Week Three Recipe: Shepherd's Pie

It has been bbbrrrr chilly cold here lately, so this week’s recipe is all about comfort.  Our high here yesterday was only 42.  FORTY TWO!!!  Now, you little New Englanders might be wondering why I’m complaining.  After all, that’s what my sister in MA keeps her thermostat set at all winter.  But here in Phoenix that’s freakin’ cold…number one news story cold.

So needless to say I was looking for something that would warm my belly and bring me comfort.  What does that better than shepherd’s pie?  Searching on Pinterest proved difficult for this one.  Many of the links were bad (no link, spam, or didn’t go directly to the recipe), so I went to foodtv.com and found a pretty tasty looking recipe from Alton Brown.  Here’s the link: Good Eats Shepherd's Pie

Fair warning!  I changed this a lot; this is more of a loose interpretation of Alton's recipe.  So here’s my recipe too:

Mashed potatos – two cups of Main Street premade mashed potatoes from Costco

Filling:

•                2 tablespoons canola oil

•                1/2 cup chopped onion

•                1 cloves garlic, minced

•                1 pounds extra lean ground beef

•                1 teaspoon kosher salt

•                1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

•                2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

•                3 teaspoons tomato paste

•                1 cup chicken broth

•                2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

•                1 teaspoons freshly chopped rosemary

•                1/2 teaspoon ground thyme

•                1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels

1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas

½ cup of shredded cheddar cheese

Place the canola oil into a 12-inch saute pan and set over medium high heat. Once the oil shimmers, add the onion and saute just until it begins to take on color, approximately 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic and stir to combine. Add the beef, salt and pepper and cook until browned and cooked through, approximately 3 minutes. Drain the meat.  Sprinkle the meat with the flour and toss to coat, continuing to cook for another minute. Add the tomato paste, chicken broth, Worcestershire, rosemary, thyme, and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and simmer slowly 10 to 12 minutes or until the sauce is thickened slightly.  

While the filling is simmering prepare the potatoes according to the directions.

Add the corn and peas to the beef mixture and spread evenly into an 11 by 7-inch glass baking dish.  Sprinkle 1/4 cup of the cheese over the meat mixture, top with the mashed potatoes, starting around the edges to create a seal to prevent the mixture from bubbling up and smooth with a rubber spatula. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.  Place on the middle rack of the oven and bake for approximately 40 minutes. Let it set for 10 minutes before serving.

Mission accomplished; it was warm and satisfying!