The Real Deal Shepherds Pie

Yum, yum, yum!  This is comfort food to the max for me.  Why do I call this the real deal?  Because the recipe is from my Grandma and she came from Ireland. Ireland has lots of shepherds.  This is what they eat. I've seen many other recipes for Shepherds pie and I always thought "that's not right". So now I will set the record straight.  By the way, the shepherd's in the part of Ireland where my Grandma grew up lwatched over cows because this recipe uses ground beef, not lamb.  This recipe is great to use up leftover mashed potatoes. 

The Ingredients:
1 1/2 pds 80/20 ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce (apparently they had soy sauce in Ireland...wink)
1 tsp Lawry's season salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp flour
1/2 -3/4 cup of chicken or beef broth

3-4 potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
salt
pepper
3 tbsp butter + 2 tbsp butter melted (used to drizzle on casserole top)
1/2 cup milk
1 bag of white corn, thawed and dried in paper towels

The method:

First, place potatoes in cold water, bring to a boil and cook until softened, about 15-20 minutes. 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Next start the ground beef.  Brown the ground beef in saucepan.  Add the season salt and pepper. Add the onions and garlic and cook for 3-4 minutes.  In a small bowl, add the flour, broth (start with a 1/2 cup, add more if too thick), worcestershire and soy sauces,  Whisk until smooth.  Add the mixture to the ground beef.  You should have a thick gravy after 2-3 minutes.  If too thick, add a bit more broth.  You don't want it soupy or your casserole will be runny.  Cook for about 5 more minutes and then turn off heat. Adjust seasonings.

Mash potatoes and add butter, salt, pepper and milk.

Spray 9x12 casserole dish with cooking spray.  Layer the ground beef mixture on the bottom, top with all of the corn and then spread mashed potatoes on the top. Be careful not to "pull up" the corn while spreading the mashed potatoes.  Run a fork lightly across the top of the casserole to create little valleys.  Drizzle with melted butter.  Bake for approximately 30 minutes and then broil for 3-4 minutes until top is golden brown.  Let sit for about 10 minutes before serving.

Saucy Meatloaf

Meatloaf is often underrated but it's making a come back as restaurants feature home cooking and comfort food.  Here is my version, which, I must admit is pretty yummy. I think the sauce for the top is what makes it.  I've seen a lot of recipes that just call for spreading ketchup on top. Boring!

Ingredients:
2lbs 80/20 Ground Beef
1/2 c onion, chopped
3/4 c ketchup
2 tbsp yellow mustard
2 tbsp worcestersire (Lea & Perrins)
1 egg
1 tsp pepper
2 tsp Lawry's Season Salt
1 tsp garlic salt

The method:
PreHeat Oven to 400
Place ground beef and onions is large bowl.  In seperate bowl, combine next 7 ingredients until well mixed.  Add to ground beef and mix until combined.  Do not overmix or the meat loaf will be tough.  Form meat mixture into 4 small loafs.  Place on foil lined baking sheet.  Sprinkle each loaf with season salt.  Bake for about 30 minutes.  You may have to drain the grease from the baking sheet.  Spread a liberal amount of sauce on each loaf and continue to bake another 10-15 minutes until top is bubbling and brown. Let rest 10-15 minutes before slicing.  Serve with extra sauce for dipping.  Kids love this.

The Sauce:
1c ketchup
3 tbsp dijon
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp Lawry's Season