High Class Shepherd's Pie

Shepherd's pie has gotten a bad rap!  Well you know what?  Done right, it can definitely be a thing of beauty.  Stay with me here....  a well seasoned layer of thick saucy meat, beautiful al dente carrots and baby peas (not mushy veggies!), a layer of fluffy brown butter mashed potatoes with a sprinkling of white cheddar and some fresh thyme.  Oh yeah!  And not to mention - a great representation from all the food groups, and a great way to stretch a budget!

Shepherd's pie is a traditional dish with a meat base and a mashed potato topping.  The Irish made it with ground lamb, hence the name.  Where I live, ground beef is much easier to come by; but if you prefer lamb, however, go for it.  Another great thing about this is that you can assemble it on the weekend and pop in the oven on a busy week night.  My husband, who had definite opinions on how it did and did not need to be made, reported that it was the best he had ever had.  Hmmm..  So keep and open mind and keep reading.

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Ingredients:

For the meat layer -  

• 1 – 1.5  pounds lean ground beef 
• 1 cup diced onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper 
• 3 -4 large carrots, finely diced
• 1 cup dry red wine
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 3 -4 sprigs fresh thyme, finely chopped
• 1 cup beef stock 
• 2 tablespoons all purpose (AP) flour
• 1 cup frozen peas

For the potato layer - 

• 1 1/2 pounds russet potatoes 
• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 1/2 - 1 cup half-and-half
• 1 tsp kosher salt (or to taste)
• 1/2 - 1 tsp ground black pepper (or to taste)
• 1/2 - 1 tsp garlic powder
• about 1 cup Vermont white cheddar 
• fresh thyme leaves 

Step-by-Step:

Hi there everybody!  I usually cook with the kids, so it's nice to have grown-up company today in the kitchen.  We will start by prepping all the veggies.  So get in there, chop your carrots, onions, and garlic.  And while you are at it, peel and cut the potatoes and get them on to boil in some salted water.

Brown the ground beef in a skillet, breaking it up into small pieces.  When it's about halfway cooked through, add the chopped onions.  Cook them down for several minutes until they are soft and translucent.

1 – 1.5  pounds lean ground beef,
1 cup diced onion

Now add the garlic.  I didn't want to add it first in that blazing hot skillet, because I didn't want it to burn.

2 cloves garlic, minced

Now that the meat is cooked through, I'm adding all of my seasonings.  I'll start with the kosher salt, black pepper.

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp black pepper

Add in the chopped carrots.  The reason I'm adding them after the meat is basically cooked, is that I don't want them cooked down to mush.  I want them to retain their shape and some texture.

3 -4 large carrots, finely diced

Now lets work on making a beautiful red wine gravy for this.... Add in the red wine (duhh!), Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, fresh thyme leaves, beef broth, and flour. 

1 cup dry red wine

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons tomato paste

3 -4 sprigs fresh thyme, finely chopped

1 cup beef stock

2 tablespoons AP flour

Bring the sauce up to a boil (so the flour will do its job as a thickener), then down to a simmer for a few minutes.  We want it to be wonderfully saucy - but NOT runny!  When it reaches that "saucy" point, turn off the heat.

If you didn't already do this, get those potatoes going!  Start off with cold water to cover.  Don't forget to add the salt.  You need each step of the process to be seasoned.

1 1/2 pounds russet potatoes plus a generous pinch of kosher salt

Once they are boiling and fork tender (10-12 minutes?) - NOT mushy, drain them.

Just throw the strained potatoes back into the hot pot. 

In a small saucepan, melt your butter.  We want it to get slightly brown.  Browned butter tastes really nutty and wonderful and completely different than plain butter.  So please don't skip this step.

2 Tbsp unsalted butter

To the slightly browned butter, add the half and half.  Bring this mixture up to a simmer.  We basically just want to get it nice and warm before we add it to the potatoes.

1/2 - 1 cup half-and-half

Add the hot cream mixture to the potatoes.

Give them a nice generalized stir by hand and season them up - kosher salt, black pepper, and garlic powder.  Note - my husband thinks that fresh chives or green onions would be great in the potatoes.  I promised that I would pass that along.

1 tsp or so of kosher salt (to taste)

black pepper to taste (1/2 to 1 tsp)

1/2 to 1 tsp garlic powder

Add them to a ricer if you have one. 

Passing them through the ricer makes them really light and fluffy!  Does this bring back memories of making Play-Dough spaghetti?   :)

Alright... we are just about ready to assemble.  At the last minute, add the frozen baby sweet peas to the meat mixture.  Stir gently.  I did NOT want to cook them ahead of time.  I don't want them to be all starchy and mushy.  The heat from the meat and cooking them in the oven will be PLENTY enough heat, believe me.  Get the oven heating to 400 degrees F.

1 cup frozen peas

We are READY to turn this into a masterpiece now!  So add the meat mixture into the bottom of your cooking dish, casserole, baker - whatever you are using.  I received this gorgeous copper pot as a gift for my birthday earlier in the year, so I'm choosing this tonight rather than a casserole dish.

Now I am putting those great fluffy potatoes into a dessert decorator and piping them out to make a super pretty top layer.  I wanted all those little ridges so they would get sort of brown and crusty.  If you don't have one, you drop the potatoes by the spoonful and perhaps use a fork to make ridges.  This decorator is something you typically use to add icing to a cake or extrude cookie dough - but there is absolutely nothing wrong with thinking outside the box and using it for other things.

Add a little fresh thyme (or chives) to the top of the potatoes. 

Just enough thyme leaves to look pretty and be fragrant.

Now this beauty is all ready for the oven.  Bake at 400 degrees F for about 30 minutes.

In the last 15 minutes, I added some freshly shredded Vermont white cheddar cheese.  You could certainly use yellow cheddar if you want to.. or even some Parmigiano reggiano. 

a big handful of white cheddar.  Maybe 1 cup?

Time to make its debut......

And here we have it.  The cheese gives it a beautiful sheen on top, yet I can still see the fresh herbs and all those great little ridges.  

Now I think we have taken something really mundane and ordinary and made it extraordinary.  It definitely fit the bill for our quiet dinner together.  I think it would be absolutely adorable baked and served in individual ramekins.  And just another note... it made great leftovers for my office lunch the next day after all those flavors sat in there together.  Score!!!!

I hope you enjoyed this recipe.  There is no reason why "ordinary" food can't taste great and be beautiful.  If you would like to check out more recipes, click on over to my Recipe Index where you are sure to find lots of ideas.  And by all means, Click here to subscribe to MenuMusings if you haven't already done so!

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As always, here are some "bonus" recipes for you.  Just click the links to go there.

Oriental Cole Slaw  

Creole Red Snapper 

Grab and Go Thai Peanut Chicken Noodle Bowls

Lily's Maple Bacon Green Beans with Slivered Almonds 

Steamed Asian Dumplings 

Lemon Zucchini Muffins

Written Method:

Start by prepping all the veggies.  Chop your carrots, onions, and garlic.  And while you are at it, peel and cut the potatoes and get them on to boil in some salted water.

Brown the ground beef in a skillet, breaking it up into small pieces.  When it's about halfway cooked through, add the chopped onions.  Cook them down for several minutes until they are soft and translucent.  Now add the garlic. Now that the meat is cooked through, I'm adding all of my seasonings.  I'll start with the kosher salt, black pepper.  Add in the chopped carrots.  The reason I'm adding them after the meat is basically cooked, is that I don't want them cooked down to mush.  I want them to retain their shape and some texture.

Now lets work on making a beautiful red wine gravy for this.... Add in the red wine (duhh!), Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, fresh thyme leaves, beef broth, and flour.  Bring the sauce up to a boil (so the flour will do its job as a thickener), then down to a simmer for a few minutes.  We want it to be wonderfully saucy - but NOT runny!  When it reaches that "saucy" point, turn off the heat.

If you didn't already do this, get those potatoes going!  Start off with cold water to cover.  Don't forget to add the salt.  You need each step of the process to be seasoned.  Once they are boiling and fork tender (10-12 minutes?) - NOT mushy, drain them.  Just throw the strained potatoes back into the hot pot. 

In a small saucepan, melt your butter.  We want it to get slightly brown.  Browned butter tastes really nutty and wonderful and completely different than plain butter.  So please don't skip this step. To the slightly browned butter, add the half and half.  Bring this mixture up to a simmer.  We basically just want to get it nice and warm before we add it to the potatoes.  Add the hot cream mixture to the potatoes.

Give them a nice generalized stir by hand and season them up - kosher salt, black pepper, and garlic powder.  Note - my husband thinks that fresh chives or green onions would be great in the potatoes.  I promised that I would pass that along.  Add them to a ricer if you have one.  Passing them through the ricer makes them really light and fluffy!

Alright... we are just about ready to assemble.  At the last minute, add the frozen baby sweet peas to the meat mixture.  Stir gently.  I did NOT want to cook them ahead of time.  I don't want them to be all starchy and mushy.  The heat from the meat and cooking them in the oven will be PLENTY enough heat, believe me. 

We are READY to turn this into a masterpiece now!  So add the meat mixture into the bottom of your cooking dish, casserole, baker - whatever you are using.  Go ahead and preheat the oven to 400 F.

Now I am putting those great fluffy potatoes into a dessert decorator and piping them out to make a super pretty top layer.  I wanted all those little ridges so they would get sort of brown and crusty.  If you don't have one, you drop the potatoes by the spoonful and perhaps use a fork to make ridges.  Add a little fresh thyme (or chives) to the top of the potatoes. Now this beauty is all ready for the oven.

Bake for about 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown.  In the last 15 minutes, I added some freshly shredded Vermont white cheddar cheese.  You could certainly use yellow cheddar if you want to.. or even some Parmigiano reggiano.  The cheese gives it a beautiful sheen on top, yet I can still see the fresh herbs and all those great little ridges.  

Now I think we have taken something really mundane and ordinary and made it extraordinary.  It definitely fit the bill for our quiet dinner together.  I think it would be absolutely adorable baked and served in individual ramekins.  And just another note... it made great leftovers for my office lunch the next day after all those flavors sat in there together.  Score!!!!