Shepard's Pie

I made Shepard's pie last night! I worked off of this recipe. This is honestly the first Shepard's pie I've ever made. I've had some at other people's houses a couple times, but my mom never made it, and I've never made it. I was kind of afraid of it turning out terribly, but it was actually really delicious. My one drawback was that it took a full hour to make, and I had to go out after work and buy some things, so I didn't start making it until six, and I don't really like eating dinner at seven.

I scaled this down a little bit, not exactly, just based on what we had on hand, and knowing how much we tend to eat. We still did have leftovers, though.

1 lb of ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups mixed frozen vegetables
1 lb baby potatoes
1 stick of butter, divided
1/2 cup beef broth
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400F. Chop the potatoes roughly, and boil until tender (15-20 min). I leave the skins on, because hubby and I like mashed potatoes with skins, and it's easier, and has more nutrients.

While the potatoes are cooking, melt half of the butter (4 tablespoons) in a large saucepan over medium heat. Here's where I kind of messed up. I put the whole stick of butter in, and it started browning before I could get the onions in, but I think that made it way more tasty. I love browned butter. Saute onions in butter, and then add beef. When beef is just cooked, or almost cooked, add in the frozen vegetables. Here is where I realized I added too much butter, and needed 4 tablespoons still. So I strained off about 4 tablespoons of grease and fat.

Add salt, pepper and Worcestershire. Add some beef broth, and simmer on low, uncovered, for ten minutes. Add more beef broth as necessary to keep it moist.

Mash potatoes with remaining butter, or in my case, beef drippings, which made them super tasty too.

Spread beef mixture in dish, and spread potatoes on top. Rough up the potatoes with a fork so they brown well. Cook in oven for 30 minutes or until potatoes brown. You can broil for the last few minutes if necessary.

And bam! Yummy, manly food hot and ready to eat.

(I made this again, a few nights later. The second time, I went from memory. I managed to get the butter in the potatoes, but I forgot about the Worcestershire sauce and beef broth, and I didn't bother to simmer the beef. Turned out yummy and tasty. Honestly not as tasty as the first time, but quicker, and still delicious. Photos are from round two.)