I had a bluesy, stressful few days. The first of those days was potluck night with friends, and all I had to make was a ham-cheese-egg casserole. Easy enough. Last night, I used leftover spaghetti, frozen meatballs, and the last of the delicious meat sauce my Dad made a few weeks ago when he and Mom were visiting.
Today, I was feeling better and ready to give out in my love language: cooking. It relieves my stress and produces something useful, nourishing, and usually, appreciated.
Along with Ghiradelli Triple Chocolate brownies (thank you, Costco) sprinkled with a little sea salt (thank you, Pioneer Woman), this went in my oven. It’s not all traditional, because it was spur-of-the-moment, so I didn’t have everything on hand, and my people don’t really love peas or mushrooms anyway….
Whatcha Got Shepherd’s Pie
– Serves 6ish
1.5 ground beef
3ish strips of bacon, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2-4 cloves of garlic, minced
4-5 carrots. chopped
1 bag of frozen green beans (traditional: peas)
2 tablespoons flour
2-4 bouillon cubes/beef brother/Worcestershire sauce (make a combo depending on what you have)
red wine/apple cider vinegar or red wine vinegar (depending on what you have)
salt/pepper/thyme
mashed potatoes (I used 6 medium whole potatoes, made extra creamy)
1 cup cubed or shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- Brown the ground beef. Remove beef from pan and reserve some of the drippings for next step.
- Cook bacon and carrots for about 10 minutes. Add onion and garlic. Cook until tender. Add flour and stir thoroughly.
- Add beef, green beans, and your combination of bouillon and red wine vinegar. This shouldn’t be more than cup of liquid total. Add about a teaspoon each of salt, black pepper, and thyme. Stir thoroughly and cook for about 5 minutes.
- Transfer everything in the pot to a lightly greased casserole dish (I used an 8×8). Cover with mashed potatoes and then cheese
- Bake at 400 for 15 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes. Serve.
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