Shepherd's Pie~Haunts of New England/Boston Visiting Me!

Absolutely, New England must have been giving me a haunt tonight as I was craving a taste of Shepherd's Pie and sent my poor hub off to shop for fresh lamb!

He came home and ground it for me giving this pie a fresh and yummy flavor that hit the spot while I watched the 2nd episode of "Once Upon A Time."

Recipe As Follows :

Ingredients~ The mashed potato topping:

2 lbs. potatoes, peeled and cubed

2 Tbsp. half and half or almost 1/4 c. milk

3 Tbsp. butter (or more if you dare!)  Often, I dare... :P

Salt to taste

The Pie Ingredients~

1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil to coat pan

1 3/4 to 2 lbs. combination of ground lamb and ground sirloin  ( I err on the side of more lamb)

1 carrot peeled and chopped into pea-sized pieces

1 onion chopped

Mediterranean seasoning spice ~ a shake

salt and Montreal Steakhouse Pepper  (I know, it's too specific...)

Create a roux:

3 Tbsp. butter

2 1/2 Tbsp. flour

1 C. beef broth (hot)

1/2 can Tomato soup (Campbell's)

1/2 C. or a couple of over-flowing handfuls of frozen peas

A handful of cheddar or Jarlsberg cheese if you like

Directions: 

Boil and mash potatoes including the ingredients above.

Set aside to keep warm. If they thicken too much in the waiting, add a little warm milk.

While potatoes cook; put EVOO in pan to med. high heat and brown meat combo.  Season accordingly.  Spoon away fats if they get too much.  Add chopped carrots and onion and keep browning mix.  Cook veggies w/meat another 5 mins. stirring frequently. 

In a second skillet make your roux from heating butter over medium heat until melted, then adding flour and mixing until you get a fairly thick, light brown "gravy."  Using a whisk, swirl in the broth and tomato soup.  Allow the roux to thicken as you whisk it about a minute and then pour it into the meat mixture and blend. You want the roux to be the consistency of a heavy cream. Toss in the frozen peas and blend.

Fill a lovely casserole with the meat mixture, spoon your hot mashed potatoes on top, covering the meat like a blanket.  Then broil until the potatoes are browned on top.  You can put cheese on the potatoes if you like.  My children loved it with  melted cheese, but I don't bother.

Time required:   Prep to Oven~ 20 mins.

Serves:             5-6  if you have bread and dessert

Beverage:         Good w/ Burgundy or

                         non-alcoholic Cranberry/Gingerale Fizz

What's haunting your dinner table right now???

Deborah/TheBookishDame