Drunken Shepherd's Pie

I have made this several times for the hubby, and each time it has improved. Phew! This picture is from the third time. As you can see, someone had already begun scooping out test bites ... to ensure safety for all, I am certain.

The first time I made it, I follwed the recipe I found on Cooks.com pretty closely. I have since modified it to suit our tastes and needs.

Ingredients

• 1-2 lbs lean ground beef
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 3/4 cup frozen carrots (crinkle cut have worked great)
• 1 pkg brown gravy mix (reduced sodium)
• dark ale like Killian's or Newcastle (1/3 of the bottle)
• 1 small sweet onion, diced
• 6-7 cups mashed potatoes (instant potato buds are easy, and some brands actually taste pretty good)
• butter, salt, pepper, garlic to taste

Preheat oven to 350°F

Put a little bit of butter in a pan (olive oil works just as well) and drop the onions into it. Cook them on medium-low until you can see through them a bit, and then add the beef. Brown the beef lightly, then add the beer. Remember, only use part of the beer. Keep cooking it on medium heat for a few more minutes, breaking up the beef to keep it crumbly. Drain the meat. (Use a jar or something, do NOT put it down the garbage disposal. Seriously.) Put the beef somewhere safe while working on the other components.

Mix the gravy to the package's specifications. Once mixed, add about 3-4 Tablespoons of cold water, then mix it up with the beef mixture.

Prepare the mashed potatoes to taste. I use much less butter and salt that it says to use for the buds. I HATED the idea of the potato buds, farm girl that I am, until I tried them in this recipe. This is a huge time saver and the Idaho Spud Potato Buds (sorry if the order on the name is mixed up) are not half bad.

Use cooking spray in the bottom of the casserole dish. You can put butter in each corner if you are a butter fiend, but PAM works just fine. Put in a thin layer of potatoes. Add part of the meat mixture, then a layer of frozen veggies. Then repeat! Add some cheese, then top with the mashed potatoes. The layer of mashed potatoes should be just about half an inch below the lip of the casserole dish. We usually add dashes of the herbs we like during this layering step.

Top the vat of deliciousness with some more cheese and pats of butter and bake it in the oven. Ours is usually done in about an hour, but cooking times will vary.

The amount of vegetables is just an estimation. We use what we have in the amount we have them in. Adding mushrooms to the gravy is a delicious treat, too! You can use canned veggies if you drain them, but this does add to the salt content.

The hubby LOVES it when I make this. It goes well with a fresh loaf of bread, too. I have successfully made this in the CrockPot, but not as much evaporation of the liquids occured as I would have liked.

If you are a purist, this is probably just as tasty with lamb and without the cheese. I do not do lamb, so beef is a great option for me. Also, I am of the camp that cheese is always a good idea. ;-)

Enjoy!