Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Shepherd's Pie - To Die For!

Last night I tried a new recipe for Shephard's Pie. It smelled soooo good while cooking and was absolutely delicious! I loved it and had to exercise control from gorging myself; the kids all ate it pretty well, even though it was new; the husband - well, it was too many things cooked all together and all too much like a casserole so he barely touched it and I'm sure I won't be fixing it again anytime soon, but you should!

My goal was to take pics of the in progress recipe - which I did, to a point. And then the finished, plated product. Well, once it was dinner time, forgot the finished, plated pictures, but trust me, it looked great. Paired with a green veggie (we had peas) and some crusty french bread to dunk in the gravy - descrumptious!

Shepherd's Pie

Secret Ingredient for Really Tasty Gravy - Beer!!!

2 lbs Stew Meat
1 cup Carrots (cut large, I used about 2 cups)
1 cup Celery (cut large)
1 cup Onion, chopped
2 cloves Garlic, minced
29 ounces, Beef Broth
1 bottle (12 oz) Beer
1/2 cup Flour
Your favorite recipe for mashed potatoes, enough to serve your family.
1 cup Cheddar Cheese, grated

*In a large pot, brown the stew meat.
*Add carrots, celery, onion and garlic, season with salt and pepper and cook until softened and browned.
*Add broth to the pan and scape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add beer to the pan (slowly, it can fizz up).
*Let the mixture simmer until the meat and veggies are tender.
*While the mixture is cooking, make your mashed potatoes.
*Heat oven to 350.
*Mix flour with cold water and add to the meat mixture, bit by bit, stirring and simmering between each addition, until the cooking liquid forms a thick gravy. Taste for seasoning, add salt and pepper as needed.


Thick, Tasty Gravy, Big hunks of tender Veggies!

*Spread meat and gravy mixture into a casserole dish, only filling about halfway. (or fix 2 pans, freezing 1 for a later date)
*Spread the mashed potatoes over the top of the gravy mixture. Don't press down, just float the potatoes on top.

Yummy, Rich Mashed Potatoes on Top!

*Dot the potatoes with butter. Cook for 15 minutes. Turn on the broiler and cook for 5 or so minutes until the potatoes start to brown. Turn the oven off.
*Top the shepherd's pie with cheese and leave it in the oven for about 5 minutes, until cheese melts.

And Cheese - Everything's Perfect with Cheese!

*Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes.

**Then - Enjoy!!

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