Skip to main content

Shepard's Pie

This week got away from me!  Between birthday celebrations, a wedding and family stuff, it's suddenly Friday and I have no blog posts to show for myself.  I will tell you that some of the highlight foods of the week were Red Beans and Rice and Carrot Apple Ginger Soup.  The lowlight was the night I was so tired I couldn't muster the energy to make anything more interesting than pasta.  In my 30+ week pregnancy fog, I thought to myself that I would jazz up the pasta with some goat cheese, sun dried tomatoes and olive oil.  I had the brilliant idea of softening the sun dried tomatoes in the microwave, so I put them in a bowl with a little olive oil, turned it on, and promptly wandered away and got distracted by Facebook.  I was jolted back to reality by the smell of burning sun dried tomatoes.  They went in the trash, I substituted fresh tomatoes, and opened all the windows to air out the kitchen.

Last Saturday we attended the wedding of our wonderful friends, Ricky and Christine.  It was a fantastic evening, they were both so relaxed and happy.  I was especially happy because they had something like 15 different appetizers, and I tried them all.  Part of the dinner buffet was individual Shepard's pies, a favorite of the groom.  By the time I got there, they had swapped in lobster mac and cheese, which was more than fine by me, but it got me thinking about Shepard's pie.

Shepard's Pie
Ingredients:
2 pounds potatoes, peeled and chopped
Butter and milk to taste for mashed potatoes
1 Tablespoon butter or canola oil
1 medium onion, diced
2-3 carrots (about 2 cups), peeled and chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups peas, defrosted
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 pound ground turkey or beef
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
salt and pepper
1 Tablespoon flour
1 cup beef stock
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Put chopped potatoes in a large pot and cover with cold water.  Bring to a boil and cook until tender, about 20 minutes.
Mash, mixing in milk, butter, salt and pepper to taste.
Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat butter or oil over medium heat.
Cook onion, carrots, and celery about 5 minutes, until onion is translucent.
Add in garlic, cook one minute more.
Remove vegetables to a bowl, and mix in thawed peas.  I ended up using way more peas because I had an awkward amount left.  Adjust vegetable quantities however you want. 
Brown ground meat in the pan, drain any excess fat.
Return vegetables to the pan, add in spices and flour, cook for one minute.
Pour in beef stock and Worcestershire sauce.  Cook until slightly reduced.
Put meat and vegetable mixture in a prepared baking dish.
Spread mashed potatoes over the top.  Attempt to make artful peaks for aesthetic purposes.
Bake at 375 for 35 minutes.



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Lemon Garlic Baked Salmon

Happy New Year! I hope you had a wonderful holiday season, and ate all the cookies.  I'm not big on New Year's resolutions, but all the treats I've been eating for the past month have been making me feel a little sluggish.  When I saw a one day "cleanse" I thought I'd give it a try.  Loosely, it called for drinking hot lemon water first thing in the morning, a Glowing Green Smoothie for breakfast, Ginger Lemon Cayenne Detox tea and vegetables for lunch and dinner. My day went like this: First thing after my run: Hot Lemon water - This is a nice way to warm up.  I do this all the time. Breakfast: Glowing Green Smoothie - I liked it a lot.  Very refreshing and hydrating.  Wished I hadn't baked donuts the night before as they were staring me down on the kitchen counter. Lunch: Spicy Mulligatawny Soup - I'm pretty sure that's not what they meant by "salad," but I went with it. Snack: Ginger Lemon Cayenne Detox tea - Zingy and invigorat...

Roasted Sweet Potato Salad

A few weeks ago we went into Boston for the day. After chasing little people up, down, and around the Children's Museum, watching Colin climb up three stories on a jungle gym and James' excitement at a room filled with golf balls, we went to Flour Bakery for lunch.  I had the Roasted Sweet Potato sandwich, and it was amazing. I just checked the menu , and it looks like they don't offer it right now, but lucky for you I made a salad that's just as good.  The original sandwich was roasted sweet potato, apple, walnut pesto, blue cheese and kale on wheat bread.  I took some liberties, changed up some ingredients, and made it into a salad. Roasted Sweet Potato Salad Romaine and Kale, shredded Olive oil Sweet potato rounds, roasted Apple, sliced Avocado Roasted tomatoes Goat cheese Balsamic Vinegar Drizzle kale and romaine with olive oil Sweet potatoes - coat slices or cubes with olive oil and roast at 425 degrees for 30 minutes. Tomatoes - toss with olive o...

My big sister and the egg sandwich that might cure her cancer

I usually like to keep things light hearted here At Home With Ann.  Simple recipes, awkward jokes, toddler antics and kitchen fiascos.  But we all experience times in life when we are thrown for a loop and face something that stops us in our tracks.  I, like a classic control freak, tend to keep things to myself.   Everything is under control, see? My house is clean, dinner is cooked, the dishes are done, I'm on schedule, I blow dried my hair, I don't need help.  See?  See?   But this time it's not about me, it's not something I can control, and wishing it away won't actually make it go away. Me, my Mom and Sarah last Summer Three years ago my sister, Sarah, was diagnosed with a form of leukemia called AML (acute myeloid leukemia).  My reaction was typical.  This happens to other people.  Not my 33 year old sister who lives by the ocean, gets tons of fresh air and exercise, and eats healthier than anyone who has ever entered Whole...