Foodie Friday’s: Pie’s Shepherd’s Pie

 Pie’s Shepherd’s Pie

It is cold and I am pulling out all the stops when it comes to comfort food! Since it is March, why not embrace a bit of the ‘ol luck of the Irish roots I have along with making an easy one-pot meal with a few quick elements added to have a home-cooked value in an hour!    

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. In a large oven safe cook pot (dutch oven), brown ground beef with 1/2 diced onion and 2 cloves of diced garlic.  Add 1/2 tbsp of Kosher salt and 1/4 tbsp of black pepper.  Drain only 1/2 of the excess fat. This will help establish a nice rich gravy. 

.  Heat should be at a simmer: Add 16 oz of beef broth/stock, 1 can of cream of mushroom soup,  2 teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce 2 tbsp of butter and about half of the 1/4 cup of flour.  Stir constantly for about 1- 2  minute until flour is dissolved and  NOT forming dumplings.  It should thicken. 

Add 1-1/2 cups of the following frozen vegetables – corn, carrots, peas, green beans.  Keep at a simmer level so you will need to increase heat.   Once veggies are defrosted and warmed through (about 5 minutes) add additional flour.  Stir for about another 1-2 minutes.  The consistency should be thick enough it can support a standing spoon for at few seconds.   Turn down heat and cover.

Peel, dice and cook 8-10 potatoes. I normally just put them in a large glass brown and microwave them for about 15-20 minutes. Or you can boil the potatoes the traditional way.   Drain water from cooked potatoes, add 2 table spoons of butter, 1/2 tbsp of Kosher salt, 1/4 tbsp of pepper and 2 tsp of milk.  Mash to a semi-lumpy consistency. 

Fold in 1/2 cup of shredded cheese. 

Add 1 cup of shredded cheese to the thickened base

Spread potatoe mixture over the top of the melting cheese and place in the oven. Bake for 30-40 minutes at 400 degrees or until the potatoes start to brown and the cheese is melted and the gravy is bubbly. 

 

Ingredients:

1-1/2 lbs of ground beef

1/2 white onion

2 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon of Kosher salt

1/2 tablespoon of black pepper

16 oz of beef stock (can substitute chicken or vegetable stock)

2 teaspoons of Worcestershire Sauce (a little goes a long way, be careful not to over season with this)

1 can of cream of mushroom soup

4 tablespoons of butter

1/4 cup of flour (you may need more or less depending on how you get to your correct consistency)

1 cup of frozen corn

1 cup of frozen peas

1 cup of frozen green beans (I did find a  green been combination of green and yellow “green” beans)

1 cup of frozen carrots (I did find a frozen carrot combination of yellow and orange carrots)

8-10 medium potatoes, peeled, diced and boiled

1 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese

2 tablespoons milk

*Yields about  6-8  large and hearty servings

Time: 1 hour total time:  30 minutes of hands on time. 30 minutes of oven time.