Shaker Gourmet!

Today's recipe comes from Maurinsky of the blog, Laughing Wild. Without further ado:

Maurinsky's Shepherd's Pie

I always wash my hands well before I start

2 lbs. ground meat (sirloin, turkey, lamb, whatever)
3 lbs. potatoes (Yukon gold is my favorite)
half & half
1 large onion chopped
2 shallots, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 big leek, chopped & carefully cleaned
petite peas, cubed carrots, pearl onions - whatever
kind of small veggies you like
fresh rosemary, pulled off the twig, roughly chopped
if you prefer
Worcestershire sauce
wine or broth, about 2 cups, divided
a cup or so of shredded sharp cheddar cheese
olive oil
2 tb butter
2 tb flour
salt & pepper


Peel potatoes and chop into smallish cubes (or don't
peel, however you like it). Clean, cover with water,
and put over high heat. Heat a large skillet over
medium heat, and add a little olive oil to the pan.
When it's hot, add the onions, leeks & shallots. (You
can leave out any one of those, I often exclude the
leeks because the price of leeks is highway robbery
around here when they aren't seasonal). When they are
soft, add the garlic. A couple of minutes later, add
the ground meat. Brown.

When the meat is brown, push everything to the side
and mix half the wine or broth with the flour and add
to the pan. Cook that for a minute or two, then add
the rest of the liquid - and you can add more than I
listed, I just eyeball everything - and bring it to a
boil. Depending on the appearance of the gravy and how
that affects you emotionally, you can add Gravy Master
to darken it up.

When it boils, add the peas, rosemary and a couple of
shots of Worcestshire sauce, lower the heat, cover and
simmer as the gravy thickens.

When the potatoes are boiled and you can pierce them
easily with a fork, drain the pot, add the butter,
half & half (or milk or skim milk, whatever floats
your boat), and cheddar cheese, salt & pepper, and
start mashing. You can replace the butter with olive
oil, you can add sour cream. Mash those spuds until
they are the desired lumpiness and consistency.

Put the meat mixture into a large casserole dish or
baking pan, cover with the potatos, and put under the
broiler for a few minutes, until the tops of the
potatoes start to golden.

When I make these with leftover mashed potatoes, I
cook the whole thing for 10 minutes or so in a 375
oven before I turn the broiler on.

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