Shepherd's Pie

Two words: Comfort food.

Ryan is in love with the Shepherd's Pie from Whistle Binkies, a pub we like to go to in Rochester. This is not like their pie, which is more like a beef stew with whipped potatoes on top. But damn this is good.

This recipe was adapted from AllRecipes.com.

Shepherd's Pie

1 lb. ground beef (I used pork)
1/2 onion, chopped
2-3 carrots, chopped
1/2 c. frozen peas
1/2 c. frozen corn
3 lg. potatoes
1/3 c. milk or half and half
4 T. butter
1/2 cup beef broth
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Salt, pepper, other seasonings of choice

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Peel and quarter potatoes, boil in salted water until tender (about 20 minutes). While the potatoes are cooking, melt 2 T butter in large frying pan. Saute onions and carrots in butter until tender over medium heat (10 mins). Add ground beef and saute until no longer pink. Add corn and peas, as well as salt and pepper. Add Worcestershire sauce. Add half a cup of beef broth and cook, uncovered, over low heat for 10 minutes, adding more beef broth as necessary to keep moist. Mash potatoes in bowl with remainder of butter and milk, season to taste. Place beef and vegetables in baking dish. Distribute mashed potatoes on top. Rough up with a fork so that there are peaks that will brown nicely. You can use the fork to make some designs in the potatoes as well. Cook in 400 degree oven until bubbling and brown (about 30 minutes). Broil for last few minutes if necessary to brown. Serves four.

A couple of variations - cheddar cheese in the potatoes or Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top after cooking would be a divine addition. You can also use whatever vegetables you really want with the ground beef. I used peas, carrots and corn because I had them on hand.

Another variation ... this recipe is damn good, but if I was planning to cut carbs, the potatoes would shoot me out of the water right there. In the future, I might try to whip cauliflower in lieu of the mashed potatoes and substitute ground turkey for the ground beef or pork.