Shepard's Pie

The hubby has been out "in the field" as they say for the past week.  So my push to try new recipes really was not high.  But he was home over the weekend, so I though we should try something new.  I tried my hand at something I have always thought about attempting but always thought it was too difficult - Shepard's Pie.  This comes from a cookbook that has recipes compiled from the employees at the Cancer Institute of New Jersey.  A lot of the recipes seem really tempting to make but this one really caught my eye.  So here it goes:

Shepard's Pie

from Colleen Hudak

via A Dash of TLC: Recipes from the Cancer Institute of New Jersey

Ingredients:

1 - 2 lbs ground beef
Prepared mashed potatoes (flavored with garlic, butter, and cream)
1 large onion, minced
1 cup carrots, diced
1 cup mushrooms sliced
1 cup red wine
1 - 2 cups beef broth
Parsley and thyme
Salt and pepper
Dash of flour

Steps:

1.  Brown the ground beef in a saute pan.  Remove from pan and set aside.
2.  Brown the onion in the pan drippings.
3.  Add the carrots and mushrooms.  Saute for a few minutes.
4.  Return meat to the pan.  Add the wine and beef broth and simmer for 20 minutes.
5.  Add seasonings to taste and flour to thicken, if needed.
6.  Spray a large casserole dish with Pam and place mixture in the dish.
7.  Cover with spoonfuls of mashed potatoes.
8.  Top with minced scallions and shredded cheddar cheese.  Bake for 20 minutes in a 400 degree oven until top is nicely browned.

The Finished Product:

This turned out really well. I used one pound of ground sirloin, used about 6 russet potatoes to make my usual mashed potatoes, one small onion, threw in an entire 8 oz package of sliced mushrooms (i diced these up a little bit more so that the sizes where relatively the same), and 2 cups of beef broth. I had to make a slurry of about 2 tbsp of flour and left over beef broth to add to the meat mixture in step 5.  This made enough to fill my casserole dish and then two little ramekins.  I would guess that I could have probably filled about 8 of these ramekins if I went the individual route.  Our only little complaint is that it could have used a little bit more of a kick.  I purposely went light on the spices just to see how it would turn out.  It had a very beefy, earthy taste - but not overwhelming.

Next time, because yes there will be a next time, I would do 1 cup of beef broth.  I would add a package of frozen peas at step 3.  Then besides the thyme and parsley, I would add a bit of Worcestershire sauce (start at a tsp and work up) and possibly a sprinkle of paprika.  I also forgot to add salt and pepper - so definitely a must next time around.  You definitely need to try this one!