Dinner - Gets It's Own Post

Man, I love this time of year when things start cooling down and the air begins to get crisp. Not that anything that drastic has happened yet but it's coming and it always makes me start craving wintertime food. Tonight was no different. I wanted something warm and comforting and for me that was Shepherd's Pie. There are many versions of this and most of the ones I see have tomatoes or ketchup and cheese in them. Please, keep that away from my Shepherd's Pie, thank you very much. I have no idea what traditional Shepherd's Pie is like in the UK but since my mom and dad used to live there and my Grammy is British, I'm going to go with the one we've always eaten. Normally it would have leftover roast beef or lamb but I'm on a budget so I got all natural ground beef which will do in a pinch. Wait, let me try and write down the recipe for you. I'm an eyeball cook so don't hold me to these measurements, ok? Taste as you go along to make sure it's all going ok.

3/4 to 1lb of ground beef or leftover roast beef or lamb.
1/2 sweet onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
3/4 cup of tiny peas
1/4 cup of carrots
3 Tbs flour
dried thyme leaves
beef broth
salt, pepper
4 good size red potatoes
butter
half and half or milk

First, dice and prepare the potatoes just as would if making mashed potatoes as described earlier on this blog. Boil them for 10 mins and then drain them, place them back in the pot with a lid on (not over heat) and steam them for 15-20 mins.

While the potatoes are cooking, chop your onion and garlic. Heat 1 Tbs olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat and when it feels hot enough, add the onions and saute until translucent, stirring occasionally. When the onions are translucent add the minced garlic, do NOT let it get brown or it will get bitter. Only cook this for a couple of minutes then add the ground beef. Cook until beef is done and then add the flour. I do not drain the meat because the flour needs something to adhere to. Cook for a couple of minutes to get the flour taste away then add 1/2 to a cup of beef broth. This is going to make some delicious gravy. Your significant other will smack you on the ass, that's how good it is. I promise. Add your seasonings: salt, pepper, thyme. Taste, taste, taste! Then add your peas and carrots. I cooked these in the microwave first for 3 mins just to take the chill off. At this point the mixture should look like this:



Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and put some foil on a baking sheet. You will see why in a minute. Pour the mixture into a casserole dish. I have no idea what size this is or else I would tell you 2 or 3 quarts I guess but don't hold me to it.



Then spread the mashed potatoes over the top. For the mashed potatoes this time I didn't use sour cream. Just 3 Tbs of butter and 1/2 cup of half and half plus some salt. Then I took 1 Tbs of butter and cut it into small pieces to put on top to save the potatoes from drying out in the oven.



Put the dish on the foil covered baking sheet and then put into your oven for about 20 minutes. When you pull it out, it should look like this:



Here, another view:



See why you need the foil? The gravy oozes out all over the place. Soooo good!

Then, I served myself about a cup of this food of the gods.



It is simple. It is delicious. It needs nothing else to accompany it because it has everything you need in one scoop. If you try it, please let me know how it turns out. This is one of my husband's favorite meals!