Shepherd's Pie

I'M BACK. Back and ready. You know how I can tell that it's been a really long time since I last updated this blog? In my last post I had just seen Man of Steel and liked it. Now we're almost three years later, and in the meantime I got a new job, moved to a different part of the country, and both saw and hated the absolute shit out of Batman v. Superman. Amazing how things change. 

But food. Food never changes. 

With that in mind, for whatever reason I had a massive hankering for Shepherd's Pie a few weeks ago. Yeah, I can't explain it either, but it was an itch that had to be scratched. Without further ado...

I didn't eat the speaker. We don't eat music in this household.

Ingredients:

For the potatoes: 

- 1 1/4 lbs russet potatoes, peeled and cubed

- 1/4 cup half and half

- 2 oz. unsalted butter

- Salt and pepper to taste

For the filling:

- Some olive oil

- 1 chopped yellow onion

- A whole lot of peeled and diced carrots

- 2 cloves minced garlic

- 1 lb or so of ground lamb

- Half a tiny can of tomato paste

- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour

- 1 cup chicken broth

- As much worcestershire sauce as your heart desires

- Some freshly chopped rosemary leaves

- Some thyme leaves

- A bag of frozen corn kernels

- A bag of frozen peas

- Salt and pepper to taste

I, uh, may have forgotten to use the eggs you see in the background.

The Process:

The temptation to get a few bags of those powdered mashed potatoes was strong, but to hell with that. I live for the #content. I firmly grasped my Irish roots and peeled the bejeezus out of about half a bag of potatoes, chopped them up to about a 1/2 inch dice, threw them all in a big pot, covered them with cold water, set the stove to high and waited for it to come to a boil. Once that happened, I covered it, put the heat on low and let them simmer for about 15 minutes or so. 

Yep. Sure looks like potatoes.

While the potatoes are cooking, do whatever you want. It's your life! Actually, don't. This isn't The Purge. I decided to make some filling. If you want to do that too, chop up your veggies.

I like carrots. So should you. That is, unless you're a MONSTER.

Grab a smaller pot, turn the burner up to medium, throw in some olive oil, and then do the same to the lamb. Once that looks all brown and tasty, dump in the veggies. Actually, now is a good time to preheat the oven to 400 degrees as well.

 *extremely Homer Simpson voice* oooooh baby

Whenever those are cooked to your liking, sprinkle in a little bit of flour, let that coat everything and cook for another minute. I'm going to be honest, I have no idea what that does, but it sounded good, right? Toss in the tomato paste, chicken broth, worcestershire sauce, rosemary and thyme. Sorry not sorry for getting that song stuck in your head just now. You know the one.

That'll do, pig. Lamb. Whatever. You're not the boss of me.

Bring that pot of delicious to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes. Does that sound familiar? It should! Hey, speaking of which, your potatoes should be done cooking by now. Oh, they're not? That's fine. I'll play the waiting game.

*taps foot impatiently*

Eh, the waiting game sucks. Let's play Hungry Hungry Hippoes!

Dump out your potatoes into a colander and put them back in the saucepan. What now, you ask?

"And Hulk." *GRUNT* "Mash." *GRINS*

Yeah, do that. Do it REAL HARD. Throw in the half and half, butter, salt and pepper and then MASH THE HELL OF IT AGAIN. Y'know, just for the heck of it. 

Yeah, that's more like it.

By now your filling should be about done cooking down. 

Mmmmm. Meat.

Add in the frozen peas and corn kernels, and stir it around. Then ladle the filling out into a waiting 13x9 casserole dish.

Yuuuup

Add the potatoes on top and spread them out with the back of a spoon or something. Get creative! Or just use the back of a spoon. Either way it's kind of a pain in the ass, but ooooohhhh my god it is so worth it.

*sinisterly rubs hands together* yesssssssss

I put my dish on top of a pan because I wanted to make sure it didn't boil over and spill everywhere in the oven (no that hasn't happened to me before, why do you ask), but you can do whatever. Put it in the oven and bake for about 25 minutes. 

And then...

*insert choir of angels singing here*

Well, it's technically still cooking in there, so I guess I should let it sit for about 15 minutes or so and just kick back and rel-OH SHIT FUCK THE SEASON PREMIERE OF GAME OF THRONES IS STARTING IN 90 SECONDS MOVE IT MOVE IT MOVE IT.

The Verdict:

It's good. It's really good. Like really good. Possibly would've been better in the winter, but this seems like it'd be a good move year round. Plus the leftovers lasted me for almost a whole week. Highly recommended. Pairs well with IPAs and shows that regularly feature infanticide.