Shepherd’s Pie (Beef Edition)

Shepherd’s Pie

Okay, so traditionally, you are supposed to make this with ground up lamb’s meat. Hence the name. We shepherd sheep, we don’t really shepherd cows. But honestly, I’ve eaten lamb. It mostly sucks. I don’t know why it doesn’t taste good, but it doesn’t. I tried these really expensive lamb chops once and it was just… sweet and the taste was weird. I know that doesn’t tell you much if you’ve never tried it before, but that’s the best I can do.

It was weird tasting.

So, when I make (watch my bestie make) Shepherd’s Pie, ground beef is used. If you’ve read either of the last two recipes I wrote for this site, don’t worry. This one isn’t I-Can’t-Cook-To-Save-My-Life food. This is actually an incredibly tasty, time and tested recipe that my whole family loves and begs me (my bestie) to cook anytime we come around.

You ready? We’re gonna start with mashed potatoes again! (This has to be my favorite carb of all time) I’ve just copied, pasted, and slightly edited the mashed potatoes section from the Snow Caps recipe because I am lazy.  If you’re super, duper lazy, you can buy precooked and pre-mashed potatoes from most grocery stores. Just make sure to get two of the family size containers or you won’t have enough.

We’re gonna make this a recipe for 6-8 people.

Mashed Potatoes

1. 5lbs of potatoes
2. 1/2 stick of butter (at least)
3. 3/4 a cup of milk (at least)
4. Tablespoon of salt
5. BLACK PEPPER!!!!

• We’re gonna make 5 lbs of your favorite potatoes, I go for the Russets personally. Peel ’em, cut ’em, rinse ’em and toss them in a stock pot filled three quarters of the way with water and just enough salt to flavor those ‘tatoes.
• Boil the ‘taters until they are mushy enough not to destroy your cheapie electric hand mixer and then pour the entirety of the potatoes into a strainer. Be aware that they will be hot. I suggest oven-mitts and to keep your face out of the steam.
• Place your strained potatoes into a large mixing bowl, then your butter, and then your milk. You may need more milk or butter for flavor and for ease of mashing. I like to also throw in a lot of black pepper because nothing tastes better to me than black pepper.
• Mix it all up with electric beaters, and then you’re done with that step.

Shepherd’s Mix

1. 2 lbs. of ground beef (seriously the leaner the better)
2. 2 bags of frozen carrots and peas
3. 1 bag of frozen corn
4. 2 cans of “fresh cut” green beans
5. 2 packets of brown gravy
6. 1 diced onion
7. 1 lb. sliced mushrooms (NO CANS! STOP WITH THE SLIMY MUSHROOMS!)
8. 2 tbsp minced garlic
9. Salt (season to taste)
10. Pepper (season to taste)
11. 1 cup of beef or onion broth/ 1 bouillon cube, depending on your tastes or styles. (She uses beef bouillon the most often but was kind enough to include onions for those really obsessed with them)

• Keeping it simple, we’re going to cook our mushrooms, onions and hamburger at the same time in a big ole six quart frying pan, this will make a massive mess if you don’t use a deep enough pan. We’ll also be throwing in the seasoning too, which includes the garlic, salt, and pepper. More copying and pasting, sorry but I don’t have all day, and neither do you. Work smarter, not harder. DO NOT PUT YOUR BEEF BULLION OR YOUR BROTH IN YET. (Even though they season, they don’t count as seasoning)
• Once all the meat is cooked up and ready to go it’s time to add in your veggies. ALL OF THEM. Canned, frozen, doesn’t matter. Just pour them into your mixture and combine. Strain your green beans though or you’ll flood your mixture. Cook them up until they’re no longer frozen and they’re starting to get edible. She says to cook them for 15-20 minutes… I mean… I. I cook them for 15-20 minutes.
• In a separate saucepan make your gravy while the veggie mix is cooking in with the meat. Just follow the directions on the packet. It’s easier for me than to read it, type it up, and pretend I came up with it on my own.
• Pour your gravy directly into the beef and veggie mixture. If you are doing a beef broth instead of the bouillon cube, put it in now. If you’re doing a bouillon cube instead of the broth, put it in now. (I think you get the picture here.)
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Grab a big casserole dish, like the kind you’d use for lasagna. Put the Shepherd’s mixture into the dish. Top that bad boy with your mashed taters and then my bestie insists that you rake the potatoes with a fork so that you can crisp up the top of the mashed potatoes. Then you can put it in the oven for 35-40 minutes and voila! You’re all ready to eat!

Below is a note for those of you who want to add cheese!

• (A lot of people add grated medium cheddar cheese over the top of it. If you want a cheese topper and would like it to be crispy, I am telling you now to wait until the last five or so minutes of baking to add it. Once the cheese melts, switch to broil so you can crisp up your cheese. Keep a close eye on it during broil or you will burn your cheese into oblivion. My bestie doesn’t put cheese on top of hers anymore because someone in the family can’t eat it.)