About 5 years ago, I went to Washington D.C. as a representative of Oregon Writing Project to lobby (I guess) for financial support. There were two other people (that I had never met until going) from Oregon from different universities and so when I went I was all by myself. I got in pretty late and it was dark and not knowing the area at all I wasn't about to venture out for dinner. I was staying at a Irish themed hotel and so I ordered room service. I ordered Shepherd's Pie and it was honestly one of the best things I have ever eaten. I had tried to make it before at home with ground beef, mashed potatoes and I think corn and once I ate the Shepherd's Pie from the hotel I never made it like that again.
There are a lot of different recipes for Shepherd's Pie out there, most of them containing ground beef. Joe isn't a huge ground beef fan unless it is burgers, meatloaf, meatballs or tacos and the one I eaten had the most tender beef chunks ever so I wanted something that replicated that. If you don't know what it is, there is essentially two layers: the bottom layer that meat and vegetables with some kind of gravy and the top layer is mashed potatoes. After looking at a few different recipes, here's what I came up with...
Ingredients
Bottom Layer:
olive oil
1 1/2 cup of carrots, coined
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves of minced garlic
1 lb stew meat
1 tablespoon of flour
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
28 oz can of diced tomatoes
1 cup of Coke
1/2 cup of peas
Top Layer:
4 cups leftover mashed potatoes
1/3 cup sour cream
1/4 cup cheddar cheese
1 cup of milk
Directions:
Bottom Layer
1. Saute the carrots, onions and garlic in a little olive oil until the carrots are softened but before the garlic burns. (Still getting used to my gas stove....have no idea how long that took.) Remove from pan and set aside.
2. Add a little more olive oil to the pan and then add the stew meat browning it on all sides.
3. Once the meat is browned, add the flour and spices. Cook for 2-3 minutes to get rid of the flour taste.
4. Add back in the carrots, onions, and garlic as well as the diced tomatoes. Cook for a few minutes.
5. Add 1 cup of Coke (or whatever cola you have) and turn down to a simmer for 30 minutes.
6. Add peas after 30 minutes and then take off the heat.
During the 30 minutes the bottom layer is simmering...prepare the top layer.
1. Combine and reheat the mashed potatoes, cheese, sour cream and milk. (You could probably do without the cheese and sour cream but the cheese was low-fat and the sour cream was fat free and it makes it oh-so-good!)
Once the two layers are ready....
*This recipe as it is would fit into a 9 x 13 pan but there are only 2 of us that really eat. Taelin is hit and miss when it comes to eating what we eat and plus I have already discussed my feelings about leftovers and a 9 x 13 pan would make a lot of leftovers. Last year I purchased two smaller casserole dishes that if put together are the same size as a 9 x 13 pan that work really well when I am making a recipe that will freeze well. One gets eaten right away and the other ends up in the freezer for some other night. Same amount of work...a much easier night down the road!
Anyway...once the two layers are done put the bottom layer into the casserole dish/es and spread evenly. Then spoon the potatoes on top. You have to be careful when you do this because what you want is an even layer of mashed potatoes on the top. In order to do this, I put smaller spoonfuls all over the bottom layer and just spread them out that way.
Once the mashed potatoes are evenly spread, bake the whole dish in the oven to bake for about 20-30 minutes. Everything is pretty much cooked but you do want to leave it in long enough so that the potatoes brown a little bit, kind of like forming a crust.
The Verdict:
Overall, it was pretty good. It took a long time to make and I was lucky that Joe was home and that it was a Sunday when I made this. I could make this again as is and would be happy....however, next time I might do two things a little differently.
First, I would probably just used shredded beef from either leftover pot roast or the shredded beef I keep in the freezer. There just wasn't enough beef per bite and it took a really long time to prepare as it stands. Using what I already have saves me time and in the case of using leftover pot roast...it uses leftovers! (I could even see me purposefully planned pot roast and something else with mashed potatoes in the same week so that I could later make Shepherd's Pie.)
Second, the coke made it a little sweeter than I wanted it to be. I could see either cutting the coke in half and using beef broth to make up the other half OR using a Guinness if I had it.
I wasn't near as a good as the one I had in Washington D.C. but maybe that is alright!
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