Shepherd's Pie pieced together...

So I've been making weekly menus so I know exactly what's for dinner (and sometimes lunch and breakfast) each day.  Monday night was Shepherd's Pie.  I had this for the first time at my sister's house on St. Patty's day.  I brought the corned beef, she did the pie.  It was yummy.  Best part was the cake Esther brought.  Yum.  Back to my point....


So last night's dinner was Shepherd's Pie, aka Cottage Pie.  I looked at several recipes and pieced together what I thought would be the most yummy mesh of them all.  Here is what I came up with:

This really isn't a very photogenic meal.

I'm not too big on the one dish dinner, so I sauteed some green beans in olive oil, seasoned them and then served them along side.


If you want to try my version of this pie,  I've included my directions below.  Let me know how you like it!

Jennifer's Shepherd's Pie

Pieced together from several recipes then tweaked by me :)

Ingredients:

• 5 medium potatoes (I used Russet)
• Salt
• 2-3 Tbsp butter
• 1/3 C sour cream
• 1/3 C heavy cream, warmed
• 2 oz freshly grated Sharp Cheddar
• 2 oz freshly grated White Vermont Cheddar, divided
• 5 Med-Large carrots, chopped into 1" strips
• 2 T olive oil
• 1.5 lbs ground turkey
• 1 onion, finely diced (I used 1/2 red & 1/2 yellow because they were left overs from previous meals)
• 1 C peas (if frozen, thaw and drain first)
• 2 Tbsp Flour
• 1 Tbsp Ketchup
• Cholula Hot Sauce

Directions:

1.  Dice potatoes into 1/2" squares.  Place potatoes in a large pot, fill with water, salt and bring to a boil.  Cook potatoes until soft, but not mushy, about 15 minutes.  Using a slotted spoon, remove potatoes from boiling water and transfer to a large bowl.  Add carrots to boiling water and cook until tender enough to mash, approx. 10 minutes.

2.  Meanwhile add butter, Sharp Cheddar and 1/2 of the Vermont White Cheddar cheese to the potatoes. Mash.  Mix in sour cream. Add salt to taste.  Potatoes will be thick, add warmed cream until a smooth consistency is achieved.  Taste potatoes to make sure the flavor is good.

3.  Once carrots are cooked, drain pot and smash them. 

4.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

5.  Heat oil in a large fry pan over medium heat.  Add ground turkey and brown, approx. 5 minutes.  Salt to taste then add onion.  Cook until tender.  Add peas and cook until warmed.  Add flour.  Cook another minute then add the ketchup and desired amount of Cholula (I gave it 4 or 5 good "shakes" of the bottle).  Taste the meat and add additional salt or Cholula, as needed.  Add broth.  Bring flame to low and simmer 5 minutes.  Remember to taste the meat and adjust spices as necessary. 

6.  In a 2-quart casserole, spread meat mixture evenly.  Top with carrot then potato.  When spreading the carrot, do so in “pats”.  If you “spread”, you’ll pull the carrot into the potato, which is not a pretty sight (think about frosting a cake).  Top the casserole with the remaining Vermont White Cheddar cheese then sprinkle with Paprika.

7.   Bake for 20 minutes, covered with foil.  Remove foil for last 5 minutes if you want the top to crust more.  I didn’t do this because I forgot! :)

Tuesday's menu includes Chicken Marsala, Italian seasoned rice and Giada de Laurentiis's Spicy Parmesan Green Beans and Kale.  It'll be the first time trying her recipe - and working with Kale - so I hope it is good.  If the meal turns out well, I'll blog about it later.  In the meantime - and as always - Thanks for reading!