Shepard's Pie

We had a very Irish weekend a few days ago. Having friends over for a yummy feast- we decided to make shepard's pie. Mike insisted that we use lamb in it- and since I really don't like lamb, I opted for a 50 50 compromise. This came out really good, although next time I think I'd want to make the meat with a thicker gravy/ sauce. The meat was kind of just chilling on the bottom with not to much moisture- so I think a nice gravy would have been perfect for this.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 pound ground lamb
• 1/2 cup of Guinness beer
• 1 teaspoon oregano 
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 3 medium carrots peeled and diced
• 3 medium parsnips peeled and diced
• 2 stalks celery diced small
• 2 cans of corn or 2 cups frozen corn
• 8 oz sliced baby portobellos
• 1 large onion diced
• salt and pepper to taste
• olive oil
• ingredients for my cheddar chive mashed potatoes
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

In a large cast iron skillet heat up a little olive oil and add in lamb and beef along with oregano and thyme and Guinness. Cook until browned, drain the fat and 1/2 the juices out and set aside.

In a saute pan, start cooking carrots- celery- and parsnips together over high heat. season with salt and pepper. Cook until the veggies are browned and are all the way cooked through, mix in with the cooked meat. Set aside.

In the same sauté pan you just cooked the other veggies in, heat a little olive oil, add in the mushrooms and onions along with some salt and pepper. Cook until mushrooms start to soften up then add in the canned corn. Check the seasoning  and set aside.

During the time when you are doing all of these steps - you should make your cheddar chive mashed potatoes.

Assemble in a 9x13 baking dish, meat on the bottom- followed by sautéed veggies- finally top with the mashed potatoes and additional shredded cheddar cheese.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

This was the first time and I ever wrote a blog post for shepard's pie. My sister in law Taylor make hers with pie crust, and that is always super yummy. We usually just use beef and corn. So this was definitely a heartier and may I say - a more traditional way to go (because of the ground lamb). Like I said earlier, I would like to have a little bit of a thicker bottom layer with a gravy of some sort, but this was a pretty good effort if I do say so. Cheers!