly. Whisk in 1/2 C beef broth and 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce. (This is not how I made mine, but I think this sounds better. I added 1/3 C ketchup and 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce, but Pete thought it just tasted like sloppy joe. I think this gravy would be great.) Mix gravy with meat. Move meat mixture from skillet into casserole dish.

Now, in the same skillet, saute

• a handful of baby carrots, chopped
  
• three stalks celery, chopped
  
• half an onion chopped
• about half a pound of green beans with ends snapped off and snapped in half.

Add a dash of salt and a few shakes of black pepper and thyme. Saute about 15 minutes. (Tip: If you chop veggies and add them to the skillet as you go - which is what I do - you want to start with the carrots. They take the longest to soften. Do the onion and green beans last since they become tender more quickly.)

Now, back to the potatoes. When tender, drain, then return to pot. Add

• 1/4 C milk
• 1 T sour cream
• 1 T shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 T butter
• dash of salt

Mash well.

Your veggies should be done now. Transfer them into the casserole with the meat and stir to blend.

Meat and vegetables.

Transfer the potatoes into large ziploc bag, zip shut, cut off one corner, and pipe over the top of the meat and vegetables.

Ready to go in the oven.

Cook at 400 for about 25 minutes or until potatoes start to brown on top.