Shepard's Pie

My family, being amazing, celebrates two Thanksgivings a year. Once on Thanksgiving and once in July. The food is too good to only have once a year! This year was the best yet! What does this have to do with shepard's pie you may ask? Well somehow when our Thanksgiving in July was over I ended up with ALL of the mashed potatoes. So, being resourceful, I whipped up some shepard's pie to use them up.

I can't say I'm an expert on shepard's pie, even though it is the food of my people. So if this isn't what you expect from shepard's pie don't kill me. It tasted good and it used up the rest of my mashed potatoes! I had enough to make 2 small dishes of it so I stuck one in the freezer for some day down the road. It wasn't until I had stashed the dish in the freezer that I realized I had accidentally used a serving dish and I really have no idea if it's oven safe so I guess we'll have to wait and see how reheating it goes. Pray for me and my shepard's pie.

It's been a while since Joker made an appearance. He's still my kitchen helper!


Shepard's Pie
Adapted from my brain! 

• 1-ish pound lean ground beef or ground sirloin
• half onion, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups peeled, chopped carrots (I used baby carrots cause I had them)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 carton baby bella mushrooms, sliced
• 3 Tblsp flour
• 3/4 cup red wine
• 1 can beef broth
• salt and pepper
• 1 tsp thyme
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 cup frozen peas
•  Mashed potatoes 
• 3/4 cup grated cheese (cheddar or colby jack would be good)

In one pan, start browning the beef until no longer pink. Drain if needed.

In another pan start sauteeing the onion, garlic, mushrooms, and carrots in a dash of olive oil. Once the vegetables have softened and released some water add the flour and stir around for a couple minutes. Deglaze with the red wine and stir until the flour dissolves and it comes back to a boil. Add the broth, Worcestershire sauce,thyme, the cooked beef, salt and pepper to taste and let bubble until it thickens. If it thickens too much add a little water to make a nice gravy. Add the peas at the last minute and just stir to warm them through. Pour the mixture into a baking dish. Cover with mashed potatoes as evenly as possible. Sprinkle cheese over the top. Put into preheated 375 degree oven for 15-20 minutes until the beef is bubbling and the potatoes are warmed through. Enjoy!