Shepherd's Pie

Shepherd's pie is one of my all-time favorite dishes. I remember my mom preparing it for us as kids and we were all very excited to eat the Irish classic. Every time I eat at an Irish Pub (not often enough), I take a good look at their Shepherd's pie. Traditionally, Shepherd's pie is made with lamb meat. However, the recipes are never the same. That's one trait I love about this dish. It's different every time.

Part of what makes each dish different is the variety of ingredients and the multiple ways those can be prepared. It's simply potatoes, meat and vegetables, but they can be assembled in very creative ways.

I peeled and boiled russet potatoes (the most Irish-tasting, to me) while I cooked the hamburger in a pan. I added chopped onions and garlic to the hamburger half-way through cooking it. I wanted the onions to soak-up the fatty juices from the hamburger. They did. Yum.

I put the hamburger in the bottom of a baking dish and layered it with green beans, peas, carrots, seasoning and tomato soup. I put the potatoes in a mixing bowl, added some milk, sour cream and basil and garlic and mixed it all with a hand blender. I put the mashed potatoes on top (added a little more tomato soup) and placed it in the oven at 350.

Straight-up fantastic! I'm pretty sure our dinner in The Shire made my Gaelic ancestors smile.

Ingredients:

2 pounds Russet potatoes (plus 3 ounces whole milk and 3 ounces sour cream)

1 pound ground hamburger

1 onion

3 cloves garlic

6 ounces green beans

3 ounces green peas

3 ounces carrots

seasoning (fresh ground pepper, Nature's Seasoning, basil & garlic seasoning, salt)

6 ounces tomato soup

Music: Brandon Heath - Love Never Fails

Weather: 8